St. Helena Island - Isla de Santa Elena

st. Helen (in English: Saint Helena) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, located more than 1800 kilometers off the western coast of Angola.

Administratively, it is part of the British overseas territory of Santa Elena, Ascensión and Tristán de Acuña.

The island is widely known because it served as a military prison to the exiled Emperor Napoleon I of France, from his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 until his death in 1821.

History

The island of Santa Elena was discovered on May 21, 1502 by Juan de Nova, a Spanish navigator in the service of the King of Portugal, who was returning from a trip from the India, and named her after Helen of Constantinople. Although the island was uninhabited, there were many forests and fresh water on it. They imported cattle, vegetables and fruit trees, built a chapel and several houses, where they left the sick to return home in the next boat if they recovered, but without forming a permanent settlement. The Portuguese kept the island's location a secret, mostly because of its geographical position. Its first permanent resident was Fernando López, a Portuguese from India who became a traitor and was mutilated on the orders of Alfonso de Albuquerque, the governor of Goa. López preferred to be in exile than to return to Portugal in poor condition, and was sent to Santa Elena in 1513. By royal order, López visited Portugal shortly after, but returned to the island, where he died in 1530.

The first English to arrive at Santa Elena were Thomas Cavendish, who disembarked in June 1588, during his trip around the world; the English captain Abraham Kendall, who visited the island in 1591; Y sir James Lancaster in 1593, making a stopover for England from the East, and who returned to the island in 1603 on his first voyage for the British East India Company.

The island remained uninhabited until the arrival of Dutch settlers in 1645. In 1651 St. Helena was transferred to the British East India Company, who established a detachment on the island and built a fort in 1658, called Jamestown, a name given in honor of the Duke of York, James II. In 1673 the Dutch took possession of the island again, but were expelled a few months later.

At that time, about half of the inhabitants were slaves. In 1810 the Company began importing Chinese from Canton. During the Company's tenure, the island prospered economically until 1870, when the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 facilitated maritime communications between Europe and Asia, avoiding navigation around Africa, a route on which Saint Helena served as a stopover point. fundamental.

Santa Elena, due to its remoteness and inaccessibility, served as a prison for great personalities in history. Napoleon Bonaparte spent the last years of his life deported on the island from 1815 until his death, which occurred on May 5, 1821. General Piet Cronje and other prisoners from the Anglo-Boer wars were transferred to this territory, which also served as a place exile some Zulu chiefs, including Dinizulu.

From 1854, Emperor Napoleon III negotiated with the British government the purchase of a small part of the island that included the house of Longwood and the Valley of the Tomb, converted into properties of France in 1858 under the name of 'French dominions of Saint Elena 'and managed since then by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Briars Pavilion, the emperor's first home on the island, was introduced to the domain in 1959 when its last owner donated it to France, a process that was completed in 2007. Despite the name "French estates", the three properties did not they constitute a dependency of France, but are private properties of that country within the British island.

Politics

Executive authority in Santa Elena rests with Queen Elizabeth II and is exercised on her behalf by the Governor of Santa Elena. The Governor is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the British government. Defense and foreign affairs remain the responsibility of the UK.

There are 15 seats in the Legislative Council of Santa Elena, a unicameral legislative assembly, in addition to a President and a Vice President. Twelve of the 15 members are elected in elections held every four years. The three appointed members in their own right are the Chief Secretary, the Finance Secretary and the Attorney General, currently Susan O'Bey, Dax Richards and Allen Cansick, respectively. The Executive Council is chaired by the Governor and is composed of three officials appointed in their own right and five elected members of the Legislative Council appointed by the Governor. There is no elected Chief Minister, and the Governor acts as the head of government. In January 2013 it was proposed that the Executive Council be chaired by a Senior Councilor who would be elected by the members of the Legislative Council and nominated by the other members of the Executive Council. These proposals were submitted to a referendum on March 23, 2013, where they were defeated by 158 votes to 42, with a 10% turnout.

Both Ascension Island and Tristán da Cunha Island have a designated Administrator to represent the Governor of Santa Elena.

Territory

Santa Elena is one of the areas that make up the overseas territory of Santa Elena, Ascensión and Tristán de Acuña.

The administrative area of Santa Elena is divided into eight districts:

- Saint Paul

Geography

Located in the South Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, more than 2,000 kilometers from the nearest continental mass, Santa Elena is one of the most remote places in the world. The closest port on the mainland is Moçâmedes, in southern Angola; connections to Cape Town in South Africa are used for most shipping needs, such as the island's cargo ship, the MS Helena.

