The island was discovered by the Portuguese in 1501 on Ascension Day.

It was uninhabited until Napoleon was sent to St Helena. A garrison of British soldiers was stationed there in 1815 to guard against attempts to rescue him.

It is an important British and American air base and communications center and was used during the Falklands war for assembling the Task Force and for refueling bombers. It is ruled as a dependency of St Helena. However, as a result of a treaty in 1962 the United States leases much of the island for its base. Thus it is similar to the status of BIOT. The British use of it during the Falklands war was by permission of the Americans.

English

Ascension island affects world politics by being a resource in the hands of the United States and Britain.

The BBC World Service has a transmitter beamed at South America and Africa. Locally, in theory it is under the control of the British governor of St Helena; in reality it is controlled by the United States.

The economy is military.

No land animals were found on the island when it was first discovered. It is largely an arid country.

Islanders were awarded full British citizenship in 21 May 2002. However, British citizens do not have the right to move there. Moreover, the US authorities prefer that islanders retire to somewhere else, thus in practice there are no permanent residents. People do not have the right to acquire property.