![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/BVI-on-the-Globe-300x169.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of\u00a0Tortola<\/a>,\u00a0Virgin Gorda<\/a>,\u00a0Anegada<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jost Van Dyke<\/a>, along with more than 50 other smaller islands and\u00a0cays<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0About 16 of the islands are inhabited.<\/sup>\u00a0The capital,\u00a0Road Town<\/a>, is on Tortola, the largest island, which is about 20\u00a0km (12\u00a0mi) long and 5\u00a0km (3\u00a0mi) wide. The islands had a population of 28,054 at the 2010 Census, of whom 23,491 lived on Tortola;<\/sup>\u00a0current estimates put the population at 35,802 (July 2018).<\/sup><\/p>\n British Virgin Islanders are\u00a0British Overseas Territories citizens<\/a>\u00a0and since 2002 are\u00a0British citizens<\/a>\u00a0as well.<\/p>\n It is generally thought that the Virgin Islands were first settled by the\u00a0Arawak<\/a>\u00a0from South America around 100 BC to AD 200, though there is some evidence of\u00a0Amerindian<\/a>\u00a0presence on the islands as far back as 1500 BC.<\/sup><\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 15th century when they were displaced by the more aggressive\u00a0Caribs<\/a>, a tribe from the\u00a0Lesser Antilles<\/a>\u00a0islands.<\/p>\n The first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by the Spanish expedition of\u00a0Christopher Columbus<\/a> in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas, who gave the islands their modern name.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Spanish Empire<\/a>\u00a0claimed the islands by discovery in the early 16th century, but never settled them, and subsequent years saw the English, Dutch, French, Spanish, and Danish all jostling for control of the region, which became a notorious haunt for\u00a0pirates<\/a>.<\/sup> There is no record of any native Amerindian population in the British Virgin Islands during this period; it is thought that they either fled to safer islands or were killed.<\/p>\n The Dutch established a\u00a0permanent settlement<\/a>\u00a0on the island of\u00a0Tortola<\/a>\u00a0by 1648,<\/sup>\u00a0frequently clashing with the Spanish who were based on nearby Puerto Rico. In 1672, the English captured Tortola from the Dutch, and the English annexation of\u00a0Anegada<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Virgin Gorda<\/a>\u00a0followed in 1680.<\/sup>\u00a0Meanwhile, over the period 1672\u20131733, the Danish gained control of the nearby islands of\u00a0Saint Thomas<\/a>,\u00a0Saint John<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Saint Croix<\/a>\u00a0(i.e. the modern US Virgin Islands).<\/p>\n The British islands were considered principally a strategic possession. The British introduced\u00a0sugar cane<\/a>\u00a0which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and large numbers of\u00a0slaves<\/a>\u00a0were forcibly brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations.<\/sup>\u00a0The islands prospered economically until the middle of the nineteenth century, when a combination of the\u00a0abolition of slavery<\/a>\u00a0in the British Empire in 1834, a series of disastrous hurricanes, and the growth in the\u00a0sugar beet<\/a>\u00a0crop in Europe and the United States<\/sup>\u00a0significantly reduced sugar cane production and led to a period of economic decline.<\/sup><\/p>\n In 1917, the United States purchased the\u00a0Danish Virgin Islands<\/a>\u00a0for US$25 million, renaming them the\u00a0United States Virgin Islands<\/a>. Economic linkages with the US islands prompted the British Virgin Islands to adopt the US dollar as its currency in 1959.<\/p>\n The British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the\u00a0British Leeward Islands<\/a>\u00a0or with\u00a0St. Kitts and Nevis<\/a>, with an administrator representing the British Government on the islands.<\/sup>\u00a0The islands gained separate colony status in 1960 and became autonomous in 1967 under the new post of Chief Minister.<\/sup>\u00a0Since the 1960s, the islands have diversified away from their traditionally agriculture-based economy towards tourism and financial services, becoming one of the wealthiest areas in the Caribbean.<\/sup>\u00a0The constitution of the islands was amended in 1977, 2004 and 2007, giving them greater local autonomy.<\/sup><\/p>\n In 2017\u00a0Hurricane Irma<\/a>\u00a0struck the islands<\/a>, causing four deaths and immense damage.<\/sup><\/p>\n The British Virgin Islands comprise around 60 tropical Caribbean islands, ranging in size from the largest, Tortola, being 20\u00a0km (12\u00a0mi) long and 5\u00a0km (3\u00a0mi) wide, to tiny uninhabited\u00a0islets<\/a>, altogether about 150 square kilometers (58 square miles) in extent. They are located in the Virgin Islands archipelago<\/a>, a few miles east of the\u00a0US Virgin Islands<\/a>, and about 95\u00a0km (59\u00a0mi) from the\u00a0Puerto Rican<\/a>\u00a0mainland. About 150\u00a0km (93\u00a0mi) east south-east lies\u00a0Anguilla<\/a>. The\u00a0North Atlantic Ocean<\/a>\u00a0lies to the east of the islands, and the\u00a0Caribbean Sea<\/a>\u00a0lies to the west. Most of the islands are volcanic in origin and have a hilly, rugged terrain.<\/sup>\u00a0The highest point is\u00a0Mount Sage<\/a> on Tortola at 521m. Anegada is geologically distinct from the rest of the group, being a flat island composed of limestone and coral.