United States Virgin Islands

Flag Proportion: 2:3

Capital: Charlotte Amalie

Language: English

Currency: Dollar

Continent: North America

Group of 3 islands and about 50 islets, most of which are uninhabited, in the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies, east of Puerto Rico and lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The three islands, with their areas, are Saint Thomas (83 sq km/32 sq mi), Saint John (52 sq km/20 sq mi), and Saint Croix (207 sq km/80 sq mi). The capital is Charlotte Amalie (population, 1990, 12,331), on Saint Thomas. Other communities in the group are Christiansted and Frederiksted, both on Saint Croix. The total area is 344 sq km (133 sq mi), and the total population (1990) is 101,809.

The islands are generally hilly to mountainous. Crown Mount (474 m/1556 ft) on Saint Thomas is the highest point. The climate is tropical, moderated by prevailing trade winds. The average annual temperature is 26.7? C (80? F). Vegetation is luxuriant and diverse. Mineral resources are lacking, although sand and stone are mined for local construction.

Tourism is vital to the economy of the Virgin Islands. Some 32 percent of all paid employees are engaged in retail sales or in services provided by recreation, motels, hotels, and restaurants. The number of tourists visiting the islands rose from about 200,000 in 1960 and 1961 to some 1.5 million in 1986; in the same period, spending by tourists grew from $26 million to more than $500 million. Products manufactured in the islands include rum, watches, textiles, and pharmaceuticals. The islands also have petroleum and alumina processing plants. The annual budget in the late 1980s exceeded $303.5 million.

The islands form the easternmost outpost of the United States. The United States Marine Corps maintains an air base on Saint Thomas and an airfield on Saint Croix.

Education is compulsory for all children between the ages of 5? and 16. Free schooling is provided in elementary and secondary schools. In the late 1980s the islands' 70 public elementary and secondary schools had an annual enrollment of about 29,000 pupils. The College of the Virgin Islands (1962), a public institution on Saint Thomas, had an annual enrollment of about 2550 students.

From 1917, when the United States acquired the Virgin Islands, to 1931 the islands were governed by the Department of the Navy. In 1931 jurisdiction was transferred to the Department of the Interior, and a civil governor was appointed by the president. Since 1970 the governor has been popularly elected. The unicameral legislature is elected for two-year terms and is composed of 15 senators, 5 each from Saint Croix and Saint Thomas, 1 from Saint John, and 4 at large. Executive power is vested in an elected governor and lieutenant governor, an attorney general appointed by the governor, and other officials. The government comptroller is appointed by the secretary of the interior, and the judge of the district court is appointed by the president of the United States.

Christopher Columbus discovered the Virgin Islands on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493. He named the islands for Saint Ursula and the other virgin martyrs associated with her. Columbus attempted to land at Saint Croix in November 1493 but was driven away by fierce Carib Native Americans who inhabited the island. The Carib Native Americans were annihilated, but no permanent settlements were made. The Virgin Islands remained a Spanish possession throughout the 16th century.

Denmark colonized Saint Thomas in 1666. The Danish West Indies Company controlled the group until 1755, when Frederick V, king of Denmark, bought the islands. In 1800, during the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain blockaded Saint Thomas and in 1801 occupied the island. In 1802 Saint Thomas was returned to Denmark. From 1807 to 1815 the British again occupied the Danish West Indies; in 1815 the islands were once more restored to Denmark.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Virgin Islands flourished as a center for the slave trade and as a producer of sugar. To harvest the sugar, the Danes began to depend on slavery and started importing slaves from Africa in 1673. The slave trade was prohibited by the Danish government in 1792. A slave revolt on Saint Croix in 1848 led to the slaves' immediate emancipation. The slaves had the tacit support of the Danish governor of the islands, Peter von Scholten, who was opposed to slavery. After the emancipation of the slaves, the economy of the Virgin Islands disintegrated. The population of the islands dwindled. It was not until the 1940s that the economy began to recover.

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