This article is about the demographic features of Saint Helena, an island and British overseas territory in the south Atlantic Ocean. St Helena is the most populous part of the wider territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The language spoken in St Helena is English.
The island has a small population of a few thousand inhabitants, mainly descended from British settlers, East India Company employees and indentured labourers from the South Asian sub-Continent, East Indies, Madagascar and China.[1]
A census in February 2008 recorded a population of 4,255 on the island.[2] This compares with a figure of 5,157 recorded in 1998. The fall can be explained mostly by emigration, especially since 2002 when the islanders were granted full British citizenship. The main diasporas are to the United Kingdom, South Africa and more recently to the Falkland Islands, as well as on Ascension Island. The population density, based on the 2008 figure, is 35 persons per sq km, or 90.6 per sq mile.
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The people of St Helena are Saint Helenians (though locally they are known as "Saints"); the demonym being Saint Helenian. The citizens of Saint Helena and its Dependencies 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 Saint Helenians.
The island of Saint Helena is administratively divided into eight districts,[3] each with a community centre. The districts also serve as statistical subdivisions and electoral areas. The four most populated districts send two representatives each to the Legislative Council, and the remaining districts send one representative each.
| District balance |
Area[4] km2 |
Area sq mi |
Pop. 1998 |
Pop. 2008[2] |
Pop./km² 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alarm Forest | 5.9 | 2.3 | 289 | 276 | 46.8 |
| Blue Hill | 36.5 | 14.1 | 177 | 153 | 4.2 |
| Half Tree Hollow | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1,140 | 901 | 563.1 |
| Jamestown | 3.6 | 1.4 | 884 | 714 | 198.3 |
| Levelwood | 14.0 | 5.4 | 376 | 316 | 22.6 |
| Longwood | 33.4 | 12.9 | 960 | 715 | 21.4 |
| Sandy Bay | 15.3 | 5.9 | 254 | 205 | 13.4 |
| Saint Paul's | 11.4 | 4.4 | 908 | 795 | 69.7 |
| Royal Mail Ship St. Helena |
– | – | 149 | 171 | – |
| Jamestown Harbour |
– | – | 20 | 9 | – |
| Total | 121.7 | 47.0 | 5,157 | 4,255 | 35.0 |
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[5]
NB: the following [CIA] figures 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 and human sex ratio, as estimated for 2010.
| Age range (years) | % of population | Of which male | Of which female |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-14 | 18.3 | 712 | 685 |
| 15-64 | 70.4 | 2,744 | 2,629 |
| 65+ | 11.4 | 412 | 455 |
| Age range (years) | Ratio male/female |
|---|---|
| at birth | 1.049 |
| 0-14 | 1.04 |
| 15-64 | 1.04 |
| 65+ | 0.94 |
| Total | 1.02 |
The total fertility rate for 2010 is estimated at 1.56 children born per woman.
According to the CIA World Factbook, by ethnicity 50% of the population of St Helena is Black or African, 25% is Chinese, and a further 25% is White British. However, the possibility of clear cut categorical divisions between ethnicities on present day St Helena, as reflected by these statistics, is disputed.[6] Many St Helenians today are mixed-race.
The majority of St. Helenians are Anglican. Other religions in St. Helena include (in alphabetic order): the Bahá'í Faith [2], the Baptist church, Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, and Seventh-day Adventism.
According to the statistics in the 2009 yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, Saint Helena has the highest proportion of Jehovah's Witnesses of any country or territory in the world: one person in thirty-five, using en estimated population of 3,900 for St Helena and a count of 113 Witnesses.[7]
In Tristan da Cunha, Christianity is the main religion, with the largest denominations being Anglican and Roman Catholic.
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.
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.
Saint Helena is one of the few territories in the world which has never had a recorded HIV / AIDS case.[8]
Ascension Island has no native inhabitants officially. A transient population of approximately 1,000 live on the Island, made up mainly of members of the American and British militaries, supporting civilian contractors who serve on the joint Anglo-American airbase, and members of their families (a few of whom were born on the island).
Tristan da Cunha has a population of about three hundred inhabitants of mainly British and Italian descent.