Virgin Islands: The British Virgin Islands

Immediately to the northeast of the U.S. Virgin Islands are the British Virgin Islands,British Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands, a British dependency (2015 est. pop. 30,000), 59 sq mi (153 sq km). There are more than 30 islands; 16 are inhabited. The principal ones are Tortola, Anegada, and Virgin Gorda. Road Town, the capital, is on Tortola. Tourism, light industry, and offshore financial services are the most important economic activities; the dependency is the nominal home of more than 600,000 offshore corporations. Tortola was devastated by Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Britain acquired the islands from the Dutch in 1666. Granted autonomy in 1967, they are governed under the constitution of 2007, which increased their responsibility for internal self-government. There is a unicameral House of Assembly whose 13 voting members are elected to four-year terms. The government is headed by a premier, and the monarch of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by a governor, is the head of state. Andrew Fahie, of the Virgin Islands party, became premier in 2019.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• The British Virgin Islands
• The Virgin Islands of the United States
• Bibliography

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