Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The islands are divided into two parts, one of which, the British Virgin Islands, is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The other is the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States.

Related Topics:
Archipelago - Caribbean Sea - British Virgin Islands - Overseas territory - United Kingdom - U.S. Virgin Islands - Unincorporated - Organized - United States

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Christopher Columbus named the islands Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Virgines (shortened to Las Virgines), after St Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins. They were inhabited by Carib Indians, whom Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor wiped out when he took over the islands in 1555 for the Holy Roman Empire.

Related Topics:
Christopher Columbus - St Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins - Carib - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor - 1555 - Holy Roman Empire

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The islands were later peopled by Africans who were enslaved on sugar plantations, and on at least one indigo plantation. The sugar plantations are now gone, but the descendents of the slaves are still there, sharing a common West Indian culture with the other English-speaking islands of the Caribbean. Tourism is now the main industry.

Related Topics:
Indigo - Plantation - Sugar plantations - West Indian culture

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On both the British and the US Virgin Islands, cars are driven on the left-hand side of the road and the currency is the US dollar.

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From the CIA World Factbook 2000.

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