The British Virgin Islands are part of the Virgin Islands chain of islands shared by both the United States and the United Kingdom. It has sixteen inhabited and more than twenty uninhabited islands, and it includes the island of Anegada. It has an area of 153 km². Its population of more than twenty-two thousand is small, compared to that of the United States Virgin Islands.
The capital city, Road Town, is located on Tortola, one of the islands in the group.
[change] Government
In 1666 England took over the islands. The first lieutenant governor was appointed in 1701, but the British Virgin Islands were usually governed as part of other groups of islands in the Caribbean until 1960 when last legal links with the Leeward Islands were abolished.
A new constitution was given in 2007[1]. It grants more control over everyday life to the Islanders, and lists the protection a person can expect from the government. The Chief Minister will become the Prime Minister, and the Legislative Council will be called the House of Assembly. These changes usually happen when a colony gets close to being independent.
[change] References
- ↑ "The Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007". Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/20071678.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
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