Area: 38 square miles                                                                    Population: 1,231

Ascension Island owes its name to the same Portuguese explorer, Joao da Nova, who discovered it on Ascension Day, 1501. Exactly two centuries later William Dampier was wrecked on its shore, but it remained uninhabited until 1815 when it was garrisoned by British troops, to forestall any attempts by Bonapartists to rescue Napoleon from St. Helena 700 miles to the southeast. Until 1922 it was transferred to the Colonial Office and became a dependency of St. Helena. In addition to the cable station operated by Cable Wireless Ltd., it has a BBC relay station and a NASA tracking station.

Monetary System

100 Pence = 1 Pd.; 25 Pence = 1 Crown

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A portion of the profits from this web site are donated to The Starcross Community, an organization providing love and care, in a home setting, to children afflicted with the AIDS virus.