The small island of Ascension (93kb Topographic Map) lies in the South Atlantic (7 56'S, 14 22'W) some 750 miles Northwest of the Island of Saint Helena and covers an area of 35 square miles.

Ascension is a rocky peak of purely volcanic origin (44 distinct craters - all "dormant", i.e. not "extinct") with its base just west of the mid-Atlantic ridge. Much of the island is covered by basalt lava flows and cinder cones. The last major volcanic eruption took place about 600 years ago. The highest point (Green Mountain) at some 2817 ft is covered with lush vegetation which, with each rainy season is increasingly spreading throughout the island. There is a small farm near the peak which used to produce vegetables and pork but the Red Lion farm building has now sadly fallen into disrepair. The Ascension Island Government Conservation Department is now using some of the former farm land as a nursery to promote the development of endemic species of flora.

The climate on Ascension Island is subtropical.

There is no indigenous population. The inhabitants of the island comprise the employees and families of the organisations working on the island. The population is about 1,100 - mostly Saint Helenians but with 200 United Kingdom and 150 US citizens.

There are five settlements on the Island. Georgetown the administrative capital and port; Two Boats village about three miles inland and situated at 600 feet is a residential area; Traveller's Hill is where the MOD garrison lives; Cat Hill is the US Base area and there is the Residency, the Red Lion and some cottages on Green Mountain. There is an Anglican church, St Mary's in Georgetown, a small Roman Catholic church, the "Grotto", and the remains of a mosque (which served Moslems from West Africa in the early days of occupation).