Virgin Islands: Difference between revisions
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{| class="infobox" align="right"> |
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| colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | <big>'''Virgin Islands'''</big> |
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| style="width:50%; padding-left:0.3em; text-align:center;" | '''{{flagbig|United States Virgin Islands|size=150x150px}}''' |
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| style="width:50%; padding-left:0.3em; text-align:center;" | '''{{flagbig|British Virgin Islands|size=200x200px}}''' |
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| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[File:SVG Map of Virgin Islands.svg|400px|Political regions of the Virgin Islands]] |
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The '''Virgin Islands''' are the western [[island group]] of the [[Leeward Islands]], which are the northern part of the [[Lesser Antilles]], and form the border between the [[Caribbean Sea]] and the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. Politically, the eastern islands form the [[British Virgin Islands]] and the western ones form the [[Virgin Islands of the United States]]. The British Virgin Islands is an [[overseas territory]] of the [[United Kingdom]] comprising [[Tortola]], [[Virgin Gorda]], [[Jost Van Dyke]] and [[Anegada]]. |
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The U.S. Virgin Islands is one of five inhabited [[insular areas]] of the United States, along with [[American Samoa]], [[Guam]], [[Northern Mariana Islands]], and [[Puerto Rico]]. The territory comprises [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Croix]], [[Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. John]], [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]] and Water Island. The Virgin Passage separates the U.S. Virgin Islands from the ''[[Spanish Virgin Islands]]'' of [[Vieques]] and [[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]], which are part of [[Puerto Rico]]. The [[United States dollar]] is the official currency on both the British and U.S. Virgin Islands as well as the Spanish/Puerto Rican Virgin Islands. |
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==Etymology== |
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[[File:Virgin_Islands-map-CIA.jpg|thumb|The locations of the US and UK Virgin Islands]] |
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[[Christopher Columbus]] named the islands after [[Saint Ursula]] and the 11,000 Virgins ({{lang-es|1=Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes}}), shortened to the Virgins (''las Vírgenes''). The official name of the British territory is the '''Virgin Islands''', and the official name of the U.S. territory is the '''Virgin Islands of the United States'''. In practice, the two island groups are almost universally referred to as the British Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. |
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==History== |
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{{Main|Danish West Indies|History of the United States Virgin Islands|History of the British Virgin Islands}} |
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The Virgin Islands were originally inhabited by the [[Arawaks|Arawak]], [[Carib people|Carib]], and Cermic, all of whom perished during the colonial period through enslavement, foreign disease, and mass extermination{{Citation needed|date=October 2013}} brought by European colonists. |
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The islands got their current name after [[Christopher Columbus]] named the islands ''Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes'', shortened to ''Las Vírgenes'', after the legend of [[Saint Ursula]] and her 11,000 virgins. |
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European colonists later settled here and established [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|sugar plantations]], at least one [[tobacco plant|tobacco]] plantation, and purchased slaves acquired from [[Africa]]. The plantations are gone, but the descendants of the slaves remain the bulk of the population, sharing a common African-Caribbean heritage with the rest of the [[English-speaking Caribbean]]. |
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In 1916 and 1917, Denmark and the U.S., respectively, ratified a [[Treaty of the Danish West Indies|treaty]] in which Denmark sold the Danish West Indies to the United States of America for $25 million in gold. |
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In the 1990s a Puerto Rican tourism campaign renamed the Passage Islands as the [[Spanish Virgin Islands]],{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} though they are seldom{{Clarify|date=July 2011}} identified as such on maps and atlases.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} They are part of the Commonwealth of [[Puerto Rico]], located east of the main island of Puerto Rico. However, they are geographically part of the Virgin Islands chain.<ref name="Casa Las Palmas">{{cite web| url=http://www.culebra-caribbean.com| title=Casa Las Palmas| accessdate=March 7, 2007}}</ref> They are closer to [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]] than St. Thomas is to [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Croix]]. |
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==Traffic control== |
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Motor vehicles are [[Right- and left-hand traffic|driven on the left-hand side of the road]] in both the British and the U.S. Virgin Islands, although the steering wheels on most cars are located on the left side (as is the norm for drive-on-the-right localities). Only on the Spanish Virgin Islands are vehicles driven on the right-hand side of the road. |
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==Larger Islands== |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|- |
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! Rank |
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! Island |
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! Area (km) |
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! Area (sq mi) |
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! Population <small>(2010)</small> |
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! Administration |
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| 1 |
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| [[Saint Croix]] |
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| 214 km² |
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| 82 sq mi |
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| 50,601 |
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| {{USA}} |
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|- |
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| 2 |
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| [[Vieques]] |
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| 135 km² |
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| 52 sq mi |
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| 9,301 |
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| {{USA}} |
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|- |
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| 3 |
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| [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint Thomas]] |
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| 80.91 km² |
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| 31.23 sq mi |
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| 51,634 |
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| {{USA}} |
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|- |
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| 4 |
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| [[Tortola]] |
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| 55.7 km² |
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| 21.5 sq mi |
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| 23,908 |
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| {{VGB}} |
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|- |
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| 5 |
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| [[Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint John]] |
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| 51 km² |
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| 19.6 sq mi |
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| 4,170 |
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| {{USA}} |
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|- |
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| 6 |
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| [[Anegada]] |
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| 38 km² |
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| 15 sq mi |
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| 200 |
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| {{VGB}} |
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|- |
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| 7 |
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| [[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]] |
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| 30.1 km² |
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| 11 sq mi |
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| 1,818 |
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| {{USA}} |
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|- |
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| 8 |
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| [[Virgin Gorda]] |
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| 21 km² |
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| 8 sq mi |
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| 3,000 |
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| {{VGB}} |
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|- |
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| 9 |
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| [[Jost Van Dyke]] |
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| 8 km² |
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| 3 sq mi |
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| 297 |
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| {{VGB}} |
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|} |
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==See also== |
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*[[Culture of the Virgin Islands]] |
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*[[Music of the Virgin Islands]] |
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*[[Virgin Islands Creole]] |
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*[[British Virgin Islands]] |
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*[[Dutch Virgin Islands]] |
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*[[Danish West Indies]] |
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*[[Lesser Antilles]] |
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*[[Spanish Virgin Islands]] |
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*[[United States Virgin Islands]] |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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==External links== |
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{{commons|Virgin Islands}} |
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{{EB1911 poster|Virgin Islands}} |
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*[http://inotes.bvi.gov.vg/portal/home.nsf Government of the British Virgin Islands] |
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*[http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/vipage.htm U.S. Virgin Islands] from the U.S. [[Office of Insular Affairs]] |
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*[http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ufdc/?h=uvi&n=dloc University of the Virgin Islands materials] in the [http://www.dloc.com/ Digital Library of the Caribbean] |
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{{coord|18|5|37|N|64|49|49|W|scale:1000000|display=title}} |
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[[Category:Virgin Islands| ]] |
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[[Category:Geography of the British Virgin Islands]] |
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[[Category:Geography of the United States Virgin Islands]] |
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[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Caribbean Sea]] |
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[[Category:Divided regions]] |
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Revision as of 11:58, 12 December 2013
jgtwtpwt tpgtkgjm