Page 214 - The Virgin Islands

Formed by volcanic activity, its highest peak is Mount Sage at 530 m.
Tortola lies near an earthquake fault, and minor earthquakes are com-
mon. The population of Tortola is 23,908. The principal settlement is
Road Town, the capital of the British Virgin Islands, with a popula-
tion of 9400. Approximately 90 percent of the population identify as
of African descent. Provision of financial services is a major part of
the economy. The International Business Companies Act, passed in
the early 1980s, encouraged such businesses and has generated signifi-
cant growth in professional jobs and related revenues. BVI residents
are amongst the most affluent in the Eastern Caribbean. Numerous
residents from other Caribbean islands also work here. Although the
British Virgin Islands (BVI) are under the British flag, it uses the U.S.
dollar as its official currency due to its proximity to and frequent trade bean, and the fourth largest on earth. The reef makes navigation to
with the US Virgin Islands. The island is home to many offshore com-
panies that do business worldwide.
VIRGIN GORDA - Virgin Gorda entices travelers with its yacht clubs,
quiet coves, safe anchorages and luxury resorts and villas. On the
North Sound and accessible only by water, the exclusive Bitter End
Yacht Club offers a premier resort and barefoot elegance. It is the sec-
ond most populous of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and covers an
area of about 8 square miles (21 km2). Christopher Columbus is said
to have named the island “The Fat Virgin”, because the island’s profile
on the horizon looks like a fat woman lying on her side. The main
town is Spanish Town on the southwestern part of the island. An unu-
sual geologic formation known as “The Baths” located on the southern
end of the island makes Virgin Gorda one of the BVI’s major tourist
destinations. At The Baths, the beach shows evidence of the island’s
volcanic origins, as huge granite boulders lie in piles on the beach,
forming scenic grottoes that are open to the sea. North of the Baths is
the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor, formerly owned by Little Dix Bay. The
most notable ruin on Virgin Gorda is the old Copper Mine.
ANEGADA - Named Anegada or the “Drowned Land” by the Span-
ish, Anegada is the only coral island in the Virgin Islands’ volcanic
chain. Measuring 11 miles by three, its highest point is just 28 feet
above sea level. Striking coral reefs surround the island, including the
Eastern Caribbean’s third largest continuous reef, Horseshoe Reef.
Secluded sandy beaches protected by the sheltering reef. At about 15
square miles (38 square kilometers), Anegada is the second largest of
the British Virgin Islands, but it is also the most sparsely populated of
the main islands, with a population as at the 2010 Census of 285. Most
of the population on Anegada live in the only village, The Settlement.
Anegada is known for miles of white sand beaches and the 18-mile (29
km)-long Horseshoe Reef, the largest barrier coral reef in the Carib-
Anegada difficult. While charter boats freely sail among most of the
other Virgin Islands, charter companies often forbid clients to sail to
Anegada to avoid running aground on the reef. Anegada is also known
for the large salt ponds which cover much of the west end of the island,
These ponds, which support unique fauna, were designated a Ramsar
Site on 11 May 1999. In the 1830s, thousands of Caribbean flamin-
gos lived in these ponds, but they were hunted for food and feathers
throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries and disappeared by 1950;
they are now being re-established. The reef has caused hundreds of
shipwrecks, including HMS Astraea in 1808, the Donna Paula (1819),
the MS Rocus (1929). In an effort to protect the reef, the BVI govern-
ment has made anchoring on Horseshoe Reef illegal.