]! ^! Uninhabited when first discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, Saint Helena was garrisoned by the British during the 17th century. It acquired fame as the place of Napoleon BONAPARTE's exile, from 1815 until his death in 1821, but its importance as a port of call declined after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Ascension Island is the site of a US Air Force auxiliary airfield; Gough Island has a meteorological station. 
]" ^" islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, about midway between South America and Africa ^# 15 56 S, 5 42 W ^$ Africa ^% `! 410 sq km `" 410 sq km `# 0 sq km note: includes Saint Helena Island, Ascension, and the island group of Tristan da Cunha, which consists of Tristan da Cunha Island, Gough Island, Inaccessible Island, and the three Nightingale Islands ^& slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 60 km ^) `$ 12 nm `a 200 nm ^* Saint Helena - tropical; marine; mild, tempered by trade winds; Tristan da Cunha - temperate; marine, mild, tempered by trade winds (tends to be cooler than Saint Helena) ^+ Saint Helena - rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains note: the other islands of the group have a volcanic origin ^, `% Atlantic Ocean 0 m `& Queen Mary's Peak on Tristan da Cunha 2,060 m ^- fish ^. `' 12.9% `( 0% `) 87.1% (2001) ^/ NA sq km ^0 active volcanism on Tristan da Cunha ^1 NA ^2 harbors at least 40 species of plants unknown anywhere else in the world; Ascension is a breeding ground for sea turtles and sooty terns 
]# ^3 7,460 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 18.8% (male 715/female 691) `+ 71.3% (male 2,745/female 2,575) `, 9.8% (male 330/female 404) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 35.4 years `- 35.61 years `. 35.21 years (2005 est.) ^6 0.59% (2005 est.) ^7 12.33 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 6.43 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.04 male(s)/female `0 1.04 male(s)/female `+ 1.07 male(s)/female `, 0.82 male(s)/female `1 1.03 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 19 deaths/1,000 live births `- 22.74 deaths/1,000 live births `. 15.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 77.76 years `- 74.86 years `. 80.81 years (2005 est.) ^= 1.54 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `2 Saint Helenian(s) `3 Saint Helenian ^B African descent 50%, white 25%, Chinese 25% ^C Anglican (majority), Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic ^D English ^E `M age 20 and over can read and write `1 97% `- 97% `. 98% (1987 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 none `5 Saint Helena ^G overseas territory of the UK ^H NA ^I Jamestown ^J 1 administrative area and 2 dependencies*; Ascension*, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha* ^K none (overseas territory of the UK) ^L Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, second Saturday in June (1926) ^M 1 January 1989 ^N NA ^O NA years of age ^P `6 Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) `7 Governor and Commander in Chief Michael CLANCY (since 15 October 2004) `8 Executive Council consists of the governor, two ex officio officers, and six elected members of the Legislative Council `9 none; the monarch is hereditary; governor is appointed by the monarch ^Q unicameral Legislative Council (16 seats, including the speaker, 3 ex officio and 12 elected members; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) `9 last held 27 June 2001 (next to be held June 2005) `: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15 ^R Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court; Small Debts Court; Juvenile Court ^S none ^T none ^U ICFTU, UPU ^V none (overseas territory of the UK) ^W none (overseas territory of the UK) ^X blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Saint Helenian shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield features a rocky coastline and three-masted sailing ship 
]% ^Y The economy depends largely on financial assistance from the UK, which amounted to about $5 million in 1997 or almost one-half of annual budgetary revenues. The local population earns income from fishing, raising livestock, and sales of handicrafts. Because there are few jobs, 25% of the work force has left to seek employment on Ascension Island, on the Falklands, and in the UK. ^Z $18 million (1998 est.) ^[ NA ^\ purchasing power parity - $2,500 (1998 est.) ^] `; NA `< NA `= NA ^^ 3,500 note: 1,200 work offshore (1998 est.) ^_ agriculture and fishing 6%, industry (mainly construction) 48%, services 46% (1987 est.) ^` 14% (1998 est.) ^a NA _! `> NA `? NA _" 3.2% (1997 est.) _# `@ $11.2 million `A $11 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY92/93) _$ corn, potatoes, vegetables; timber; fish, crawfish (on Tristan da Cunha) _% construction, crafts (furniture, lacework, fancy woodwork), fishing _& NA _' 5 million kWh (2002) _( 4.65 million kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 200 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _/ $17 million f.o.b. (2002) _0 fish (frozen, canned, and salt-dried skipjack, tuna), coffee, handicrafts _1 Tanzania 30.3%, US 23.8%, Japan 10.4%, UK 7.1%, Spain 6.3% (2004) _2 $42 million c.i.f. (2002) _3 food, beverages, tobacco, fuel oils, animal feed, building materials, motor vehicles and parts, machinery and parts _4 UK 35.7%, US 17.6%, South Africa 17.5%, Tanzania 10.4%, Australia 5.5%, Spain 4.1% (2004) _5 NA (1996) _6 $12.6 million (1995); note - $5.3 million from UK (1997) _7 Saint Helenian pound (SHP) _8 Saint Helenian pounds per US dollar - 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672 (2002), 0.6947 (2001), 0.6609 (2000) note: the Saint Helenian pound is on par with the British pound _9 1 April - 31 March 
]& _: 2,200 (2002) _; 0 (1997) _< `B can communicate worldwide `C automatic network `D country code - 290; HF radiotelephone from Saint Helena to Ascension Island, which is a major coaxial submarine cable relay point between South Africa, Portugal, and UK; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) _= AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) _> 0 note: television programs are received in Saint Helena via satellite and distributed by cable (2002) _? .sh _A 500 (2002) _a Gough Island has a meteorological station 
]' _B `! 198 km (Saint Helena 138 km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 20 km) `E 168 km (Saint Helena 118km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 10 km) `F 30 km (Saint Helena 20 km, Ascension 0 km, Tristan da Cunha 10 km) (2000) _C Georgetown (on Ascension), Jamestown _D 1 (2004 est.) _E `! 1 `] 1 (2004 est.) 
]( _G defense is the responsibility of the UK 
]) _H none 