Group of islands in the S Atlantic, part of
the British dependency of St Helena. area 110
sq km/42 sq mi features comprises four
islands: Tristan, Gough, Inaccessible, and
Nightingale. Tristan consists of a single
volcano 2,060 m/6,761 ft; it is an important
meteorological and radio station. government
administrator, plus island council, as a
dependency of St Helena products crawfish
currency pound sterling population (1982) 325
language English history the first European
to visit the then uninhabited islands was the
Portuguese admiral after whom they are named,
in 1506; they were annexed by Britain 1816.
Believed to be extinct, the Tristan volcano
erupted 1961 and the population were
evacuated, but in 1963 they chose to return.