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The British Virgin Islands

Dependent territory of the United Kingdom in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It is part of an island chain collectively known as the Virgin Islands, which makes up the northeastern extremity of the Greater Antilles. Puerto Rico lies to the west. The Virgin Islands are divided administratively between the United Kingdom and the United States, the British territory lying to the north and east of the U.S. islands. The British colony consists of four larger islands (Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, and Jost Van Dyke) and 32 smaller islands and islets, of which more than 20 are uninhabited. The chief town and port is Road Town on Tortola (21 square miles [54 square km]), the largest of the islands. The total area of the colony is 59 square miles (153 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 18,000.

Virgin Gorda Island

One of the British Virgin Islands, in the West Indies, lying 80 miles (130 km) east of Puerto Rico. It has an area of 8.25 square miles (21 square km) and forms two rectangles joined by a spit, or point, of land. The peninsula in the southwest is flat and strewn with enormous granite boulders, some more than 30 feet (9 m) high. The north rises straight from the water to hills, the highest of which is Virgin Peak at 1,359 feet (414 m).

Settlement and History Tortola was first settled in 1648 by Dutch buccaneers who held the island until it was taken over in 1666 by a group of English planters. In 1672 Tortola was annexed to the British-administered Leeward Islands. In 1773 the planters were granted civil government, with an elected House of Assembly and a partly elected Legislative Council, and constitutional courts. The abolition of slavery in the first half of the 19th century dealt a heavy blow to the agricultural economy. In 1867 the constitution was surrendered and a legislative council was appointed that lasted until 1902, when sole legislative authority was vested in the governor-in-council. In 1950 a partly elected and partly nominated legislative council was reinstated. Following the defederation of the Leeward Islands colony in 1956 and the abolition of the office of governor in 1960, the islands became a crown colony. In 1958 the West Indies Federation was established, but the British Virgin Islands declined to join, in order to retain close economic ties with the U.S. islands. Under a constitutional order issued in 1967, the islands were given a ministerial form of government. The constitution was amended in 1977 to permit a greater degree of autonomy in internal affairs.

The Economy Despite the colony's small size, British Virgin Islanders have a fairly high standard of living for the Caribbean region. The economy is based largely on tourism. The U.S. dollar is used as the official currency.

Administration and Social Conditions The islands are a crown colony with a governor, appointed by the British crown, who is responsible for defense and internal security, external affairs, and the civil service. He exercises his powers in consultation with the Executive Council, over which he presides. The council consists of three ministers plus the chief minister and the attorney general. The Legislative Council consists of one ex officio member (the attorney general), nine members elected by universal adult suffrage, a speaker, who is elected from outside the council by its members, and one member appointed by the governor.

The West Indies - The Lesser Antilles - Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands are a group of about 90 small islands, islets, cays, and rocks in the West Indies, situated some 40 to 50 miles (64 to 80 kilometers) east of Puerto Rico. The islands extend from west to east for about 60 miles and are located west of the Anegada Passage, a major channel connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Their combined land area is about 195 square miles (505 square kilometers).

Physical and Human Geography Although the Virgin Islands form the easternmost extension of the Greater Antilles, they are often included in discussions of the Lesser Antilles because of their size and proximity to that island chain. The Virgin Islands themselves are the peaks of submerged mountains that rise from a submarine plateau. While the Caribbean deepens to a 15,000-foot trench between the island of St. Croix, to the south, and the rest of the group to the north, the greater part of the plateau is covered by at most 165 feet of water. Most of the islands rise only to a few hundred feet above sea level, although isolated peaks are well over 1,200 feet. The highest point is Mount Sage on Tortola, which is 1,710 feet (521 meters) high.

Anegada Passage Channel in the West Indies, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Caribbean Sea; it is 40 miles (65 km) wide and separates the British Virgin Islands (west) from the Leeward Islands (southeast). It has the greatest depth (more than 7,550 feet [2,300 m]) of any channel in the eastern Caribbean. The passage is one of the two through which subsurface water enters the Caribbean (the other being the Windward Passage).