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Encyclopedia Britannica



VIRGIN ISLANDS

This article appears in Volume V28, Page 126 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: VIR-WAT
VIRGIN ISLANDS , a group of small islands in the West Indies, about loo in number, for the most part uninhabited. They extend E. from Puerto Rico, lying between 17 and 18 50' N., and 64 1o' and 65 3o' W., their total area being about 465 sq. m. The islands are mostly rocky, or sandy and barren, but such portions as are under cultivation yield sugar, maize, coffee,
cotton
  and indigo.
Guinea
  grass grows abundantly on the hillsides, affording excellent pasturage; the forests,though few, include the mahogany and other useful trees. The coasts abound with fish. The climate is more healthy than that of the other West Indian islands, and the heat is not so
great
 . Some of the islands belong to the United States, some to Denmark and some to
Great
  Britain. The United States' possessions (once dependencies of Puerto Rico, but ceded by Spain in 1898) have an area of about 150 sq. m. and include Culebra or Snake
Island
 , and Vieques or Crab
Island
 . The
chief
  Danish islands are St
Thomas
  (q.v.), St Croix (q.v.) and St John (q.v.), the total area being about 240 sq. m. Of the British portion of the group the principal are Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke, Peter's Island and Salt Island, in all numbering 32, with an area of 58 sq. m. With the exception of the island of Sombrero they form one of the five presidencies in the colony of the Leeward Islands. The inhabitants are peasant proprietors, mainly engaged in raising cattle and in burning charcoal, but some are fishermen and boatmen. The
chief
  town is Roadtown (pop. 400) at the head of a splendid harbour on the S. of Tortola, and what
trade
  there is is mostly with St
Thomas
 . Sombrero is maintained as a lighthouse by the British government. Population of the presidency, mostly negroes (1891) 4639; (1901) 4908.
The Virgin Islands were discovered by Columbus in his second
voyage, in 1494, and named Las VirgPnes, in honour of St Ursula and her companions. In 1666 the British established them-
selves on Tortola, which has ever since remained in their possession. In the 17th century the Virgin Islands were favourite resorts of the buccaneers. The Danish islands of St Thomas and St John were taken by the British in 18o1, but restored in the following year. In 1807 they surrendered to the British,
and continued in their hands till 1815, when they were again restored.


End of Article: VIRGIN ISLANDS


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