What is the most isolated place on Earth -- greatest distance to the nearest permanently inhabited location?

Since it's mid-winter, most of us who live in northern climes entertain some thoughts about getting away for a while -- a tropical isle sounds nice. To be alone with just our thoughts and maybe the sounds of palm fronds rustling in the trade winds, gentle waves (emphasis on gentle) lapping upon a sandy shore and perhaps the familiar refrain of a seagull stirs up warm visions for many of us. Just living on sponge cake and watching the Sun bake.

Most people never truly experience the sounds of silence. In the summer of 1969, Michael Collins was perhaps the most isolated person in history -- furthest from another human being. On occasion, he was more than 3,400 miles (5,456 km) from his colleagues, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. Collins remained in orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin explored Tranquility Base on the Moon. It's possible that some poor, shipwrecked soul has had to endure similar loneliness here on Earth; Robinson Crusoe, for example. Actually, Isla Robinson Crusoe is a speck of rock lying about 300 miles off the coast of Chile in the Pacific Ocean. It's indeed pretty remote, but not nearly the most secluded place on our planet.

During the Antarctic explorations of the early 20th century, the various exploring parties were often hundreds of mile from their ships or base camps. When Robert Scott reached the South Pole, for instance, his team was approximately 750 miles (1,200 km) from his main base (Scott Hut) near present-day McMurdo, on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. Moreover, it's likely that they were more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from the nearest inhabited island. Today, there's a permanent station at the South Pole as well as a number of permanent stations along Antarctica's coasts. Those stations on the Antarctic Peninsula and in East Antarctic are more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the South Pole. However, most of these desolate encampments are less than 200 miles (320 km) from their nearest neighbor. Remote for sure, but no-where near the most isolated place on Earth.

The North Pole is home only to Santa and his elves and to a few cruise ships filled with tourists steaming the Arctic Ocean during the summer. But even if you count old St. Nick and his crew, and how can you not, the North Pole is quite cozy compared to the truly remote locations. It's less than 500 miles (800 km) from the village of Alert on the tip of Ellesmere Island, Canada, and approximately 800 miles (1,280) from Spitsbergen, Norway, where you can land on an asphalt runway and pick up a rental car at Longyearbyen's airport.

Speaking of Santa, surely Christmas Island (Kiritimati), almost in the dead center of the Pacific Ocean, must be a contender for the most isolated place on Earth. It's more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) from the nearest continent! However, Christmas Island, while seemingly at the end of the Earth, is no more than 200 miles (320 km) to the nearest inhabited island: Fanning Island (Kiribati). To go really remote you need to venture to the oceans in the Southern Hemisphere.

In the last 100 years, the population of the world has increased by almost 5 billion; from about 1.5 million people in 1900, to 2.5 billion in 1950 to approximately 6.5 billion people in 2000! Our frontier spirit has taken us to the ends of the Earth and even to the Moon. Except in Antarctica, there's almost assuredly not a single square mile of land that hasn't been at least visited or set upon. While settlements have been attempted on most every island, not all have succeeded. Especially in polar seas, the conditions are often too harsh to maintain a sustaining population. Constant clouds, freezing temperatures, continuous gales, and unproductive soils eventually knock the dash and daring out of the most hearty souls. Even technological wonders such as satellite cell phones, laptops, MTV, Game-Boy, and the Clapper aren't sufficient to lure new fodder to live in such hostile environments.

On occasion, a few cast-offs or stowaways may have drifted to a tiny island and were able to make a go of it. But it's unlikely that there are any Gingers and Mary Anns still out there. Some of the most remote and most sparsely populated islands are located in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. A number of settlements on islands in the southern seas are former whaling and sealing villages. When the whaling industry began to, uh, go under, only a handful of settlements prospered. On many of the southern islands, once the whaling boats left, only penguins, petrels and albatrosses remained. For example, the island of Bouvetoya, located some 2,200 miles (3,520 km) southwest of Cape Town, South Africa, is a former whaling station. It's an ice-overed land roughly 4 miles (6.5 km) long and 3 miles (4.8 km) wide. A weather station is in place, but it's unmanned.

So what's the settlement that's furthest from any other populated community? The answer is the island of Tristan in the Tristan da Cunha group. This little grouping lies in the South Atlantic Ocean about 1,600 miles (2,560 km) south of the island of St. Helena, about 1,700 miles (2,720 km) west of Cape Town and some 1,800 miles (2,880 km) northwest of Bouvetoya. It's situated nearly half-way between Africa and South America. The other islands that compose Tristan da Cunha are known as Nightingale, Stoltenhof, Middle and the appropriately named Inaccessible -- none are populated at present. These lonely isles are the very tops of a huge submerged volcano complex, which broke the surface nearly 1 million years ago. The highest summit is about 6,760 feet (about 2,000 m) above sea level. There's neither a harbor nor an airport on Tristan.

The only homes on Tristan are in Edinburgh, referred to as the "Settlement." This wee community numbers around 300 residents, but they're are only 7 last names -- this can't be good. Since there were only a few initial inhabitants and with scant visitors and shipwrecked mariners to augment the population, inbreeding is an ongoing concern. Supposedly, in 1827, at the request of five bachelors, the captain of a passing ship persuaded five woman from St. Helena to become brides for these desperate Tristans.

Tristan da Cunha was discovered by the Portuguese explorer, Tristao da Cunha, nearly 500 years ago. Since 1816, a cadre of British subjects has scratched out a living on the island of Tristan. When spiny lobster processing plants were built on the opposite side of the island from Edinburgh in the 1940s, Tristan temporarily lost its status as the "world's loneliest location." However, it's once again in possession of this forlorn moniker.

The island of St. Helena is almost as isolated as Tristan. It's no coincidence that in 1815, after his resounding defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte was banished to St. Helena, which is nearly 1,150 miles (1,850 km) west of the coast of modern-day Angola. As Napoleon walked about his prison island, he would sometimes be heard to wail

"Wasting away my life on St. Helena
Searching for a way to get off
Some people claim that Josephine's to blame
But I know, it's Wellington's fault."

How could he have known that years later, a lyrical pirate would fill his treasure chest with greenbacks using a similar verse.

For more about this see the following web sites:
http://www.lookat.ch/index.php/article/articleview/79/1/63

http://www.losttreasure.com/newsletter/4-15-2001/4-15-2001.html

Also see the January 1950 and the January 1964 issues of National Geographic Magazine.

This week's question is provided by Dr. James Foster. Dr. Foster originated this series and did it as a solo project for the GSFC website for EIGHT YEARS! This year Dr. Foster has decided to share the enthusiasm he has for this project with other Goddard scientists and will be posing questions on a semi-regular basis.