Outline of the British Virgin Islands

The Flag of the British Virgin Islands		The Coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands

The location of the British Virgin Islands

An enlargeable map of the British Virgin Islands

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a British overseas territory located in the eastern portion of the Virgin Islands Archipelago in the Caribbean Sea.^[1] The Virgin Islands are part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. The United States Virgin Islands comprises the western portion of the archipelago. Technically the name of the Territory is simply the "Virgin Islands", but in practice since 1917 they have been almost universally referred to as the "British Virgin Islands" to distinguish the islands from the American Territory.^[2] To add to the regional confusion, the Puerto Rican islands of Culebra, Vieques and surrounding islands began referring to themselves as the "Spanish Virgin Islands" as part of a tourism drive in the early 2000s.

The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with over fifty other smaller islands and cays. Approximately fifteen of the islands are inhabited. The largest island, Tortola, is approximately 20 km (approx. 12 mi) long and 5 km (approx. 3 mi) wide. The islands have a total population of about 22,000, of whom approximately 18,000 live on Tortola. Road Town, the capital, is situated on Tortola.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the British Virgin Islands:

General reference

An enlargeable basic map of the British Virgin Islands

• Pronunciation:
• Common English country name: The British Virgin Islands
• Official English country name: Virgin Islands^[3]
• Common endonym(s):
• Official endonym(s):
• Adjectival(s): Virgin Island
• Demonym(s):
• Etymology: Name of the British Virgin Islands
• ISO country codes: VG, VGB, 092
• ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:VG
• Internet country code top-level domain: .vg

Geography of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Geography of the British Virgin Islands

• The British Virgin Islands are: a British overseas territory
• Location:
  • Northern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere
    • North America (though not on the mainland)
  • Atlantic Ocean
    • North Atlantic
      • Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico
        • Antilles
          • Lesser Antilles
            • Leeward Islands
              • Virgin Islands archipelago
  • Time zone: Eastern Caribbean Time (UTC-04)
  • Extreme points of the British Virgin Islands
    • High: Mount Sage 521 m (1,709 ft)
    • Low: Caribbean Sea 0 m
  • Land boundaries: none
  • Coastline: 80 km
• Population of the British Virgin Islands: 2005 census: 22,016
• Area of the British Virgin Islands: 153 km²
• Atlas of the British Virgin Islands

Environment of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Environment of the British Virgin Islands

• Climate of the British Virgin Islands
• Environmental issues in the British Virgin Islands
• Ecoregions in the British Virgin Islands
• Renewable energy in the British Virgin Islands
• Geology of the British Virgin Islands
• Protected areas of the British Virgin Islands
  • Biosphere reserves in the British Virgin Islands
  • National parks of the British Virgin Islands
• Wildlife of the British Virgin Islands
  • Flora of the British Virgin Islands
  • Fauna of the British Virgin Islands
    • Birds of the British Virgin Islands
    • Mammals of the British Virgin Islands

Natural geographic features of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Landforms of the British Virgin Islands

• Fjords of the British Virgin Islands
• Glaciers of the British Virgin Islands
• Islands of the British Virgin Islands
• Lakes of the British Virgin Islands
• Mountains of the British Virgin Islands
  • Volcanoes in the British Virgin Islands
• Rivers of the British Virgin Islands
  • Waterfalls of the British Virgin Islands
• Valleys of the British Virgin Islands
• World Heritage Sites in the British Virgin Islands: None

Regions of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Regions of the British Virgin Islands

Ecoregions of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Ecoregions in the British Virgin Islands

Administrative divisions of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Administrative divisions of the British Virgin Islands

• Provinces of the British Virgin Islands
  • Districts of the British Virgin Islands
    • Municipalities of the British Virgin Islands

Provinces of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Provinces of the British Virgin Islands

Districts of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Districts of the British Virgin Islands

Municipalities of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Municipalities of the British Virgin Islands

• Capital of the British Virgin Islands: Road Town
• Cities of the British Virgin Islands

Demography of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Demographics of the British Virgin Islands

Government and politics of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Government of the British Virgin Islands and Politics of the British Virgin Islands

• Form of government: parliamentary representative democratic dependency
• Capital of the British Virgin Islands: Road Town

• Elections in the British Virgin Islands
  • (specific elections)
• Political parties in the British Virgin Islands
• Political scandals of the British Virgin Islands
• Taxation in the British Virgin Islands

Branches of the government of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Government of the British Virgin Islands

Executive branch of the government of the British Virgin Islands

• Head of state: Monarch of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II
  • Monarch's representative: Governor of the British Virgin Islands, David Pearey
• Head of government: Premier of the British Virgin Islands, Ralph T. O'Neal
• Cabinet: Executive Council of the British Virgin Islands

Legislative branch of the government of the British Virgin Islands

• House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands (unicameral)

Judicial branch of the government of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Court system of the British Virgin Islands

• Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
  • High Court of Justice of the British Virgin Islands
  • Court of Appeal of the British Virgin Islands
• Magistrate's Court of the British Virgin Islands
• Juvenile Court of the British Virgin Islands
• Court of Summary Jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands

Foreign relations of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Foreign relations of the British Virgin Islands

• Diplomatic missions in the British Virgin Islands
• Diplomatic missions of the British Virgin Islands

