Tristan da Cunha: The Most Remote Inhabited Island on Earth

In the middle of the South Atlantic, roughly halfway between Africa and South America, a lone volcanic cone rises out of the ocean. This is Tristan da Cunha, about 11 kilometers across, with a summit called Queen Mary's Peak reaching 2,062 meters. It's often called the most remote inhabited island on Earth. The nearest place where anyone else lives, Saint Helena, is about 2,430 kilometers away. The island was first sighted in 1506 by the Portuguese explorer Tristão da Cunha, who gave it his name, though rough seas kept him from landing. For three centuries, it saw only occasional visitors. In 1816, Britain annexed the islands and stationed a garrison there, partly to keep them from being used by enemy forces. When the garrison left in 1817, a Scottish soldier named William Glass asked to stay behind with his wife and children. He founded the community that's still there today. Others arrived over the years, some by choice and some by shipwreck. In 1827, five women came from Saint Helena to marry the island's bachelors. The settlement grew slowly, and it came to be called Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, after Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who visited in 1867. It's still the island's only settlement. On October 10, 1961, the island's volcano erupted from a vent on the north shore, right beside the village. The entire population of 264 was evacuated, eventually reaching England, where they were housed at Calshot in Hampshire. The eruption destroyed the island's crayfish factory. In 1962, a Royal Society expedition found the island habitable again. An advance party returned in April 1963, and in November 1963, the main body of about 200 islanders went home. Life on Tristan still runs at its own pace. There's no airport, and ships come only about ten times a year. Everyone lives in Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, on the island's only stretch of flat land. The community descends from a small number of founding families. The 2026 census counted 221 people.