Berrio

Berrio
____ ______Flag____________Coat of arms
Motto	"Upon the sea, we're united"
Anthem	The Ambrosian
Status	Overseas Territory
Capital	Cristiana
Official language	English
Demonym	Berrian
Government	Dependency under a; constitutional monarchy
Monarch	Helene of Brunant
Governor	Andrew Robinson
Government minister	Michael Mortensen
Overseas Territory	1 June 1920
Area	87 km² (32 sq mi)
Population	561 (2015)
Currency	Berrian pound (BEP)
Calling code	+35
ISO 3166 code	BU
Internet TLD	.be.bt
Website	www.berrio.be.bt

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Berrio (/bəɹɪʊ/) is a small island in the Atlantic Ocean and an Overseas Territory of Brunant. It is a remote island, 205 km from the nearest inhabited island, Saint Helena, and 1,141 km from the nearest continental city, Luanda in Angola. It is 3,549 km from South America and 3,761 km from the Brunanter capital Koningstad.

It has an area of 87 km² and as of 1 January 2015, the island has 561 permanent inhabitants. Berrio was discovered in 1502 by Portuguese explorer Nicolau Coelho, who named the island after his ship, the Berrio. It was an important stopover for ships sailing to Europe from Asia and South Africa for centuries. Brunanters were the first to settle the island in the 1840s and in 1856, Brunant purchased it from Portugal. Berrio was named an Overseas Territory in 1920, the only one of its kind.

Berrio is monolingual English-speaking, though the local vernacular employs some different words and locals have a unique accent.

History[]

Port of Cristiana 1880 — Port of Cristiana, 1880

After a brief British occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, the island returned to Portugal. In the 1840s, Brunanters were the first to successfully settle the island, and in 1856, Brunant purchased it from Portugal.

Portugal[]

Nicolau Coelho, a Portuguese explorer, first set sight on the island in late 1502 aboard his ship Berrio, naming the island after it. The Portuguese were the first to set foot on the island in 1512, but no major settlement happened in the following centuries.

Some ten Portuguese settlers inhabited Berrio from 1710 to 1714, and from 1736 to 1757, there was a Portuguese military presence on the island, housing about 15 to 20 soldiers at any given time. In 1808, after the start of the Peninsular War, the island was occupied by the British. In 1815, it was returned to Portugal.

The third Portuguese presence arrived on Berrio in 1817 and was captained by João Duarte, who in 1819 finished Fauna e flora del Berrio, which described all species, both animals and plants, on the island. This included the first formal description of the green-footed booby, a large seabird endemic to Berrio. With the Brazilian War of Independence beginning in 1822, the small presence left for Brazil and Portugal.

Brunant[]

A family of Brunanter adventurers were shipwrecked on the island in 1843, led by John Ross, setting sail from Portuguese Angola to Brazil. They managed to survive off of the local vegetation and birds until being rescued by a passing American ship in 1845. They returned to the island in 1847, along with four other prospective settlers. in 1849, João Duarte and a Brazilian-Portuguese friend arrived on Berrio. By 1851, there were 17 Brunanters plus two Portuguese, making for 19 people on the island.

Duarte had written several letters to the Portuguese government if they could formally appoint him as the commander of the former Portuguese naval installation on Berrio. In 1851, a Portuguese ship passed along the island and Duarte was made in command of the small naval base, along with some other sailors.

Due to the high number of Brunanters on the island the government showed interest in acquiring the island from Portugal. Berrio was purchased in 1856 for 9,000,000 thalers (about £900,000); by then there were 23 Brunanters and six Portuguese people.

The main settlement was formed in the northeast and was given the name of Cristiana, in honor of Cristian I, the first Brunanter monarch over the island. The Royal Navy ship HMS Donegal visited the island in 1880, a large event. The Realmarine first visited the island in 1882, when the Conte van Drenthe came with news of the establishment of democracy and with much-needed (as well as unnecessary) goods from Europe. They would largely be involved in resupplying the island over the next decade. Prince Eugen became the first royal to visit the island, arriving in 1904.

Overseas Territory[]

In 1920, Berrio is declared an Overseas Territory of Brunant.

King Johan II and Queen Maria Benedita were the first monarchs to visit Berrio, which they did in 1937. The island was well-decorated and the royal couple stayed at the Governor's House in Cristiana for ten days.

An American engineer on Berrio during the Second World War

During World War II, Berrio was supplied by the Americans and they had a small radio post on the island. They were the only part of Brunant not under German occupation, instead under de facto American control. Berrio was home to about 30-45 American soldiers at any given time.

Berrio organized its first formal election in 1951 for a local government, with the support of Prime Minister Alexander Bouras. Silvia Costa was elected the first administrator. In 1969, the first Governor of Berrio was appointed.

Since the 1950s, local laws have been put in place to protect the local culture, limiting travel and largely banning permanent settlement.

Berrio set up a police office in 1954 and had a single police officer until 2001, and two since then. Jonathan Harris is a policeman.

Geography[]

Berrio is situated west of Luanda, Angola and northwest of Saint Helena. The island is only 87 square kilometers in size, dominated by the 1002 meter Francesca Peak.

There are two bays on the island, the large port of Cristiana and little Headley Bay (pronounced heedley). There is one rocky little islet to Berrio's east, called The Rock.

