Tristán de Acuña: the remotest inhabited place in the world

It’s an undeniable fact that we barely know about the world around us. There’s lot of places out there yet to be discovered, untouched by men, and places with a mild amount of population that don’t mind living in a state of confinement in regards to the rest of the world, as they have found a sense of peace in where they stand.

The certain island we’re about to introduce you, which holds the Guinness Record to the most isolated place in the world, is worth mentioning as it’s home to only one populated locality, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, composed by a total of 270 people who live 2.000 kilometers away approximately from any other inhabited area. This island, which is actually a volcanic archipelago, is Tristán de Acuña (Tristão da Cunha) named after its discoverer in 1506, and is considered part of the British overseas territory and is located in the South Atlantic Ocean.


There’s no airport in the island and to get there one has to fly to Cape town and then take a boat for an entire week trip at the sea, all in all a costly and lengthy trip which doesn’t make it exactly appealing for travelers at first. Also there’s no mobile phone network on the island, which is probably no surprise! There’s, though, Internet access via satellite link, so all the villagers share 1 Mbps connection at all hours of the day.


All the inhabitants are descendants of the first families that went to live to Tristán. There are 80 families living at the island, and there are only 8 different surnames: Glass, Green, Hagan, Laverello, Repetto, Rogers, Swain and Patterson.

There’s just one hospital and one doctor, and they even have X-Rays and scanner however if there’s any serious urgency they need to be treated in Cape Town, remember, 5 days away by boat!


Despite the technical limitations, as it’s to be expected of a small island, Tristan da Cunha makes up for it by allowing you to tune into nature entirely when visiting, and the fact that 270 people don’t seem to have an actual interest in worldwide affairs and is so devoted to an archipelago in the middle of nowhere makes one wonder what can this place have to offer.

If you’re filled with wanderlust and you find beauty in all the corners of the world, this island would definitely quench your thirst for travel!


You can check the exact location of the island here