This article is about the demographics of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a

British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

in the south Atlantic Ocean.

Nationality

The citizens of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha hold British Overseas Territories citizenship. On 21 May 2002 they were granted access to full British citizenship by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, and there is a special Saint Helena passport issued to them.

Saint Helena

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

is the most populous part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The language spoken in Saint Helena is English. The island has a small population of a few thousand inhabitants, mainly descended from

Africans African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

, Mixed race African and Europeans, British settlers, East India Company employees and indentured labourers from the

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...

sub-Continent, East Indies, Madagascar and China. The people of Saint Helena are ''Saint Helenians'' (though locally they are known as "Saints"); the

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

being ''Saint Helenian''. A census in February 2016 recorded a population of 4,534 on the island. This compares with a figure of 4,257 recorded in 2008 and a figure of 5,157 recorded in 1998. The fall between 1998 and 2008 can be explained mostly by emigration, especially since 2002 when the islanders were granted full British citizenship. The main

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

s are to the United Kingdom, South Africa and more recently to the Falkland Islands, as well as on

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

. The population density, based on the 2016 figure, is 37.3 persons per km², or 95.3 per sq mile.

Districts of Saint Helena

The island of Saint Helena is administratively divided into eight districts, each with a community centre. The districts also serve as statistical subdivisions. The island is a single electoral area, sending twelve representatives to the Legislative Council. District map of Saint Helena

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the ''

CIA World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...

'', unless otherwise indicated.

Population

''NB: the following IAfigures represent the whole territory, including Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha.'' By 2010 estimates, per one thousand population: the birth rate is 10.95 births, and the death rate is 6.91 deaths. In the same year, it was estimated that the rate of population growth was 0.404%. The median age for 2010 is 38.2 years. The following tables describe

age structure A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid ...

and human sex ratio, as estimated for 2010. Births and deaths The total fertility rate for 2010 is estimated at 1.56 children born per woman.

Ethnicity

According to the

, 50% of the population of Saint Helena Island are

African Saint Helenians This article is about the demographics of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a British overseas territory in the south Atlantic Ocean. Nationality The citizens of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha hold British Overseas ...

, while

Chinese Saint Helenians Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

and

White Saint Helenians White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

make up 25% each. However, the possibility of clear-cut categorical divisions between ethnicities on present day St Helena, as reflected by these statistics, is disputed. Most Saint Helenians today are

multiracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

, similar to the Cape Coloureds. Ascension has no civilian population, while Tristan da Cunha has a white population descended primarily from the British Isles or from the Falkland Islands.

Religion

The majority of St. Helenians are

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

. Other religions in St. Helena include (''in alphabetic order''): the Baháʼí Faith, the Baptist church, Buddhism,

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, and Seventh-day Adventism. According to the statistics in the 2014 Yearbook of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

, Saint Helena has the highest proportion of Jehovah's Witnesses of any country or territory in the world: one person in thirty-five, using an estimated population of 4,000 for St Helena and a count of 118 members. In Tristan da Cunha, Christianity is the main religion, with the largest denominations being Anglican and Roman Catholic.

Education

Where being literate is defined as being of age 20 or over and able to read and write, 97% percent of the total population is literate, according to estimates from 1987. 97% of males and 98% of females of St. Helena are literate under this definition by the same estimates.

Health

By 2010 estimates, life expectancy at birth for the total population is 78.6 years (for males it is 75.68; for females it is 81.67). The infant mortality rate is 16.98 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha

has a population of around eight hundred inhabitants with the majority being Saint Helenians and located in Georgetown on the West Coast of the island with another small settlement, Two Boats located in Ascension’s interior. Tristan da Cunha has a population of about three hundred inhabitants, mainly located in the Edinburgh of the Seven Seas settlement on Tristan’s North Coast.

References

{{Navboxes , title = Articles Related to the Demographics of Saint Helena , list = {{British peoples , state=autocollapse {{Africa topic, Demographics of {{African diaspora {{English dialects by continent {{English official language clickable map Society of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha