Talk:Tristan da Cunha

Potatoes

Apparently this place is famous for its potatoes, the finest in the world- someone please elaborate on this (I heard a potato expert raving about them on NPR)

I have added an external link (BBC-"Wallowing off the coast of Tristan") but it does have some new information and could be used as a citation for several new "revelations". Concerning potatoes, it says that "Sixty years ago all their business was conducted by barter (to send a letter to England cost five potatoes)." - I have left it to someone else to phrase this appropriately under "Economy". Ibjle (talk) 15:09, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

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Shouldn't something be said about the novel by Raoul Schrott?

Depends what the novel is and what relation it has to the island. Feel free to add something if you feel it's relevant. Worldtraveller 22:49, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

"Tristan da Cunha. Oder Die Hälfte der Erde" is quite an amazin novel and tells alot about the island. But, as far as I can tell, it has never been translated to English. So it is probably not that interesting for readers of the English Wikipedia. 84.137.78.41 21:41, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Flora and fauna

Surprised that there is so little on the flora and fauna of the islands. Considering how remote they are, with a mild climate, I would expect them to have some very unusual birds at least.

There's nothing anywhere about their climate.--99.101.160.159 (talk) 05:02, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Area figure

Is it just me, or is the conversion between the figures for square miles and square kilometers not even close to correct? My calculator tells me that 120.9 mi² is equal to 313.1 km². Am I crazy? Is my calculator broken?

Your calculator is giving the correct answer. I can't see the particular conversion you mentioned, but it's true that the accuracy of some conversions in the article varies wildly one to the other. One in particular is 3 miles out and is rounded up to 10 miles, but some others are more accurate.

The problem arises when the "convert" function is used without specifying the rounding of the result. That's been documented already here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Analysis_of_Template:Convert_problems#Default_rounding_to_nearest_10_units

I'll take a look at the conversions and make appropriate adjustments to them.Twistlethrop (talk) 22:10, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Allan Crawford

Interesting obituary of Allan Crawford in today's Daily Telegraph. He had a long association with Tristan da Cunha so perhaps some be incorporated into the article about the island? --jmb 11:54, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Tristan stamp.jpg

Image:Tristan stamp.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 04:46, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Virus Outbreak

I just read there's a virus outbreak on the island, causing severe breathing problems. Anybody know any details? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7126563.stm -OOPSIE- 11:20, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Mobile phone network

What mobile phone network do they use, and what about internet access? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.20.171.109 (talk) 21:28, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't know if there is a mobile phone network there. For internet they are likely to use fixed VSAT or BGAN terminals. Any mobile phone network will have backhaul via satellite since there is no submarine cable. Iridium (satellite) phones should work there but I have no idea what phones they actually use.

Recent distance change

An IP user changed the number of miles Tristan is from other islands, I am inclined to think its vandalism but couldn't find any reliable information on google about how far it actually is. So i'm leaving it alone for now Towel401 (talk) 12:59, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

People?

Who are the peoples who inhabit the island? The demographics section isn't very clear. Ethnically British or some kind of native people? - Yorkshirian (talk) 18:10, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

No native people. Joaopais 02:33, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

Dependency

Is Tristan da Cunha a "dependency of a dependency"? Joaopais 02:34, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes and Gough Island is a dependency of a dependency of a dependency(!). "Top level" dependencies were renamed in 2002 as British overseas territories though. Christopedia (talk) 05:18, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

7 family names i dutch 2 italian see the tristan news webpage for acurate info —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.76.32.181 (talk) 18:21, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

Part of South America or Africa?

These island are part of South America or Africa continents?Agre22 (talk) 15:19, 13 September 2008 (UTC)agre22

It is located slighter closer to the African mainland and is considered part of Africa. Christopedia (talk) 05:19, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm surprised ...

