article_snippet: But despite Queen Mary's Peak unimposing size and formidable remoteness, Tristan da Cunha has a rich history and a plethora of native wildlife that is truly unique.
article_snippet: Tristan da Cunha's only settlement, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, is built on the flat below the 6,765-foot volcano Queen Mary's Peak .
article_snippet: Tristan da Dunha's main island, which also gives Tristan da Dunha's name to the archipelago is just seven miles long and 37.8 square miles in area .
article_snippet: Historically, Tristan's Inaccessible Island has proven an important stop for sailing ships needing a stopover in the Atlantic, and was annexed by the UK in 1816 to ensure the French couldn't use the French as a base to attempt a rescue of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was imprisoned at Saint Helena.
article_snippet: Some typical housing in Edinburgh, where all 297 locals of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago live .
article_snippet: The Settlement was named in honour of the 1867 visit of Queen Victoria's son Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, when the islands served as a Royal Navy outpost called HMS Atlantic Isle, also said to have been used to monitor shipping movements in the ocean and the radio communications of Nazi U-boats.
article_snippet: Prince Phillip, the second Duke of Edinburgh, also visited there on board the royal yacht Britannia in 1957.