Tristan da Cunha Island, a British overseas territory which is located 1,750 miles away from South Africa is remarked as the most remote inhabited island in the world consisting a population of only 275 people & interestingly no new residents are allowed. The reason of this is mainly due to the evacuation of people to the U.K which was caused by a volcanic eruption from the Queen Mary’s Peak in 1961. The Portuguese discoverer Tristão da Cunha first noticed this island and named it after himself, after which this island was inhabited in 1810.
Most of the island is filled with mountains and the only flat habitable area is the flat land where the capital, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is situated on the northwest coast. Only 80 families live with just 8 surnames, namely Glass, Green, Hagan, Lavarello, Repetto, Rogers and Swain. The healthcare facilities provided on this island are absolutely free as there is only one resident doctor along with 5 nurses.
The challenges faced by the people living in this island are the source of income and availability of natural resources which also includes a major shortage of short water. The only form of living is the tourist industry which includes fishing, golfing, hiking & wildlife reserves, though the amount of tourists visits are very less in number. Citizens who have the capability to work are farmers by trade, but since the work load is not much, people prefer working elsewhere too. The land is entirely owned by the community and this is done mainly to make sure that one family does not own major share of the wealth. This is mainly done to ensure social equality amongst the people and to maintain peace. The main source of income for the people is the lobster factory for which the island is very well known for & from crawfishing, exported to Japan and the United States of America. People also earn money by cleaning penguins which are being transported to Tristan da Cunha for cleaning from Nightingale Island as no fresh water at all due to the recent oil leaks form a cargo ship.
Putting light to the business relations of the world’s most remote island and the rest of the island the Imports & Exports are carried out in full swing. They import food, animal feed, building materials, motor vehicles and parts, machinery, tobacco & Export fish, coins, stamps. A worry for this island is that over 50% people have partial asthma & 23% have life threatening asthma. It is believed that is condition is due to the humidity which prevails over this island i.e. throughout the year there is 90-95% humidity. This territory is home to 2,00,000 penguins which is half of the world’s total north rock hopper penguins & out of these 20,000 penguins were coated in March’s oil disaster.
For entertainment there is not a lot available on the island as people do not hold very strong income power to spend on various activities. Until 2001, television was not available and further then the sole channel available is the British Forces Broadcasting Service from the Falkland Islands. The people residing here are relatively happy as there is peace and friendliness amongst themselves as they form a big family bonding well amongst the 275 living together.
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