A brief US Virgin Islands 101
- Surrounded by turquoise waters, our hilly island boasts the highest point in the whole USVI, Crown Mountain, coming in at 1,556 feet above sea water
- The US virgin Islands is comprised of 3 main islands; Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, and Saint John and recently Water Island has been recognized as the fourth
- Saint John, is approximately 65% National Park and the majority of her waters are considered National Monuments
- Saint Thomas boasts a population of approximately 55,000 while Saint John has only approximately 4,500
- Christopher Columbus is said to be the first European to see the Virgin Islands and named the island chain after Saint Ursula and the 11,000 virgins martyred with her
- The United States purchased the entire territory in 1917 for $25 million in gold bars
- U.S. Virgin Islanders are U.S. citizens, although they cannot vote in presidential elections and have only non-voting status in Congress
- Saint Thomas boasts the oldest running synagog in the United States, complete with white sand on the interior floors
- The last major hurricane, Marilyn, to hit the Virgin Islands was in 1995 and the islands were without electrical power for up to three months in some areas
- The United States Virgin Islands is the only place under United States jurisdiction where the rule of the road is to drive on the left. This was inherited from what was the then-current Danish practice at the time of the American acquisition in 1917