This is a place I want to go someday... I suppose you could say it's on my "bucket list." I first learned of Tristan in 2006, and have wanted to go there ever since. It's the most remote, permanent human population in the world, and it's only accessible by boat because it's too small/too awkward an island for a plane to land on it, and it's too far for a helicopter to travel to (about 1,700 miles from St. Helena of Napoleonic Fame, and over 2,000 miles from South Africa).
About 275 people live on the island and they all speak English! They are the descendants of a couple of worthy seafarers: start with a British garrison stationed there to make sure Napoleon didn't escape exile at St. Helena then throw in the mix some former whalers and viola! You've got some pretty hardy people who know how to run a self-sufficient island. They don't allow newcomers to live there, but they're friendly to the visitors! A side problem with that, as you may have guessed, is that there's only about 10 last names total. Not good for the genetic codes over the long haul... Nevertheless, I'd love to meet these people; there can't be anyone anything like them anywhere on the entire planet.
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