]! ^! First inhabited by Arawak and later by Carib Indians, the Virgin Islands were settled by the Dutch in 1648 and then annexed by the English in 1672. The islands were part of the British colony of the Leeward Islands from 1872-1960; they were granted autonomy in 1967. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency. 
]" ^" Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico ^# 18 30 N, 64 30 W ^$ Central America and the Caribbean ^% `! 153 sq km `" 153 sq km `# 0 sq km `* comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the islands of Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke ^& about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 80 km ^) `$ 3 nm `l 200 nm ^* subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds ^+ coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly ^, `% Caribbean Sea 0 m `& Mount Sage 521 m ^- NEGL ^. `' 20% `( 6.67% `) 73.33% (2005) ^/ NA ^0 hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October) ^1 limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments) ^2 strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico 
]# ^3 23,552 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 20.2% (male 2,410/female 2,337) `, 74.5% (male 9,004/female 8,534) `- 5.4% (male 665/female 602) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 31.7 years `. 31.9 years `/ 31.5 years (2007 est.) ^6 1.923% (2007 est.) ^7 14.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 8.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.05 male(s)/female `1 1.031 male(s)/female `, 1.055 male(s)/female `- 1.105 male(s)/female `2 1.053 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 16.13 deaths/1,000 live births `. 18.82 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 13.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 76.86 years `. 75.71 years `/ 78.07 years (2007 est.) ^= 1.72 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 British Virgin Islander(s) `4 British Virgin Islander ^B black 83%, other 17% (includes white, Indian, Asian and mixed) ^C Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991) ^D English (official) ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 97.8% (1991 est.) `. NA% `/ NA% 
]$ ^F `6 none `7 British Virgin Islands `] BVI ^G overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing ^H NA ^I `8 Road Town `9 18 27 N, 64 37 W `: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J none (overseas territory of the UK) ^K none (overseas territory of the UK) ^L Territory Day, 1 July (1956) ^M 1 June 1977, amended in 2000 ^N English law ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor David PEAREY (since 18 April 2006) `< Chief Minister Dr. Orlando D. SMITH (since 17 June 2003) `= Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council `> none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor ^Q unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, 1 member from each of nine electoral districts, 4 at-large members; members serve four-year terms) `> last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held in 2007) `? percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5 ^R Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction ^S Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL] ^T NA ^U Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU ^V none (overseas territory of the UK) ^W none (overseas territory of the UK) ^X blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful) 
]% ^Y The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 820,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 2005. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, made the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the US dollar as its currency since 1959. ^Z $853.4 million (2004 est.) ^[ $839.7 million (2003) ^\ 1% (2002 est.) ^] $38,500 (2004 est.) ^^ `@ 1.8% `A 6.2% `B 92% (1996 est.) ^_ 12,770 (2004) ^` `@ 0.6% `A 40% `B 59.4% (2005) ^a 3.6% (1997) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _# 2% (2005) _$ `E $204.7 million `F $180.4 million; including capital expenditures of $33.8 million (2004) _& fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish _' tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center _( NA% _) 42 million kWh (2004) _* 39.06 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004) _. 480 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Q $134.3 million (1999) _3 $25.3 million (2002) _4 rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand _5 Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2004) _6 $187 million (2002 est.) _7 building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery _8 Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2004) _9 $36.1 million (1997) _: $NA _; US dollar (USD) _< the US dollar is used _= 1 April - 31 March 
]& _> 11,700 (2002) _? 8,000 (2002) _@ `G worldwide telephone service `H NA `I country code - 1-284; submarine cable to Bermuda _A AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004) _B 1 (plus 1 cable company) (1997) _C .vg _D 525 (2006) _E 4,000 (2002) 
]' _F 3 (2006) _G `! 2 `c 1 `W 1 (2006) _R `! 1 `c 1 (2006) _H `! 177 km `K 177 km (2002) _S `d 1 (North Korea 1) (2006) _I Road Town 
]( _K males age 18-49: 6,410 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 5,295 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 201 (2005 est.) _M defense is the responsibility of the UK 
]) _N none _O transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering 