Editing British Virgin Islands (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of the British Virgin Islands}}

It is generally thought that the Virgin Islands were first settled by the [[Arawak]] from South America around 100 BC to AD 200, though there is some evidence of [[Amerindian]] presence on the islands as far back as 1500 BC.<ref>Wilson, Samuel M. ed. ''The Indigenous People of the Caribbean''. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997. {{ISBN|0-8130-1692-4}}</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bvi.gov.vg/content/our-history |title=Government of the Virgin Islands – Our History |access-date= 13 July 2019}}</ref> The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 15th century when they were displaced by the [[Kalinago]] (Island Caribs), a tribe from the [[Lesser Antilles]] islands.

The first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by the Spanish expedition of [[Christopher Columbus]] in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas, who gave the islands their modern name.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=History in Virgin Islands |url=https://www.frommers.com/destinations/virgin-islands/in-depth/history/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Frommers |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-11 |title=Questions asked about territory’s name - The BVI Beacon |url=https://www.bvibeacon.com/questions-asked-about-territory-s-name/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Spanish Empire]] claimed the islands by discovery in the early 16th century, but never settled them, and subsequent years saw the English, Dutch, French, Spanish, and Danish all jostling for control of the region, which became a notorious haunt for [[Piracy in the British Virgin Islands|pirates]].<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/> There is no record of any native Amerindian population in the British Virgin Islands during this period; it is thought that they either fled to safer islands or were killed.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/>

The Dutch established a [[Dutch Virgin Islands|permanent settlement]] on the island of [[Tortola]] by 1648,<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/> frequently clashing with the Spanish who were based on nearby Puerto Rico. In 1672, the English captured Tortola from the Dutch, and the English annexation of [[Anegada]] and [[Virgin Gorda]] followed in 1680.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Meditz |first1=Sandra |last2=Hanratty |first2=Dennis |title=British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and Montserrat |url=http://countrystudies.us/caribbean-islands/108.htm |website=countrystudies.us |publisher=Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress |access-date=23 March 2020 |year=1987}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History {{!}} Government of the Virgin Islands |url=https://bvi.gov.vg/content/our-history |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=bvi.gov.vg}}</ref> Meanwhile, over the period 1672–1733, the Danish gained control of the nearby islands of [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint Thomas]], [[Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint John]] and [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|Saint Croix]] (i.e. the modern US Virgin Islands).

[[File:St Phillips Church, Tortola.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|The ruins of [[St. Phillip's Anglican Church (British Virgin Islands)|St. Phillip's Church, Tortola]], one of the most important historical ruins in the territory]]
The British islands were considered principally a strategic possession. The British introduced [[sugar cane]] which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and large numbers of [[Slavery in the British Virgin Islands|slaves]] were forcibly brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/> The islands prospered economically until the middle of the nineteenth century, when a combination of the [[abolition of slavery]] in the British Empire in 1834, a series of disastrous hurricanes, and the growth in the [[sugar beet]] crop in Europe and the United States<ref>In the United Kingdom, a major market for sugar from the territory, the [[Sugar Duties Act 1846]] also created a considerable downward effect on the price of Caribbean sugar cane.</ref> significantly reduced sugar cane production and led to a period of economic decline.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/>

In 1917, the United States purchased the [[Danish Virgin Islands]] for US$25 million, renaming them the [[United States Virgin Islands]]. Economic linkages with the US islands prompted the British Virgin Islands to adopt the US dollar as its currency in 1959.<ref name="cia.gov"/>

The British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the [[British Leeward Islands]] or with [[St. Kitts and Nevis]], with an administrator representing the British Government on the islands.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/> The islands gained separate colony status in 1960 and became autonomous in 1967 under the new post of Chief Minister.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/> Since the 1960s, the islands have diversified away from their traditionally agriculture-based economy towards tourism and financial services, becoming one of the wealthiest areas in the Caribbean.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/> The constitution of the islands was amended in 1977, 2004 and 2007, giving them greater local autonomy.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica – BVI"/>

In 2017 [[Hurricane Irma]] [[Effects of Hurricane Irma in the British Virgin Islands|struck the islands]], causing four deaths and immense damage.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/americas/caribbean-reacts-hurricane-irma/index.html |title=Don't forget about us: Irma's desperate Caribbean survivors |author=Eliza Mackintosh and Donie O'Sullivan |publisher=CNN|date=12 September 2017}}</ref>