St. Helene Island - St. Helena Island - St. Helene Island seen from the International...

St. Helene Island - St. Helena Island - St. Helene Island seen from the International Space Station (ISS) on 7 May 2009. Sainte-Helene is located 1860 km off the African coast in the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Helena Island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean approximately 1,860 kilometers (1,156 miles) west of Africa, was one of the many isolated islands that naturalist Charles Darwin visited during his scientific voyages in the nineteenth century. This image was acquired by astronauts onboard the International Space Station on May 7, 2009. This astronaut photograph shows the island's sharp peaks and deep ravines; the rugged topography results from erosion of the volcanic rocks that make up the island. The change in elevation from the coast to the interior creates a climate gradient. The higher, wetter center is covered with green vegetation, whereas the lower coastal areas are drier and hotter, with little vegetation cover. Human presence on the island has also caused dramatic changes to the original plants and animals of the island. Only about 10 percent of the forest cover observed by the first explorers now remains in a semi-natural state, concentrated in the interior highlands. Saint Helena Island is perhaps best known as the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte I of France. Bonaparte was exiled to the island following his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815; he died on the island six years later in 1821. Today, the island is a British Overseas Territory, with access provided thirty times a year by a single ship, the Royal Mail Ship St. Helena