Country name:
conventional long form: Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha
conventional short form: none
etymology: Saint Helena was discovered in 1502 by Galician navigator Joao da NOVA, sailing in the service of the Kingdom of Portugal, who named it "Santa Helena"; Ascension was named in 1503 by Portuguese navigator Afonso de ALBUQUERQUE who sighted the island on the Feast Day of the Ascension; Tristan da Cunha was discovered in 1506 by Portuguese explorer Tristao da CUNHA who christened the main island after himself (the name was subsequently anglicized)
Dependency status:
overseas territory of the UK
Government type:
parliamentary democracy (Legislative Council); limited self-governing overseas territory of the UK
Capital:
name: Jamestown
geographic coordinates: 15 56 S, 5 43 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
3 administrative areas; Ascension, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha
Independence:
none (overseas territory of the UK)
National holiday:
Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, third Monday in April (1926)
Constitution:
several previous; latest effective 1 September 2009 (The St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009) (2016)
Legal system:
English common law and local statutes
Citizenship:
see United Kingdom
Suffrage:
18 years of age
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Governor Lisa PHILLIPS (since 25 April 2016)
cabinet: Executive Council consists of the governor, 3 ex-officio officers, and 5 elected members of the Legislative Council
elections/appointments: none; the monarchy is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch
note: the constitution order provides for an administrator for Ascension and Tristan da Cunha appointed by the governor
Legislative branch:
description: unicameral Legislative Council (17 seats including the speaker and deputy speaker; 12 members directly elected in a single countrywide constituency by simple majority vote and 3 ex-officio members - the chief secretary, financial secretary, and attorney general; members serve 4-year terms)
note: the Constitution Order provides for separate Island Councils for both Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
elections: last held on 26 July 2017 (next to be held in 2021)
election results: percent of vote - NA; seats by party - independent 12
Judicial branch:
highest resident court(s): Court of Appeal (consists of the court president and 2 justices); Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice - a non-resident - and NA judges); note - appeals beyond the Court of Appeal are heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London)
judge selection and term of office: Court of Appeal and Supreme Court justices appointed by the governor acting upon the instructions from a secretary of state acting on behalf of Queen ELIZABETH II; justices of both courts appointed until retirement at age 70 but terms can be extended
subordinate courts: Magistrate's Court; Small Claims Court; Juvenile Court
Political parties and leaders:
none
Political pressure groups and leaders:
private sector; unions
International organization participation:
UPU
Diplomatic representation in the US:
none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation from the US:
none (overseas territory of the UK)
Flag description:
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 upper third of the shield depicts a white plover (wire bird) on a yellow field; the remainder of the shield depicts a rocky coastline on the left, offshore is a three-masted sailing ship with sails furled but flying an English flag
National symbol(s):
Saint Helena plover (bird)
National anthem:
note: as a territory of the UK, "God Save the Queen" is official (see United Kingdom)
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan Da Cunha on this page is re-published from the 2018 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan Da Cunha Government 2018 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan Da Cunha Government 2018 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) The assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 28-Feb-18