Best Deals In The Caribbean - British Virgin Islands
The British Virgin Islands comprise about 50 small Caribbean
islands; around 15 are inhabited. They are located a few miles
east of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The North Atlantic Ocean lies
to the north of the islands, and the Caribbean Sea lies to
the south.
The largest islands of the group are Tortola, Virgin Gorda,
Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke. Road Town, the capital and largest
town, is situated on Tortola.
The economy of the British Virgin Islands is one of the more
prosperous ones of any of the Caribbean states, with a GDP
per capita of around $38,500 (2004 est. GDP B.V.I)
The British Virgin Islands is highly dependent on tourism,
which accounts for 45% of national income. The islands are
a popular destination for U.S. citizens, with around 350,000
tourists visiting annually (1997 figures). Tourists frequently
go to the numerous white sand beaches, visit The Baths on Virgin
Gorda, snorkel the coral reefs near Anegada, experience the
well-known bars on Jost Van Dyke, or charter yachts to explore
the less accessible islands.
Substantial revenues are also generated by the registration
of offshore companies. As of 2004, over 550,000 companies were
so registered. In 2000 KPMG reported in its survey of offshore
jurisdictions for the United Kingdom government that over 41%
of the world's offshore companies were formed in the British
Virgin Islands. Since 2001, financial services in the British
Virgin Islands have been regulated by the independent Financial
Services Commission.
The Islands were first settled by Arawak Indians from South
America in around 100 BC. They settled the Islands until the
15th century when they were removed by the more aggressive
Caribs, a tribe from the Lesser Antilles islands, after whom
the Caribbean Sea is named.
In 1493, The Islands were sighted and named by Christopher
Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas. The Spanish
Empire acquired the Islands in the early 16th century, mining
copper on Virgin Gorda. The Dutch established a permanent settlement
on Tortola in 1648. In 1672, the English arrived in the region,
and annexed the Islands, removing the Dutch populations from
Tortola in 1672, and from Anegada and Virgin Gorda in 1680.
The English introduced sugar cane to the Islands, which was
to become the main crop, and source of foreign trade. Slaves
were brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations.
The Islands prospered economically until the growth in the
sugar beet crop in Europe and the United States significantly
reduced sugar cane production.
The English, Dutch, French, Spanish and Danish all jostled
for control of the islands for the next two hundred years;
the final act seeing the English oust the Dutch and gaining
a permanent foothold in Virgin Gorda and Tortola.
By the 1600's England had ended up with Tortola, Virgin Gorda,
Anegada and the other islands that make up the present day
BVI and the Danish had the other Virgin Islands (St. John,
St. Thomas, St. Croix). The BVIs were more strategic than anything
else for the British, but were planted when economic conditions
were particularly favourable.
In 1917, the United States purchased St. John, St. Thomas
and St. Croix from the Danish for US$25 million, renaming them
the United States Virgin Islands. Subsequently, the British
renamed the islands they controlled as the British Virgin Islands.
The Islands were administered variously as part of the Leeward
Islands Colony or with St. Kitts and Nevis, with an Administrator
representing the British Government on the Islands. Separate
colony status was gained for the Islands in 1960 and the Islands
became autonomous in 1967. Since the 1960s, the Islands have
diversified away from their traditionally agriculture based
economy towards tourism and financial services, becoming one
of the richest areas in the Caribbean.
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