<\/sup><\/sup><\/p>\n The twin pillars of the economy are financial services (60%) and tourism (roughly 40-45% of GDP). Politically, tourism is the more important of the two, as it employs a greater number of people within the territory, and a larger proportion of the businesses in the tourist industry are locally owned, as are a number of the highly tourism-dependent sole traders (for example, taxi drivers and street vendors).<\/p>\n Economically however, financial services associated with the territory’s status as an offshore financial center are by far the more important.<\/sup> 51.8% of the Government’s revenue comes directly from license fees for offshore companies, and considerable further sums are raised directly or indirectly from payroll taxes relating to salaries paid within the trust industry sector (which tend to be higher on average than those paid in the tourism sector).<\/p>\n The official currency of the British Virgin Islands has been the\u00a0United States dollar<\/a>\u00a0(US$) since 1959, the currency also used by the\u00a0United States Virgin Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n Deemed by some to be a\u00a0tax haven<\/a>\u00a0due to its opaque banking system,<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0the British Virgin Islands enjoys one of the more prosperous economies of the Caribbean region, with a per capita average income of around $42,300 (2010 est.)<\/sup>\u00a0The average monthly income earned by a worker in the territory was US$2,452 as at the time of the 2010 Census.<\/sup> 29% of the population fell into the “low income” category.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are 113 kilometres (70\u00a0mi) of roads. The main airport,\u00a0Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport<\/a>, also known as Beef Island Airport, is located on Beef Island, which lies off the eastern tip of Tortola and is accessible by the\u00a0Queen Elizabeth II Bridge<\/a>.\u00a0Cape Air<\/a>, and\u00a0Air Sunshine<\/a>\u00a0are among the airlines offering scheduled service.<\/sup>\u00a0Virgin Gorda<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Anegada<\/a>\u00a0have their own smaller airports. Private air charter services operated by\u00a0Island Birds<\/a>\u00a0Air Charter fly directly to all three islands from any major airport in the Caribbean.<\/sup>\u00a0Helicopters are used to get to islands with no runway facilities; Antilles Helicopter Services is the only helicopter service based in the country.<\/p>\n The main harbor is in Road Town<\/a>. There are also ferries that operate within the British Virgin Islands and to the neighboring United States Virgin Islands. Cars in the British Virgin Islands drive on the left<\/a>\u00a0just as they do in the United Kingdom and the United States Virgin Islands. However, most cars are\u00a0left hand drive<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0because they are from the United States. The roads are often quite steep, narrow and winding, and ruts can be a problem when it rains.<\/p>\n The\u00a0flag of the\u00a0British Virgin Islands<\/a><\/b>\u00a0was adopted by Royal Warrant on 15 November 1960 after the islands were made into a separate British colony. Previously, the territory was administered as part of the\u00a0British Leeward Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n The flag of the British Virgin Islands features a defaced\u00a0Blue Ensign<\/a>\u00a0with the\u00a0Union Flag<\/a>\u00a0in the canton, and defaced with the\u00a0coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands<\/a>. The coat of arms, which date to the early nineteenth-century, features\u00a0Saint Ursula<\/a>\u00a0holding a flaming gold oil lamp and surrounded by a further eleven lamps, which represent her 11,000\u00a0virgin<\/a>\u00a0followers.<\/sup>\u00a0The islands were named after these virgin followers by\u00a0Christopher Columbus<\/a>\u00a0when he discovered the islands in 1493, the multiplicity of islands reminding him of the numerous followers.<\/sup>\u00a0The motto present on the flag reads\u00a0Vigilate<\/i>, which translated from\u00a0Latin<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0be watchful<\/i>.<\/sup> The flag was modified in 1999, when the shield was enlarged and outlined in white.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The flag of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) was adopted by Royal Warrant on 15 November 1960 after the islands were made into a separate British colony. Previously, the territory was administered as part of the British Leeward Islands<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32,59,5,6,7,29,41,60,13],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9617,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9306\/revisions\/9617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}History:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/4\/49\/St_Phillips_Church%2C_Tortola.jpg\/220px-St_Phillips_Church%2C_Tortola.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/b\/be\/GB_Virgin_Islands.png\/500px-GB_Virgin_Islands.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/e\/e7\/British_Virgin_Islands_Product_Exports_%282019%29.svg\/290px-British_Virgin_Islands_Product_Exports_%282019%29.svg.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/8\/89\/Roadtown%2C_Tortola.jpg\/220px-Roadtown%2C_Tortola.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/Terrance-B.-Lettsome-International-Airport-on-Beef-Island-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of the British Virgin Islands (BVI):<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/Flag-of-the-British-Virgin-Islands-BVI-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>