The island is associated with two other isolated islands in the South Atlantic, also British territories: Ascension Island, about 1,300 kilometers (810 miles) to the northwest, in more equatorial waters, and Tristán da Cunha, which is a long way from the tropics. , 2,430 kilometers (1,510 miles) to the south. The island is located in the western hemisphere and is the same length as Cornwall in the United Kingdom. Despite its remote location, the United Nations classifies it as located in West Africa.

The island of Santa Elena has an area of 121 km². Within the administrative area of Santa Elena, are included the small satellite islets and rocks such as Castle Rock, Speerd Island, The Needles, Lower Black Rock, Upper Black Rock (South), Bird Island (Southwest), Rock Black's Island, Thompson Valley Island, Peaked Island, Egg Island, Lady's Chair, Lighter Rock (West), Long Ledge (Northwest), Shore Island, George Island, Rough Rock Island, Flat Rock ( East), Los Buoys, Sandy Bay Island, Los Chimney, White Bird Island and Frightus Rock (Southeast), which together total 1 km².

On the island there are at least forty kinds of plant species unknown in any other part of the world. It constitutes by itself the ecoregion known as the Santa Elena forest and scrubland.

Weather

The climate of Santa Elena is tropical, marine and mild, tempered by the Benguela current and the trade winds that blow almost continuously, and the climate varies remarkably throughout the island. Temperatures in Jamestown, on the north leeward coast, range from 70-82 ° F (21-28 ° C) in summer (January to April) and 63-75 ° F (17-24 ° C). ) during the rest of the year. Temperatures in central areas are, on average, 5-6 ° C (9.0-10.8 ° F) lower. Jamestown also has very low annual rainfall, with between 750 and 1,000 mm (30-39 inches) falling per year in the higherlands and on the south coast, where it is also noticeably cloudier. There are weather recording stations in Longwood and Blue Hill Districts.

Economy

The island's economy is based mainly on aid it receives from the United Kingdom and on the export of fish, cattle raising and the sale of handicrafts. It currently has a small banking center.

The tourism that takes place in Santa Elena takes place mainly in the places where Napoleon was.

The issuance of postage stamps, mainly intended for collecting, is also an important source of income for its economy.

Before the construction of the airport, the main tour groups were dedicated hikers and retirees, as the required boat trip on the RMS Santa Elena consumed about two weeks round trip, making it unattractive for average tourists with regular jobs; the hikers were willing to use about two weeks of leave to go to and from Santa Elena and the retirees did not worry about travel times. Once the airport is completed, the island has acquired the potential to attract a wider range of tourists.

The government in Santa Elena updated its tourism marketing strategy in 2018. It outlined the target markets, Santa Elena's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The unique selling points of the island were also outlined, including nature (whale sharks and wire birds), holy culture (a safer environment), hiking and walking, diving, arts and crafts, the twin destination with South Africa, photography, career, history and heritage (Napoleon), stargazing, career, arts and crafts, and food and drink.

Until the global COVID-19 pandemic, Santa Elena has been on track to meet its tourism goals of 12% annual growth, which is required to reach more than 29,000 leisure visitors in the 25th year of operation of the service.

The majority of arrivals to Santa Elena are from non-resident tourists, followed by those who return (visiting friends and relatives), followed by returning residents, and then by those arriving on business. About 37% of the tourists are British, 21% South African, 13% European who are not British, German or French and 9% American or Caribbean. In 2018 tourism contributed approximately 4 to 5 million pounds to the economy, and in 2019 it increased to around 5 to 6 million pounds.

To get

Airport

In 2012, the British government approved a £ 300 million investment to build St Helena International Airport in such a way that it could offer an alternative to traveling to the island by boat from South Africa from five days to a few hours by plane. The airport was officially opened in June 2016. On May 3, 2017, almost a year after its official opening, the first commercial flight arrived from Cape Town, South Africa; an Avro RJ86 that operated SA Airlink and had 60 passengers on board.

Sport

Historically, the St Helena Turf Club hosted the island's first recorded sporting events in 1818 with a series of horse races in Deadwood. St. Helena has sent teams to several Commonwealth Games. Santa Elena is a member of the International Island Games Association. The Santa Elena cricket team debuted in international cricket in the third division of the African region of the World Cricket League in 2012. The first tournament of the international cricket team of Santa Elena was the 2019 Inter Games Soccer Tournament, after which he was ranked tenth in the top ten.

The Governor's Cup is a yacht race between Cape Town and St. Helena Island, held every two years in December and January.

In Jamestown there is a timed race on Jacob's Ladder every year, with people coming from all over the world to participate.