Virgin Islands
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Image:Virgin Islands-map-CIA.jpg Map of the Virgin Islands | ||
The Virgin Islands is an archipelago in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea. The islands are divided into two parts, one of which, is owned by the United Kingdom and the other owned by the United States.
Christopher 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 Arawak, Carib and Cermic Indians, all of whom died out during the colonial period from disease, harsh labor conditions, and murder.
The islands were later populated by Africans who were enslaved on sugar plantations, and on at least one tobacco plantation. The sugar plantations are now gone, but the descendants of the slaves are still there, sharing a common African heritage with the other English-speaking islands of the Caribbean.
On both the British and the U.S. Virgin Islands, vehicles are driven on the left-hand side of the road, yet most cars on the islands have their steering wheels on the left side (usually common for drive-on-the-right localities). Also on both the British and the U.S. Virgin Islands the United States dollar is the official currency.
The islands in Vieques and Culebra to the east of Puerto Rico (and territorially part of it), are locally called the Spanish Virgin Islands.
[edit] See also
ar:الجزر العذراءca:Illes Verges cs:Panenské ostrovy da:Jomfruøerne de:Jungferninseln et:Neitsisaared el:Παρθένοι Νήσοι es:Islas Vírgenes eo:Virgulininsuloj fr:Îles Vierges ko:버진 제도 hr:Djevičanski otoci is:Jómfrúreyjar it:Isole Vergini he:איי הבתולה sw:Visiwa vya Virgin lt:Mergelių salos nl:Maagdeneilanden ja:ヴァージン諸島 no:Jomfruøyene nn:Jomfruøyane pl:Wyspy Dziewicze pt:Ilhas Virgens ru:Виргинские острова sr:Девичанска острва fi:Neitsytsaaret sv:Jungfruöarna tr:Virgin Adaları uk:Віргінські острови