Aren't those islanders worried about any volcanic eruptions? I can truly say these islanders are some of the bravest people on Earth in order to be so far away from civilization, and if that volcano erupts, well I guess they're just in trouble. The island's website has pretty decent information on the island. Lucky for me though, a majority of Tristaners may have Italian ancestry, and also a lot of the population is Roman Catholic. I hope they at least do something to modernize the island from the Ice Age (literally!) into the Internet Age. Saluti, IlStudioso 01:28, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Asthma

Just watching a documentary about asthma and the canadian doctor that studied the Asthma on the island said that 3 of original women had indeed asthma, but apparently also the two italians that shipwrecked there. And he also said that half of original population thus had astma. The demographics section gives a different picture with 15 ancestors and only 3 with asthma. Just though I'd mention this here. It's a bbc documentary aired here in Finland under a different title, could be Horizon. Kynde (talk) 21:00, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Most remote?

Pitcairn Islands and Tristan da Cunha both seem to claim this.--Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 16:03, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

The Pitcairn Islands aren't that far from French Polynesia, but Easter Island is really far from anywhere.

The Tristan da Cunha article has a citation from a web article written by a professional geographer but the Pitcairn Islands article does not provide any source for its claim. Also, the Geography of the Pitcairn Islands article claims they are "one of the most remote sites of human habitation on Earth", again without a source. --GeoWriter (talk) 16:34, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Hawaiian Islands also claims to be about 1,860 miles (3,000 km) from the nearest continent, greater than the 2,816 kilometres (1,750 mi) claimed for Tristan da Cunha. The point about Easter Island is irrelevant as it is not an archipelago unless you count a few offshore rocks. The Kerguelen Islands could also be called the most isolated archipelago as the nearest land mass is Antarctica and the nearest inhabited landmass, Madagascar is over 2000 miles distant (though small unhabited islands like Heard Island and Île Saint-Paul are much closer). It may be there is no good definition of what it means to be the most remote. --SEKluth (talk) 04:40, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

See Also

"Outline of Tristan da Cunha" is the most useless article ever. It needs to be deleted.--99.101.160.159 (talk) 04:59, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Social Organization

Apart from a glancing mention of communal lands, there is nothing here about the social experiment that created today's community. While religious groups such as the Shakers and the Harmonists founded settlements based on communal property and shared profit, Tristan da Cunha's impulse was apparently secular and probably pragmatic: it takes a village to survive and all that. Apart from the shared land, how much of the original agreement still stands? Are there any other modern examples of this kind of arrangement? (i.e., secular, voluntary and encompasing a...how to put it? A governmental entity? That is, this isn't just confined to some people on a commune, but upheld by the entire island!). As the foundational idea of the Tristan islander's life--or at least the one that certainly set them apart from other First World settlers in the nineteenth century--this is a social and economic story that needs to appear here. Arthurdoodles (talk) 11:12, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Twentieth Century section, visit by Prince Phillip in 1957

Perhaps I'm missing something, but wasn't his title at the time "Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh"?Terry Thorgaard (talk) 17:31, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Convert templates

I reverted some changes to convert templates in the lead. The extra precision on 2400 km from South Africa is incorrect. The source even says "about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers)". Two significant digits is correct, and is the default for the template in this case. The other precision changes don't do anything since they are already default. Adding "abbr=off" might be appropriate on first use, but I don't think it's helpful after that in the same paragraph. Kendall-K1 (talk) 15:08, 5 March 2016 (UTC)

Puma's Mar Mostro

A paragraph was added to the "21st century" section, entirely unsourced, about the ship Puma's Mar Mostro. I have deleted the paragraph as non-encyclopedic and the claims as being overblown, as well as it being unsourced. Even if the event were sourced, it does not appear to have any particular relation to Tristan da Cunha's history. --Bejnar (talk) 18:10, 22 March 2016 (UTC)

Tristão da Cunha

Article needs link to article of the namesake of the island. CS 15:56, 18 June 2016 (UTC) Tristão da Cunha — Preceding unsigned comment added by CSjoholm (talk • contribs) 15:56, 18 June 2016 (UTC)