International organization membership

The government of the British Virgin Islands is a member of:^[1]

• Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) (associate)
• Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
• International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) (subbureau)
• International Olympic Committee (IOC)
• Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (associate)
• Universal Postal Union (UPU)
• World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)

Law and order in the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Law of the British Virgin Islands

• Capital punishment in the British Virgin Islands
• Constitution of the British Virgin Islands
• Crime in the British Virgin Islands
• Human rights in the British Virgin Islands
  • LGBT rights in the British Virgin Islands
  • Freedom of religion in the British Virgin Islands
• Law enforcement in the British Virgin Islands

Military of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Military of the British Virgin Islands

• Command
  • Commander-in-chief:
    • Ministry of Defence of the British Virgin Islands
• Forces
  • Army of the British Virgin Islands
  • Navy of the British Virgin Islands
  • Air Force of the British Virgin Islands
  • Special forces of the British Virgin Islands
• Military history of the British Virgin Islands
• Military ranks of the British Virgin Islands

Local government in the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Local government in the British Virgin Islands

History of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: History of the British Virgin Islands, Timeline of the history of the British Virgin Islands, and Current events of the British Virgin Islands

• Economic history of the British Virgin Islands
• Military history of the British Virgin Islands

Culture of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Culture of the British Virgin Islands

• Architecture of the British Virgin Islands
• Cuisine of the British Virgin Islands
• Ethnic minorities in the British Virgin Islands
• Festivals in the British Virgin Islands
• Humor in the British Virgin Islands
• Languages of the British Virgin Islands
• Media in the British Virgin Islands
• National symbols of the British Virgin Islands
  • Coat of arms of the British Virgin Islands
  • Flag of the British Virgin Islands
  • National anthem of the British Virgin Islands
• People of the British Virgin Islands
• Prostitution in the British Virgin Islands
• Public holidays in the British Virgin Islands
• Records of the British Virgin Islands
• Religion in the British Virgin Islands
  • Buddhism in the British Virgin Islands
  • Christianity in the British Virgin Islands
  • Hinduism in the British Virgin Islands
  • Islam in the British Virgin Islands
  • Judaism in the British Virgin Islands
  • Sikhism in the British Virgin Islands
• World Heritage Sites in the British Virgin Islands: None

Art in the British Virgin Islands

• Art in the British Virgin Islands
• Cinema of the British Virgin Islands
• Literature of the British Virgin Islands
• Music of the British Virgin Islands
• Television in the British Virgin Islands
• Theatre in the British Virgin Islands

Sports in the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Sports in the British Virgin Islands

• Football in the British Virgin Islands
• British Virgin Islands at the Olympics

Economy and infrastructure of the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Economy of the British Virgin Islands

• Economic rank, by nominal GDP (2007): 170th (one hundred and seventieth)

• Agriculture in the British Virgin Islands
• Banking in the British Virgin Islands
  • National Bank of the British Virgin Islands
• Communications in the British Virgin Islands
  • Internet in the British Virgin Islands
• Companies of the British Virgin Islands

• Currency of the British Virgin Islands: Dollar
  • ISO 4217: USD

• Economic history of the British Virgin Islands
• Energy in the British Virgin Islands
  • Energy policy of the British Virgin Islands
  • Oil industry in the British Virgin Islands
• Mining in the British Virgin Islands
• Tourism in the British Virgin Islands
• Transport in the British Virgin Islands

• the British Virgin Islands Stock Exchange

Education in the British Virgin Islands

Main article: Education in the British Virgin Islands

Infrastructure of the British Virgin Islands

• Health care in the British Virgin Islands
• Transportation in the British Virgin Islands
  • Airports in the British Virgin Islands
  • Rail transport in the British Virgin Islands
  • Roads in the British Virgin Islands
• Water supply and sanitation in the British Virgin Islands

See also

	British Virgin Islands portal
	Caribbean portal
	United Kingdom portal

Main article: British Virgin Islands

• Index of British Virgin Islands-related articles
• List of British Virgin Islands-related topics
• List of international rankings
• Outline of geography
• Outline of North America
• Outline of the Caribbean
• Outline of the United Kingdom

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "British Virgin Islands". The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. July 3, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vi.html. Retrieved July 23, 2009. 
2. ^ British Virgin Islands government publications had traditionally continued to commence with "The Territory of the Virgin Islands", but recently, more and more legislation now simply refers to the Territory as the British Virgin Islands. The Interpretation Act (Cap 136) (1985) defines the "Territory" as simply the "Virgin Islands"; but the Insolvency Act, 2003 defines a "foreign company" as 'a body corporate that is incorporated, registered or formed outside the British Virgin Islands.'
3. ^ The Virgin Islands (Constitution) Order 1976

External links

Wikimedia Atlas of the British Virgin Islands

Official sites and overviews

• The Government of the British Virgin Islands (official government site)
• The Government of the BVI, London Office – Official government site
• British Virgin Islands: Nature's Little Secrets – Official site of the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board
• The British Virgin Islands Ports Authority – Official site
• National Parks Trust of the British Virgin Islands – Official site
• British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission – Official site
• British Virgin Islands entry at The World Factbook

Directories

• Outline of the British Virgin Islands travel guide from Wikitravel
• British Virgin Islands at the Open Directory Project