British Virgin Islands - Country Code 1-284
IDD Code: 011
Country Code: 1-284
ISO: VG
ISO3: VGB
Helpful Information About British Virgin Islands
Time
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Capital: Road Town
Time Zone
UTC-04:00
Time Difference
Road Town, British Virgin Islands is ()
Daylight Savings Time
British Virgin Islands does not follow DST
Weather
Country Map
Country Flag
About British Virgin Islands Country NameBritish Virgin Islands
ContinentNorth America
Lat/Long18.42069500, -64.63996800
BackgroundFirst 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.
Population34,232 (July 2016 est.)
LanguagesEnglish (official)
ReligionsProtestant 70.2% (Methodist 17.6%, Church of God 10.4%, Anglican 9.5%, Seventh Day Adventist 9.0%, Pentecostal 8.2%, Baptist 7.4%, New Testament Church of God 6.9%, other Protestant 1.2%), Roman Catholic 8.9%, Jehovah's Witness 2.5%, Hindu 1.9%, other 6.2%, none 7.9%, unspecified 2.4% (2010 est.)
Ethnic GroupsAfrican/black 76.3%, Latino 5.5%, white 5.4%, mixed 5.3%, Indian 2.1%, East Indian 1.6%, other 3%, unspecified 0.8% (2010 est.)
Economy
EconomyThe economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, which generates an estimated 45% of the national income. More than 934,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 2008. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the US dollar as its currency since 1959.
Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements.
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.
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.
GDP$1.095 billion (2008)
CurrencyDollar
Communications
Internet TLD.vg
Internet Users14,600
Land Lines12,000
Mobile Phones42,000
Broadcast Media1 private TV station; multi-channel TV is available from cable and satellite subscription services; about a half-dozen private radio stations (2007)