Thesaurus
Term:
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Comprises island of Saint Helena and several others in the south Atlantic; main island sighted by Portuguese on feast of St. Helen in 1502; English visited in 1588, Dutch in 17th century; Africans brought here as slaves by British East India Company 17th century; official language is English. Formerly, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha were dependencies of Saint Helena. In 2009, each island was given equal status, and grouped as an overseas territory.