Some of the wildlife on the island include red-footed boobies, Masked boobies, Silver Plover (Charadrius berriensis) and Bulwer's petrel. A well-known endemic species is the Green-footed booby, which nests on The Rock and is found on Berrio's beach. The marine life includes Sparidae and Parrotfish, among others.

Climate[]

The archipelago has a wet oceanic climate with pleasant temperatures but moderate to heavy rainfall and little sunshine, due to the persistent winds. August and September sees the coldest temperatures, dipping to 14 degrees. In January, temperature can climb to 23-25 degrees, with record temperatures being 31 Celsius in January 1998 and the lowest being -12 Celsius in June 1967.

Demographics[]

Population[]

A Berrian citizenship does not exist. All Berrians are Brunanters and carry regular passports, and are thus also EU citizens.

There are two settlements in Berrio, Cristiana and Headley. About 30 people live on farms outside the two localities proper.

Religion[]

Economy[]

Berrio stamp — New 2015 sticker stamp of 70p

Berrio used the Berrian pound as its currency. This was implemented in 1968 and pegged at 2.5 Thalers. One pound is worth 1.195 euros. Euros may also circulate when brought over by tourists. Prior to 1968, the thaler used to circulate, but in very minimal quantities, with most locals simply bartering. THe pound was replaced in 2018 with the euro.

Berrio has a bank in Cristiana, Berrian Bank, linked to Unie Spaarbank in Brunant. This allows Berrians to access their money in Brunant without any charge.

Berrio is not formally part of the European Union, but is associated as an Oversea Country and Territory (OCT). It is not automatically party to the Schengen Agreement, and locals have shown little interest in doing so.

Berrio uses its own stamps since 1900, denominated in thalers. In 1968 they began using Berrian pound stamps. The current regular series features a vintage design with the queen's silhouette on it.

Most of the local economy is centered around fishing and farming, with the occasional tourism (mostly eco-tourism) complementing that. Income is further derived from selling coins, banknotes and stamps to collectors.

Government[]

The monarch of Brunant is the head of state of Berrio. As of 2025, this is Queen Helene. The island has no head of government, but a governor is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Department of Internal Affairs and Immigration, which is tasked with overseeing Berrio. Formerly, the Department of Internal Affairs and the Overseas (1920-1966), the Department of Internal Affairs (1966-1984) and the Department of External Affairs (1984-2018) were responsible for Berrio.

A Berrian legislature of eight members is elected every four years to oversee the governing of the island. There is no head of government per se, but a quarterly rotation of the presidency of the legislature. The governor is a non-elected member of the legislature and leads its bi-monthly meetings.

Transport[]

Because of the remoteness, Berrio is difficult to reach from the outside world. Lacking an airport, the island can only be reached by sea. It is visited fifteen times a year by a ship from Cape Town and twice yearly by the Navy's R.S. Carrington. The closest airport is Saint Helena Airport, which is 205 km from Berrio.

Most people walk within the island for travel, and the few bicycles and horses on Berrio may also be used. There is only one car on Berrio, a 1963 Carona Stella, brought over in 1970, which serves as the sole motorized transport on land. In 1982, the island passed a law banning any more motor vehicles. In late 2018 it was voted to approve two temporary exceptions for an ambulance, bought that year, and a small microbus for 2019. Several small tractors and off-roaders are already present.

Berrio is home to Brunant's only overseas military base, the Berrio Naval Base. This is the smallest used by the Realmarine, used by naval ships supplying the island and hosting a cannon from a WWII-era ship in case of defense.

Communications[]

Berrio is assigned the postal code 0100 and uses two Brunant-based telephone numbers, 10 00 010 and 10 00 011.

Berrio has one radio station, Radio Berrio, and also receives transmissions from the British Forces Broadcasting Service. Television only came to Berrio in 1999; American Forces television was the only television channel, but satellite technology has allowed locals to receive three other channels.

The Brunanter government and DMBT granted the use of of .be.bt to Berrio.

There are several Internet news sites such as Berrio Online and Berrio Island Info, which offer information and photographs about Berrio, but also the departure hours of ships from and to the island, the weather forecast, the football results, advice on accommodation and information about the cuisine, culture, history and language of Berrio.

Attention Berrio! is the only local newspaper on the island, introduced in 1997. It replaced The Times of Berrio, founded in 1969. The newspaper is also available on the Internet.

Culture and society[]

Language[]

English on Berrio has some similarities to the English spoken on Saint Helena and Tristan Da Cunha, though ultimately derived from Brunanter English. Berrian English employs a few Portuguese words and Portuguese does contribute to the accent.

Berrians are a mix of Brunanter and some Portuguese ancestry. A number of the common surnames, such as Torres, Costa and Morais are Portuguese, though that language is only minimally understood or spoken by the older generations natively. Since 2012 formal teaching of Portuguese occurs in the local school.

Education[]

The Nicolas Coelho School is the only school on the island. A public primary and secondary school, it follows the standard curriculum, the only difference being the teaching of Portuguese in the first and second cycle, and the choice of Dutch as the foreign language at the secondary level. Berrio has no tertiary education, but scholarships are offered for students to study abroad.

Health[]