British Virgin Islands
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List of Languages Spoken in British Virgin Islands:
EnglishThe National Capital of British Virgin Islands is: Road Town
British Virgin Islands Area in Square Kilometers: 153.0
Population Statistics of British Virgin Islands are: 21730
British Virgin Islands is located in the continent of North Amer. The North Amer continent code is NA
Translation of the Country Name British Virgin Islands in Foreign Languages :
جزر فيرجن البريطانية in Arabic
英属维尔京群岛 in Chinese
British Virgin Islands in Dutch
Îles Vierges britanniques in French
British Virgin Islands in German
British Virgin Islands in Greek
British Virgin Islands in Italian
イギリス領ヴァージン諸島 in Japanese
영국령 버진 아일랜드 in Korean
Ilhas Virgens Britânicas in Portuguese
Британские Виргинские острова in Russian
Islas Vírgenes Británicas in SpanishBritish Virgin Islands
Motto
"Vigilate" (Latin)
"Be Watchful"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen"
Capital Road Town
Official languages English
Government British Overseas Territory
- Head of State Queen Elizabeth II
- Governor David Pearey
- Premier Ralph T. O'Neal
British Overseas Territory
- Separate colony 1960
- Autonomous territory 1967
Area
- Total 153 km (216th)
59 sq mi
- Water (%) 1.6
Population
- 2005 census 22,016
- Density 260/km (68th)
673/sq mi
Currency U.S. dollar (USD)
Time zone Q (UTC-4)
- Summer (DST) not observed (UTC-4)
Internet TLD .vg
Calling code +1 284
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S. Virgin Islands. Technically the name of the Territory is simply the "Virgin Islands", but in practice since 1917 they have been almost universally referred to as the "British Virgin Islands" to distinguish the islands from the American Territory.[1] To add to the regional confusion, the Puerto Rican islands of Culebra, Vieques and surrounding islands began referring to themselves as the "Spanish Virgin Islands" as part of a tourism drive in the early 2000s. Administratively, these islands are part of Spanish speaking Puerto Rico, and were historically ruled by Spain.
The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with over fifty other smaller islands and cays. Approximately fifteen of the islands are inhabited. The largest island, Tortola, is approximately 20 km (approx. 12 mi) long and 5 km (approx. 3 mi) wide. The islands have a total population of about 22,000, of whom approximately 18,000 live on Tortola. Road Town, the capital, is situated on Tortola.
History
Main article: History of the British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands were first settled by Arawak Indians from South America around 100 BC (though there is some evidence of Amerindian presence on the islands as far back as 1500 BC).[2] The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the fifteenth century when they were displaced by the more aggressive Caribs, a tribe from the Lesser Antilles islands, after whom the Caribbean Sea is named. (Some historians, however, believe that this popular account of warlike Caribs chasing peaceful Arawaks out of the Caribbean islands is rooted in simplistic European stereotypes, and that the true story is more complex.)
The first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas. Columbus gave them the fanciful name Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vrgenes (Saint Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins), shortened to Las Vrgenes (The Virgins), after the legend of Saint Ursula.
The Spanish Empire claimed the islands by discovery in the early sixteenth century, but never settled them, and subsequent years saw the English, Dutch, French, Spanish and Danish all jostling for control of the region, which became a notorious haunt for pirates. There is no record of any native Amerindian population in the British Virgin Islands during this period, although the native population on nearby St. Croix was decimated.
The Dutch established a permanent settlement on the island of Tortola by 1648. In 1672, the English captured Tortola from the Dutch, and the British annexation of Anegada and Virgin Gorda followed in 1680. Meanwhile, over the period 16721733, the Danish gained control of the nearby islands of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix.
The British islands were considered principally a strategic possession, but were planted when economic conditions were particularly favourable. The British introduced sugar cane which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and slaves were brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations. The islands prospered economically until the middle of the 1800s, when a combination of the abolition of slavery in the Territory, a series of disastrous hurricanes, and the growth in the sugar beet crop in Europe and the United States[3] significantly reduced sugar cane production and led to a period of economic decline.
In 1917, the United States purchased St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix from Denmark for US$25 million, renaming them the United States Virgin Islands.
The British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the British Leeward Islands or with St. Kitts and Nevis, with an Administrator representing the British Government on the Islands. Separate colony status was gained for the Islands in 1960 and the Islands became autonomous in 1967. Since the 1960s, the Islands have diversified away from their traditionally agriculture-based economy towards tourism and financial services, becoming one of the richest areas in the Caribbean.British Virgin Islands
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