Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands

1. Abbr. V.I. A group of islands of the northeast West Indies east of Puerto Rico. They are divided politically into the British Virgin Islands to the northeast and the Virgin Islands of the United States to the southwest. The islands were first sighted and named by Christopher Columbus in 1493.

2. Abbr. VI or V.I.Officially Virgin Islands of the United States. A United States territory constituting the southwest group of the Virgin Islands. The islands were purchased from the Danish in 1917 because of their strategic location at the approach to the Panama Canal. Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas Island, is the capital. Population: 108,000.

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Virgin Islands

pl n

(Placename) a group of about 100 small islands (14 inhabited) in the Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico: discovered by Columbus (1493); consists of the British Virgin Islands in the east and the Virgin Islands of the United States in the west and south. Pop.: 141 000 (1999 est.). Area: 497 sq. km (192 sq. miles)

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

Virgin Islands - a group of islands in northeastern West Indies (east of Puerto Rico) discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493; owned by United States and Britain Virgin Islands National Park - a national park in the Virgin Islands having tropical plants and animals; sandy beaches and coral reefs the Indies, West Indies - the string of islands between North America and South America; a popular resort area British Virgin Islands - more than 40 northeastern Virgin Islands (15 inhabited); a dependent territory of the United Kingdom American Virgin Islands, United States Virgin Islands, VI - more than 130 southeastern Virgin Islands; a dependent territory of the United States