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)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Saint Helenian(s); adjective--Saint Helenian                 
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: NA                                                            
                                                                                
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                                                                
                                                                                
Ports: Jamestown (Saint Helena), Georgetown (Ascension)                         
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 1 passenger-cargo ship totaling 6,767 GRT/5,600                
DWT                                                                             
                                                                                
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                                   
                                                                                
