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Table of Contents
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island. It can be found in the South Atlantic Ocean, which is midway between Brazil and Africa. It is a working island with a strategic location excellent for communication hubs and military bases with no permanent residents.
See the fact file below for more information on Ascension Island, or you can download our 27-page Ascension Island worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
GEOGRAPHY
- Ascension Island has an area of around 34 sq mi and has 44 distinct dormant craters. Ascension Island is almost 2,300 kilometers from the Brazilian coast and 1,600 km from the African coast.
- Along with Tristan da Cunha and Saint Helena, the island is part of the British Overseas Territory.
- The island’s soil is mainly clinker, composed of broken lava stones. Most of its terrain is a wasteland comprising cinder cones and lava flows.
- The island last erupted about 500 years ago. Its soil is mainly clinker because of low rainfall and previous geological eruptions.
- The island is also composed of various alkaline rocks unusual for oceanic islands, from basalt to trachyandesite and trachyte to rhyolite.
- The island has a subtropical climate. Rain can fall at any time of year. It often pours more heavily in the summer. The temperature ranges from 22°C (72°F) to 31°C (88°F).
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
- Joao da Nova, a Portuguese sailor, first discovered the island and named it Conception Island in 1501; two years later, on Ascension Day in 1503, Alphonse d’Albuquerque rediscovered the island and gave it its current name.
- Being dry and barren, the island was left uninhabited since it had little to offer to passing ships and was only used for gathering fresh meat.
- There was a possibility, although greatly disputed that the island was occasionally used as an open prison. There was one case of such an exile that has been documented. Leondert Hussenlosch, a Dutch ship’s officer, was sent ashore in Clarence Bay in May 1725 as punishment for sodomy.
- In January 1726, British seafarers discovered the Dutchman’s tent, belongings, and journal but not his remains.
- The first organized settlement on Ascension Island occurred in 1815 after Emperor Napoleon I was imprisoned on St Helena. A small British naval force was stationed on the island to deny it to the French. The same year, on October 22, the Cruizer-class brig-sloops Zenobia and Peruvian claimed the island for King George III.
- By 1821, the island was developed into a sanatorium and victualing station for West Africa Squadron ships that were involved in suppressing the West African slave trade.
- The first submarine communications cable was installed from the island in 1899 by the Eastern Telegraph Company, connecting the UK with its colonies in South Africa as part of the British efforts in the Second Boer War.
- During World War II, Ascension Island was a lookout for German warships targeting the cable station. On South West Plain, the United States constructed an airfield still in use today.
- Through Ascension, the United States supported the war in North Africa by providing troops and weapons.
- Due to its strategic location in the South Atlantic, Ascension served as a critical military staging area for the British during the Falklands War in 1982.
- The island switched to a democratic system of government in 2002, and taxes were instituted for the first time. The British monarch, represented by a governor headquartered in St. Helena, had the executive power.
- Ascension’s dependency on St. Helena was terminated by the 2009 Constitution order, establishing a single governor for the united Overseas Territory of St. Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha.
ECOLOGY
- Ascension was visited during the second Beagle voyage in 1836. Charles Darwin characterized it as an island barren of trees and nothing growing close to the coast.
- Joseph Hooker, a botanist and explorer, visited the island in 1843. Four years later, Hooker encouraged the Royal Navy to implement a long-term strategy of shipping plants to Ascension with the assistance of Kew Gardens after receiving strong encouragement from Darwin. The newly planted trees would increase rainwater absorption and enhance the soil, transforming the deserted island into a garden.
- The Green Mountain on Ascension Island is one of the few large-scale planned forests, and it is steadily expanding every year due to the British introducing new species.
- Plants such as Asplenium ascensionis, Euphorbia origanoides, Pteris adscensionis, and the extinct species Oldenlandia adscensionis, Sporobolus durus, and Dryopteris ascensionis are among the endemic flora of the island.
- Anogramma ascensionis (Ascension Island parsley fern) was believed to be extinct until four plants were discovered on the island in 2010. Over 60 specimens were successfully cultivated afterward.
