The+U.S.+Virgin+Islands


 * The U.S. Virgin Islands **

**The U.S. Virgin Islands is one place that can't compare to any other set of Caribbean islands in the world.** __**Culture**__ **The culture in the Virgin Islands is very complex and unique in its own way. Since the U.S. Virgin Islands is apart of U.S. territory there are some similarities. ** **The food in the Virgin Islands is different. As Americans, we might enjoy fried chicken, burgers, and french fries, but cruzans eat a variety of foods such as: patè, a fried pastry stuffed with meat, vegetables, or a type of fish, and callaloo, a type of soup that consists of callaloo leaves or spinach, crab meat, and okra. Cruzans are also known to eat johnny cake,a fried bread dough, kenips, a fruit with a edible meaty flesh around a large shell, and mango. ** **On the radio you will eventually hear some R&B or pop like in America, but in the Virgin Islands it is more common to hear different music genres like reggae, soca, and calypso. These types of music may include instruments like steelpan drums, the saxophone, trumpets, drums, and guitars. ** media type="custom" key="12359726" align="center"

**In the Virgin Islands religion is something they take seriously. Fourty-two percent of the population is made up of Baptists, thirty-four percent of the population is Catholic, and the last seventeen percent of the population is made up of Episcopalians. ** **Every year the people anticipate the annual cultural event, Carnival. Carnival includes steelpan bands, dancing, masquerades, music, drinks and food, majorettes, and moko jumbies. Carnival starts at different times on all of the islands. On St. Croix, Carnival lasts from December to January. On St. Thomas, Carnival lasts from April to May. On the island of St. John Carnival lasts from June to July. ** media type="custom" key="12377650" align="center"

**The U.S. Virgin Islands also has its own university. The University of the Virgin Islands was founded in 1962. It has two campuses. The first campus was built in July of 1963 on the island of St. Thomas. The second campus was built in 1964 on St. Croix. There is five different schools within the university itself. There is the school of Business, Education, Science & Mathematics, Nursing, and Liberal Arts & Social Sciences. Overall the University of the Virgin Islands is ranked 3,755th out of all the universities and colleges in the world. **

**__History__** ** It has been documented that Christopher Columbus found a set of islands in 1493 when searching for a route to India. He named these islands Las Once Mil Virgines, which stands for the 11,000 Virgins, after the beauty of St. Ursala and her 11,000 virgins. **  ** Beginning in the 1600s countries like Holland, France, England, Spain, Denmark, and the Knights of Malta began to take interest in the Virgin's and in the Caribbean. In 1620, England and Holland colonized St. Croix. Soon after the colonization of England and Holland, Puerto Rico invaded St. Croix. During the invasion, the French took the opportunity to move in, while removing the Spanish. **  ** The Danish West India Company attempted to settle on St. Thomas in 1665. Finally, in 1672 the Danish West India Company established a settlement that included 113 habitants. This settlement expanded to St. John in 1694. After settling on St. John, plantation agriculture began to grow rapidly. The Dutch of Brandenburg established St. Thomas as a slave trading post. More than 200,000 slaves were forcibly shipped from Africa's west coast to the islands to do things such as harvest cane, cotton, and indigo. **  ** St. Croix and St. John remained a plantation economy while St. Thomas developed as a trade center. Because of this there was an uprising of slave revolts on St. Croix and St. John. St. Thomas became successful in trade and business and slaves were given freedom outside of plantation life. **  ** St. Croix remained a French colony until 1733, when the Danish West India Company bought St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas from the the French to form the Danish West Indies. **  ** On July 2, 1848, on the island of St. Croix there was a slave rebellion. There were 5,000 free blacks and 17,000 black slaves remained. The slaves still desired to be free. This prompted Governor Peter von Scholten to declare all unfree slaves in the Danish West Indies free from that day on. This contradicted the king's orders and plantation owners refused to accept this declaration. **  <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">** Slavery was abolished on July 3, 1848. Strict labor laws were implemented many times since the larger population reacted in labor riots. This caused plantation owners to abandon their estates and population and economy to decline. There were also many natural disasters which put the economy in a bad position. **  <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">** The islands remained under Danish rule until 1917, when the United States bought the islands for $25 million in gold. This purchase was made to gain territory and also improve the United States' military positioning during World War 1. These islands became known as the United States Virgin Islands. **  <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">** Conditions improved, and things began to change slowly. Though things were improving, people became frustrated because they weren't granted their American citizenship. The islands were run my Naval administrators and officials. The Military and Interior Department managed the U.S. Virgin Islands territory until the Organic Act of 1936 was passed. **  <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">** In 1956, Lawrence Rockefeller gave the Natural Park Service a gift of 5,000 acres of land on St. John. Now two thirds of St. John's forests are protected by the Park. Places like Buck Island in St. Croix, are also protected by the Park Service. **  <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">** In 1996, Water Island, located in St. Thomas' Charlotte Amalie harbor, was returned to the U.S. Virgin Islands from the Department of the Interior. Now it is the 4th U.S. Virgin Island. **  <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 26px;">__**Weather**__ <span style="color: #0072ff; display: block; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"> **In the Virgin Islands the weather is totally different than the weather in the U.S. or other countries. The people in the U.S.V.I. do no experience seasonal changes. Which means that the temperature stays consistent year round. Temperatures can range from 70°-90°. The months June, July, and August is when the temperature is the highest.** **The hottest temperature recorded between 1972 and 2004 was 99 degrees. The coldest temperature recorded was 52 degrees in November 1999 on St. Thomas.** <span style="color: #0072ff; display: block; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"> **One of the greatest natural threats of the Virgin Islands is hurricanes. Hurricane season usually lasts from June 1st to November 30th. The last perilous hurricanes that had a great impact on the islands were Hurricane Marilyn, September 1995, and Hurricane Hugo, September 1989. The development of the hurricanes are always monitored. Hurricane watches and warnings are given several days in advance, which gives the islanders time to be prepared for what may or may not come.** <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 20px;">__ **Facts** __ > <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">**__Pictures__** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%;">** __The U.S. Virgin Islands Fla__g -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_United_States_Virgin_Islands.svg **  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 110%;">** __University of the Virgin Islands__- http://www.universityofthevirginislands.com/ **
 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">**The U.S. Virgin Islands is composed of 50 different islands and cays**
 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">**Citizens aren't able to vote in U.S. Presidential election**
 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">**Atlantic Standard Time (one hour later than Eastern Standard Time)**
 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">**Cars drive on left side of the road**
 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">**The currency is the U.S. dollar**
 * <span style="color: #0072ff; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 120%;">**The U.S. Virgin Islands is the largest freeport in the Caribbean with $1,200 duty-free allowance**