Ascension Island

**Ascension Island** is an isolated and relatively young volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, some  west of the mid-Atlantic Ridge,  from Liberia (Cape Palmas), and  from Brazil (Recife). The nearest land is Saint Helena,  to the south-east.

The Ascension Island is named after the day of its recorded discovery, Ascension Day. It is part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, of which the main island is St Helena.

The island is the location of a Royal Air Force station with a United States Air Force presence, a European Space Agency station and the BBC World Service Atlantic Relay Station. There is in the island one antenna of the five that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational system (others are on Kwajalein Island, Diego Garcia, Colorado Springs and Hawaii).
## History
The Galician explorer João da Nova, working for Portugal, saw the Ascension island in the South Atlantic in 1501, when he was going to India; named it *ilha da Conceição* (Conception Island). En 1503 when the Portuguese navigator Afonso de Albuquerque saw the island on Ascension Day, in the church calendar, he named it after the feast day.

Organised settlement of Ascension Island began in 1815, when the British sent soldiers to the island as a precaution after imprisoning Napoleon I on Saint Helena to the southeast.

In 1843, botanist and explorer Joseph Hooker visited the island. Four years later, Hooker advised the Royal Navy that with the help of Kew Gardens, they should develop a long-term plan of shipping trees to Ascension. So, from 1850 and continuing year on year, ships came each with different plants from botanical gardens in Argentina, Europe and South Africa. By the late 1870s Norfolk pines, eucalyptus, bamboo, and banana trees grew at the highest point of the island, Green Mountain, creating a tropical forest covered with clouds.

In 1899, the Eastern Telegraph Company (now part of Vodafone) installed the first underwater cable from the island, connecting the UK with its colonies in South Africa.

The temperature is constant throughout the year. Monthly average maximum temperatures at sea-level vary only between about 27&nbsp;°C and 31&nbsp;°C. At 660 m on Green Mountain maximum temperatures are typically about 13&nbsp;°C lower and minimum temperatures about 7&nbsp;°C lower than
at sea-level. The relative humidity at sea-level is around 70%.

The average temperature for the year in Georgetown is 25.6&nbsp;°C (78.0&nbsp;°F). The warmest month, on average, is March with an average temperature of 27.8&nbsp;°C (82.0&nbsp;°F). The coolest month on average is August, with an average temperature of 24.4&nbsp;°C (76.0&nbsp;°F).

## Demographics
 is the primary settlement on the island.]]
The human population is about 1,000, made up of civilians
working for the RAF and USAF, and a small number of military personnel. The personnel are mainly from the UK, USA and St Helena, none of whom are permanent residents.

There are five settlements:

*Georgetown (the main civilian settlement and capital of the island)
*Two Boats (a civilian village, with its school)
*Cat Hill (the United States' main base on the island)
*Traveller's Hill (Royal Air Force base)
*Wideawake Airfield (with the Royal Air Force station)

Two Boats School is the only school on the island and provides education to all resident children 3½–16 years old.

## Related pages
*Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
*Saint Helena
*Tristan da Cunha

## Gallery

File:Ascension ISS006.jpg|Ascension Island.
File:Ascension Island, Wideawake Airfield (1).JPG|Wideawake Airfield.
File:Georgetown in the distance.jpg|Georgetown in the distance, from atop Green Mountain.
File:Government House Ascension Island.jpg|Ascension Government House.
File:Georgetown Ascension3.JPG|The island's post office in Georgetown.
File:Ascension Island1.JPG|Ascension Island from the south.
File:Ascension Island Comfortless Cove.jpg|Comfortless Cove
File:Ascension Island Black igneous rocks.jpg|Black volcanic rocks.

## References
## Other websites
* Official Ascension Island Government site
* Ascension Island Government
* Ascension Island Newsletter 
* Ascension Conservation 
* Encyclopedia Astronautica - Rocket launches from Ascension
* Global Volcanism Program: Ascension Island 
* Detailed description of the BBC Atlantic Relay Station
* Colonial History of Ascension Island
* Ascension Island at Britlink – British Islands & Territories 
* Army Ornithological Society Ascension Island Research 
* Ascension Island & St Helena community website