- Donkeys, lambs, cats, and rats are among the mammals introduced to the island. Reptiles are composed of two species of lizards. Among the endemic insect species is the wingless Psocoptera, which has been discovered in caves and between lava blocks and the Giant Pseudoscorpion.
- Johngarthia lagostoma (formerly Gecarcinus lagostoma), a land crab, is the largest native land animal that can be found. Offshore, open-ocean fish includes tuna, wahoo, bonito, sharks, barracuda, blackfish, marlin, and sailfish.
- The protected green turtle is undoubtedly the most prominent of the endemic animals, arriving on the shores from November to May to lay its eggs.
- Turtles were harvested regularly until 1930 when it was banned. The turtle population had started to recover by 1970.
- Non-native birds on the island include francolins, canaries, sparrows, mynas, and waxbills. Sooty terns, also known as “wideawake birds,” nest in large seashore lava “fairs.” Other seabirds include petrels, boobies, tropicbirds (dubbed “boatswains” by the island’s residents), white terns, brown noddy, black noddy, and Ascension frigatebird.
- The Island Council’s suggestion led to the designation of the Ascension Island Marine Protected Area (MPA) on August 30, 2019. The MPA covers the entire Ascension’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), covering an area of roughly 445,000 square kilometers, making it one of the world’s largest MPAs.
GOVERNMENT AND ITS PEOPLE
- The island is part of the United Kingdom’s overseas territory. It runs its government (shared with St Helena and Tristan da Cunha), makes its laws, has fiscal jurisdiction, and may raise taxes through the Governor. The United Kingdom is responsible for the military, international relations, and internal security of the country.
- According to the February 2016 census, Ascension Island has 806 people. RAF Ascension Island has employees consisting of 17 people.
ECONOMY
- The island’s significant economic activity revolves around military bases at Wideawake Airfield and the BBC World Service’s Atlantic Relay station.
- Ascension Island postal stamps, originally issued in 1922, and, since 2010, commemorative coins (legal currency but non-circulating) and commercial fishermen licenses for long-line tuna fishing vessels operating under ICCAT quotas are the primary export goods.
- The Bank of St. Helena runs a branch on the island and maintains an account with Lloyds Bank in the United Kingdom for international money transfers. The Saint Helena pound is the local currency in Ascension Island.
TRANSPORTATION
- In 2003, the UK and US signed the Wideawake agreement, which enabled a limited number of non-scheduled commercial flights to land on Ascension Island. Because there is no taxi service on the island, visitors need to rent a car.
- The cargo ferry M/V Helena, operated by AW Shipping Management, transports a limited number of passengers on its trips between Cape Town, St Helena, and Ascension. After the retirement of the RMS St Helena in 2018, the South African Airways SA Airlink has operated a monthly inter-island flight between St Helena and Ascension.
- Before entering the island, all visitors and employees must get an entry permit or visa.
- Tourism was non-existent until 2002 due to the island’s inaccessibility to transportation and lack of guest accommodations. The RAF has recently made limited air travel available to the public, and the Georgetown Obsidian Hotel and a handful of guest villas have been developed.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO ON THE ISLAND
- Green Mountain – Green Mountain National Park, Ascension Island’s only national park, is a rich forested location. It is home to most of the island’s biodiversity, including land crabs and six of Ascension’s seven indigenous flora.
- Turtle Watching – Turtle nests can be found on different beaches of Ascension.
- Beaches – The only beaches recommended for swimming are English Bay and Comfortless Cove.
- Heritage Museum – It consists of a modest structure and the ruins of Fort Hayes. It contains artifacts that tell the narrative of one of the fascinating islands in the Atlantic.
- Explore offshore wonders – Year-round, the seas around Ascension provide clear, pollution-free waters with fantastic diving and fishing opportunities.
Ascension Island Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Ascension Island across 27 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Ascension Island, which is an isolated volcanic island that can be found in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Complete List of Included Worksheets
Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.
- Ascension Island Facts
- This is Ascension
- Fact Check
- Let’s Look For It!
- Life in the Island
- Through the Years
- Island Represents
- Ascension Notes
- Do You Know?
- Protect it Now!
- Feature This
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Link will appear as Ascension Island Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 20, 2022
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