Jamestown, Saint Helena

Jamestown is the capital of the British overseas territory of St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha and is situated on the main island of St. Helena. The town has 880 inhabitants (as of 2012).

Jamestown was founded in 1659 by the British East India Company. It was built as a fort and named after the Duke of York, later King James II of England (English James II of England).

The town is surrounded by steep cliffs and consists of the berth for ships and a main road, which runs a mile long through a valley. There are two bakeries, one of which is a baked goods exchange an emigrated German.

From 1967-1999 broadcast from Radio St. Helena Jamestown. The transmitter is now common only over the Internet. A new short wave radio equipment is reactivated since 2006 every year for the Radio St. Helena Day, re-opening the short-wave transmitter is planned.