Tristan da Cunha (37 South, 12 West). During WWII designated HMS Atlantic Isle and often referred to as the remotest island in the world. One of a group of five small volcanic South Atlantic islands—two little more than ait—stretched out over a few dozen miles. The other members of the archipelago are: Inaccessible, Nightingale, Center (or Middle) and Stoltenhoff. Inaccessible, true to its name, is an off limits nature preserve.
The island was discovered in 1506. Obtained by fiat in the pages of the Boston Gazette, Jonathan Lambert of Salem, Massachusetts took possession in 1810 and died in 1812. Shortly thereafter annexed by the British and settled around 1816. Tristan is a nominal dependency of the distant island of Saint Helena, best known as the last prison of Napoleon, along with Ascension Island. Part of the United Kingdom and home to about 300 permanent residents and a crawfish industry.