Located in the Caribbean, The Untied State Virgin Islands are home to some 108,612 residents. Geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago they are found in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. The main islands are Saint Croix, Saint John and Saint Thomas and the much smaller Water Island. The capital and largest city is Charlotte Amalie.
The Ciboney, Carib and Arawaks were the original settlers of the Virgin Islands. The name was given by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage for Saint Ursula and her virgin followers. During the next three centuries European powers held the islands including Spain, England, the Netherlands, France, and Denmark- Norway.
In 1672 the Danish West India Company had settled on Saint Thomas then on Saint John in 1694. In 1733 they purchased Saint Croix from France; the islands became royal Danish colonies in 1754 and named the Danish West Indian Islands.
During the 18th and 19th centuries until the 1848 abolition of slavery, the economy was driven by the sugarcane production by slave labor.
Until 1867 the islands became economically nonviable for the Danish and treaty to sell them to the United States was agreed but the sale was never affected. A second draft treaty to sell the islands to the U.S. was negotiated in 1902 but the Danish parliament narrowly defeated it.
There were several reforms set in place to attempt to make the islands economically viable but without success and the outbreak of World War I in 1914 closed the reforms and the islands became isolated and exposed. Fearing the islands might be captured by the Germans for a submarine base, the U.S. offered $25 million to the Danish for them which their Parliament accepted and the deal finalized in 1917 and the territory was renamed the Virgin Islands of the United States. U.S. citizenship was granted to the islands inhabitants in 1927.
The primary economic activity is tourism with 2 million visitors a year mainly arriving on cruise ships.
Petroleum refining, textiles, electronics, rum distilling, pharmaceuticals, and watch assembly are the major industries of the manufacturing sector. An increasing component in the economy is the growth of the small international business and financial services sectors. On Saint Croix lies one of the world’s largest petroleum refineries Hovensa.
Tropical storms and hurricanes have caused substantial damage the most recent being Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and Hurricane Marilyn in 1995.
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