Residence 
Location 
Virgin Islands
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  British Virgin Islands |  United States Virgin Islands |
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Coordinates: 18°5′37″N 64°49′49″W / 18.09361°N 64.83028°W / 18.09361; -64.83028 The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Politically, the north-eastern islands form the British Virgin Islands and the south-western ones the United States Virgin Islands.
The British Virgin Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom comprising Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, over fifty smaller islands, and Anegada to the north. The United States Virgin Islands is an unincorporated territory of the United States comprising St. Croix to the south, with St. John, St. Thomas, and smaller islands. The Virgin Passage separates the U.S. Virgin Islands from the "Spanish Virgin Islands" or "Passage Islands", Vieques and Culebra, which are the easternmost islands of Puerto Rico. Also, the United States dollar is the official currency on both the British and U.S. Virgin Islands.
HistorySee also: Danish West Indies, History of the United States Virgin Islands, and History of the British Virgin IslandsChristopher Columbus named the islands Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes, shortened to Las Vírgenes, after Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgins. They were inhabited by the Arawak, Carib and Cermic, all of whom died out during the colonial period from disease and harsh labor conditions.
Later, the islands were re-populated by European colonists, who established sugar plantations (and at least one tobacco plantation) worked by slaves brought from Africa. The plantations are gone, but the descendants of the slaves remain the bulk of the population, sharing a common Afro-Caribbean heritage with the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean.
In 1917, the Danish West Indies were sold by Denmark to the United States of America for $25 million in gold.
Name
Virgin Islands political regionsThe official name of the British Virgin Islands is simply the Virgin Islands, and the official name of the United States Virgin Islands 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 United States Virgin Islands, to distinguish them from one another.
Main article: Spanish Virgin IslandsA 1990s tourist campaign re-christened the Passage Islands as the Spanish Virgin Islands,[citation needed] though they are seldom[clarification needed] identified as such on maps and atlases.[citation needed] 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.[1] They are closer to St. Thomas than St. Thomas is to St. Croix, which are both part of the United States Virgin Islands.
Traffic controlMotor vehicles are 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).
See also- Culture of the Virgin Islands
- Music of the Virgin Islands
- Virgin Islands Creole
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Virgin Islands |
- Government of the British Virgin Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands from the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs
- University of the Virgin Islands materials in the Digital Library of the Caribbeeean
