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Saint Helena

Saint Helena Geography Stats

Definitions

  • Area > Comparative: The area of various small countries expressed in comparison to various areas within the United States of America.
  • Area > Comparative to US places: This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).
  • Area > Land: Total land area in square kilometres
  • Area > Land > Per capita: Total land area in square kilometres Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
  • Area > Total: Total area in square kilometers
  • Area > Total > Per capita: Total area in square kilometers Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
  • Area > Water: Total water area in square kilometers
  • Climate: A brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
  • Coastline: The total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
  • Elevation extremes > Highest point: Highest point above sea level
  • Elevation extremes > Lowest point: This entry is derived from Geography > Elevation extremes, which includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
  • Forested Land: Forested land as a proportion of total land area, estimate by FAO
  • Geographic coordinates: This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the Gazetteer of Conventional Names, Third Edition, August 1988, US Board on Geographic Names and on other sources.
  • Note: This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
  • Land use > Arable land: The percentage of used land that is arable. Arable land is land cultivated for crops that are replanted after each harvest like wheat, maize, and rice
  • Land use > Other: The percentage share of used land that is not arable or under permanent crops. This includes permanent meadows and pastures, forests and woodlands, built-on areas, roads, barren land, etc.
  • Land use > Permanent crops: The percentage share of used land on which permanent crops are grown. This is land cultivated for crops that are not replanted after each harvest like citrus, coffee, and rubber. It includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber.
  • Location: The country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
  • Map references: The name of the CIA World Factbook reference map on which a country may be found. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.
  • Maritime claims > Exclusive fishing zone: Exclusive fishing zone - while this term is not used in the LOS Convention, some States (e.g. the United Kingdom) have chosen not to claim an EEZ, but rather to claim jurisdiction over the living resources off their coast; in such cases, the term exclusive fishing zone is often used.
  • Maritime claims > Territorial sea: territorial sea - the sovereignty of a coastal State extends beyond its land territory and internal waters to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea in the LOS Convention (Part II); this sovereignty extends to the air space over the territorial sea as well as its underlying seabed and subsoil; every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles. A full and definitive definition can be found in the Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention.
  • Natural hazards: Potential natural disasters.
  • Natural resources: A country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
  • Population density: People per square kilometre, in 1999. At this time the world average was 14.42.
  • Terrain: A brief description of the topography
STAT AMOUNT DATE RANK HISTORY
Area > A note includes St. Helena Island, Ascension, and the island group of Tristan da Cunha, which consists of Tristan da Cunha Island, Gough Island, Inaccessible Island, and the three Nightingale Islands 2003
Area > Comparative slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC 2011
Area > Comparative to US places slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC 2008
Area > Land 410 sq km 2006 6th out of 20
Area > Land > Per capita 54.65 sq km per 1,000 people 2006 2nd out of 7
Area > Total 308 sq km 2011 208th out of 243
Area > Total > Per capita 54.34 sq km per 1,000 people 2008 43th out of 228
Area > Water 0.0 2011 239th out of 240
Climate Saint Helena - tropical; marine; mild, tempered by trade winds; Tristan da Cunha - temperate; marine, mild, tempered by trade winds (tends to be cooler than Saint Helena) 2011
Coastline 60 km 2011 189th out of 225
Elevation extremes > Highest point Queen Mary's Peak on Tristan da Cunha 2,060 m; Green Mountain on Ascension Island 859 m; Mount Actaeon on Saint Helena Island 818 m 2011
Elevation extremes > Lowest point Atlantic Ocean 0 m 2011
Forested Land 6.5% 2000 157th out of 193
Geographic coordinates Saint Helena: 15 57 S, 5 42 W
Ascension Island: 7 57 S, 14 22 W
Tristan da Cunha island group: 37 15 S, 12 30 W
2011
Note Saint Helena harbors at least 40 species of plants unknown elsewhere in the world; Ascension is a breeding ground for sea turtles and sooty terns; Queen Mary's Peak on Tristan da Cunha is the highest island mountain in the South Atlantic and a prominent landmark on the sea lanes around southern Africa 2011
Land use > Arable land 12.9% 2011 91st out of 239
Land use > Other 87.1% 2005 130th out of 241
Land use > Permanent crops 0.0 2011 239th out of 239
Location islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, about midway between South America and Africa; Ascension Island lies 700 nm northwest of Saint Helena; Tristan da Cunha lies 2,300 nm southwest of Saint Helena 2011
Map references Africa 2011
Maritime claims > Exclusive fishing zone 200 nautical mile 2011 12th out of 32
Maritime claims > Territorial sea 12 nautical mile 2011 170th out of 192
Natural hazards active volcanism on Tristan da Cunha, last eruption in 1961 2008
Natural hazards > Volcanism the island volcanoes of Tristan da Cunha (elev. 2,060 m) and Nightingale Island (elev. 365 m) experience volcanic activity; Tristan da Cunha erupted in 1962 and Nightingale in 2004 2011
Natural resources fish, lobster 2011
Population density 17.43 people per sqkm 1999 186th out of 255
Terrain the islands of this group result from volcanic activity associated with the Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge
Saint Helena: rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains
Ascension: surface covered by lava flows and cinder cones of 44 dormant volcanoes; ground rises to the east
Tristan da Cunha: sheer cliffs line the coastline of the nearly circular island; the flanks of the central volcanic peak are deeply dissected; narrow coastal plain lies between The Peak and the coastal cliffs
2011

SOURCES: CIA World Factbook, December 2003; CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; CIA World Factbooks 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013; FAO; Heal The World Foundation.

Citation

NationMaster

Saint Helena Geography Profiles (Subcategories)

Area 8 Land use 3
  • Saint Helena ranked 50 places from the bottom for area > total globally in 2011.
  • Saint Helena ranked 4th last for coastline amongst UK and its territories in 2011.

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