Ascension Island

Ascension Island
Constituent part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: "God Save the King"
Topographic map of Ascension Island
Location of Ascension Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
British settlement	1815
Dependency of Saint Helena	12 September 1922
Current constitution	1 September 2009
Capital and largest settlement	Georgetown 7°56′S 14°25′W / 7.933°S 14.417°W / -7.933; -14.417
Official languages	English
Government	Devolved locally governing dependency under a constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Charles III
• Governor	Nigel Phillips
• Administrator	Simon Minshull[1]
Legislature	Island Council
Government of the United Kingdom
• Minister	Vacant
Area
• Total	88 km2 (34 sq mi)
Highest elevation	859 m (2,818 ft)
Population
• 2016 census	806[2]
• Density	9.15/km2 (23.7/sq mi)
Currency	Saint Helena pound (£) (SHP)
Time zone	UTC±00:00 (GMT)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+247
UK postcode	ASCN 1ZZ
ISO 3166 code	SH-AC
Internet TLD	.ac

Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the coast of Africa and 1,400 miles (2,300 km) from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha,^[3] of which the main island, Saint Helena, is around 800 miles (1,300 km) to the southeast. The territory also includes the sparsely populated Tristan da Cunha archipelago, 2,300 miles (3,700 km) to the south, about halfway to the Antarctic Circle.

Ascension Island was discovered by the Portuguese navigator João da Nova in 1501 and named Conception Island, but was rediscovered in 1503 on Ascension Day by Alphonse de Albuquerque and renamed.^[4] Ascension Island was garrisoned by the British Admiralty from 22 October 1815 to 1922 and was an important refueling stop for ships and commercial airliners in the days of international air travel by flying boats. During World War II, it was an important naval and air station, especially providing antisubmarine warfare bases in the Battle of the Atlantic.^[5]

The island is the location of RAF Ascension Island, which is a Royal Air Force station, a European Space Agency rocket tracking station, a British-American signals intelligence facility and the BBC World Service Atlantic Relay Station. The island was used extensively as a staging point by the British military during the Falklands War. Ascension Island hosts one of four ground antennas that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational system (the others are on Kwajalein Island, Diego Garcia, and Cape Canaveral). NASA operates a Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) on Ascension Island for tracking orbital debris, which is potentially hazardous to operating spacecraft and astronauts, at a facility called the John Africano NASA/AFRL Orbital Debris Observatory.^[6]