SAINT HELENA
(dependent territory of the UK)
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 410 km2; land area: 410 km2; includes Ascension, Gough
Island, Inaccessible Island, Nightingale Island, and Tristan da Cunha
Comparative area: slightly more than 2.3 times the size of
Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 60 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; marine; mild, tempered by trade winds
Terrain: rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains
Natural resources: fish; Ascension is a breeding ground for sea
turtles and sooty terns; no minerals
Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and
pastures 7%; forest and woodland 3%; other 83%
Environment: very few perennial streams
Note: located 1,920 km west of Angola, about two-thirds of the
way between South America and Africa; Napoleon Bonaparte's place of
exile and burial; the remains were taken to Paris in 1840
PEOPLE
Population: 6,695 (July 1991), growth rate 0.6% (1991)
Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: NEGl migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 46 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 75 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1991)
Religion: Anglican majority; also Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist,
and Roman Catholic
Language: English
Literacy: 98% (male 97%, female 98%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1987)
Labor force: NA
Organized labor: Saint Helena General Workers' Union, 472 members;
crafts 17%, professional and technical 10%, service 10%, management and
clerical 9%, farming and fishing 9%, transport 6%, sales 5%, and other
34%
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: none
Type: dependent territory of the UK
Capital: Jamestown
Administrative divisions: 2 dependencies and 1 administrative
area*; Ascension*, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha
Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK)
Constitution: 1 January 1967
Legal system: NA
National holiday: Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second
Saturday in June), 10 June 1989
Executive branch: British monarch, governor, Executive Council
(cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952);
Head of Government--Governor and Commander in Chief Robert
F. STIMSON (since 1987)
Political parties and leaders:
Saint Helena Labor Party, G. A. O. THORNTON;
Saint Helena Progressive Party, leader unknown;
note--both political parties inactive since 1976
Suffrage: NA
Elections:
Legislative Council--last held October 1984 (next to be held NA);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(15 total, 12 elected) number of seats by party NA
Communists: probably none
Member of: ICFTU
Diplomatic representation: none (dependent territory of the UK)
Flag: 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
ECONOMY
Overview: The economy depends primarily on financial assistance
from the UK. The local population earns some income from fishing, the
rearing of livestock, and sales of handicrafts. Because there are few
jobs, a large proportion of the work force has left to seek employment
overseas.
GDP: $NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): - 1.1% (1986)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $3.2 million; expenditures $2.9 million,
including capital expenditures of NA (1984)
Exports: $23.9 thousand (f.o.b., 1984);
commodities--fish (frozen and salt-dried skipjack, tuna),
handicrafts;
partners--South Africa, UK
Imports: $2.4 million (c.i.f., 1984);
commodities--food, beverages, tobacco, fuel oils, animal feed,
building materials, motor vehicles and parts, machinery and parts;
partners--UK, South Africa
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 9,800 kW capacity; 10 million kWh produced,
1,390 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: crafts (furniture, lacework, fancy woodwork), fish
Agriculture: maize, potatoes, vegetables; timber production being
developed; crawfishing on Tristan da Cunha
Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1970-88), $184 million
Currency: Saint Helenian pound (plural--pounds);
1 Saint Helenian pound (LS) = 100 pence
Exchange rates: Saint Helenian pounds (LS) per US$1--0.5171
(January 1991), 0.5603 (1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988), 0.6102
(1987), 0.6817 (1986), 0.7714 (1985); note--the Saint Helenian pound is
at par with the British pound
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 87 km bitumen-sealed roads, 20 km earth roads on
Saint Helena; 80 km bitumen-sealed on Ascension; 2.7 km bitumen-sealed on
Tristan da Cunha
Airports: 1 with permanent-surface runway 2,440-3,659 m on
Ascension
Telecommunications: 1,500 radio receivers; stations--1 AM,
no FM, no TV; 550 telephones in automatic network; HF radio links to
Ascension, then into worldwide submarine cable and satellite networks;
major coaxial cable relay point between South Africa, Portugal, and UK at
Ascension; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
DEFENSE FORCES
Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK
