Country Fast Facts: British Virgin Islands

First 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 U.S. Virgin Islands to the west; the U.S. dollar is the legal currency.

The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with over 50 other smaller islands and cays.

Approximately 15 of the islands are inhabited.
The largest island, Tortola, is approximately 20 km (approx. 12 mi) long and 5 km (approx. 3 mi) wide. The islands have a total population of about 22,000, of whom approximately 18,000 live on Tortola.

Road Town, the capital, is situated on Tortola.
Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population:
23,552 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure:
0-14 years: 20.2% (male 2,410/female 2,337)
15-64 years: 74.5% (male 9,004/female 8,534)
65 years and over: 5.4% (male 665/female 602) (2007 est.)

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Median age:
total: 31.7 years
male: 31.9 years
female: 31.5 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate:
1.923% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate:
14.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate:
4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate:
8.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.031 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.055 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.105 male(s)/female
total population: 1.053 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate:
total: 16.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 18.82 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 13.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.86 years
male: 75.71 years
female: 78.07 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate:
1.72 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA

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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA

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Nationality:
noun: British Virgin Islander(s)
adjective: British Virgin Islander

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Ethnic groups:
black 83%, other 17% (includes white, Indian, Asian and mixed)

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Religions:
Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, other 2%, none 2% (1991)

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Languages:
English (official)

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Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.8% (1991 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%

The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 820,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 2005. 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. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the US dollar as its currency since 1959.

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GDP (purchasing power parity):
$853.4 million (2004 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate):
$839.7 million (2003)

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GDP - real growth rate:
1% (2002 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP):
$38,500 (2004 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 6.2%
services: 92% (1996 est.)

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Labor force:
12,770 (2004)

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Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 0.6%
industry: 40%
services: 59.4% (2005)

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Unemployment rate:
3.6% (1997)

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Population below poverty line:
NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2% (2005)

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Budget:
revenues: $204.7 million
expenditures: $180.4 million; including capital expenditures of $33.8 million (2004)

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Agriculture - products:
fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish

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Industries:
tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center

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Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

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Electricity - production:
42 million kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption:
39.06 million kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2004)

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Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - consumption:
480 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl

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Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Current account balance:
$134.3 million (1999)

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Exports:
$25.3 million (2002)

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Exports - commodities:
rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand

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Exports - partners:
Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2006)

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Imports:
$187 million (2002 est.)

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Imports - commodities:
building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery

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Imports - partners:
Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2006)

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Debt - external:
$36.1 million (1997)

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Economic aid - recipient:
$NA

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Currency (code):
US dollar (USD)

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Exchange rates:
the US dollar is used

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Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March