The British Virgin Islands (BVI),officially the Virgin Islands,are a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean,to the east of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and north-west of Anguilla. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles and part of the West Indies.
The History of the British Virgin Islands is usually,for convenience,broken up into five separate periods:
Tortola is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands,a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of 55.7 square kilometres with a total population of 23,908,with 9,400 residents in Road Town. Mount Sage is its highest point at 530 metres above sea level.
Hamilton Lavity Stoutt was a British Virgin Islander politician and the first and longest serving Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands. He won five general elections and serving three non-consecutive terms of office from 1967 to 1971,again from 1979 to 1983 and again from 1986 until his death in 1995.
Ralph Telford O'Neal,OBE was a British Virgin Islander politician. He was the longest ever serving elected representative in the British Virgin Islands,and served as Chief Minister or Premier of the British Virgin Islands for three terms.
John Percy de Jongh Jr. is an American businessman and politician who served as the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 2007 to 2015. He has been active in Virgin Islands politics and the business community since returning to St. Thomas after graduating from college in 1981. De Jongh has been involved in community development,commercial banking,served on the boards of business and philanthropic organizations,appointed to government positions and elected to public office.
Juan Francisco Luis was a Puerto Rican-U.S. Virgin Islander politician who served as the third elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands,and the territory's 23rd governor overall. As lieutenant governor,Luis assumed the governorship on January 2,1978,succeeding Governor Cyril King,who died in office. He served as governor from 1978 until 1987,becoming the longest-serving governor in the history of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In common with most Caribbean countries,slavery in the British Virgin Islands forms a major part of the history of the Territory. One commentator has gone so far as to say:"One of the most important aspects of the History of the British Virgin Islands is slavery."
Stateside Virgin Islanders are West Indian Americans who hold US citizenship and who have migrated from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the continental United States and Hawaii,and their descendants.
The 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands gubernatorial election was held on November 2,2010,and won by incumbent Democratic Governor John de Jongh. De Jongh was elected to his first term in 2006 with 56% of the vote over Kenneth Mapp.
The colony of the British Virgin Islands has issued its own stamps since 1866. The first Post Office was opened in Tortola in 1787. At the time postage stamps were not yet invented,and it was not until 1858 that a small supply of adhesive stamps issued by Great Britain depicting Queen Victoria were utilized by the local Post Office. These stamps were cancelled by an A13 postmark and are extremely rare so cancelled.
Kenneth Ezra Mapp is an American politician who served as the eighth elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands,from 2015 to 2019. He is registered Republican,but ran as an independent.
James "Jimmy" O'Bryan Jr. is a United States Virgin Islander politician,spokesman and former press secretary. He previously served as the Administrator of the island of Saint Thomas,U.S. Virgin Islands.
Julio A. Brady was an American Virgin Islander judge,politician and attorney. Brady served as the Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 1983 to 1987 during the second term of former Governor Juan Francisco Luis. Prior to his death,Brady served as a U.S. Virgin Islands Superior Court judge since 2006.
The 2014 U.S. Virgin Islands gubernatorial election took place on November 4,2014,to elect the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. Incumbent Democratic Governor John de Jongh was term-limited and was unable run for re-election to a third term in office. Since no candidate received a majority in the general election,as required by the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands,a runoff was held between Donna Christian-Christensen and Kenneth Mapp,the two top vote receivers. Mapp went on to win the run off in a landslide victory,with almost 64% of the vote.
General elections were held in the British Virgin Islands on 27 November 1950,the first after the decision to restore the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands. Four members were elected to the First Legislative Council.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in the United States Virgin Islands since July 9,2015,as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. On June 26,2015,the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry under the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment,legalizing same-sex marriage in the U.S. Virgin Islands. On June 30,Governor Kenneth Mapp said the territorial government would comply with the ruling,and on July 9 he signed an executive order that requires the government to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The first marriage licenses were granted on July 21,2015,after the first same-sex couples to apply for licenses did so on July 13,beginning the 8-day waiting period between applying for and receiving marriage licenses.
Dr. Kedrick Pickering is the former Deputy Premier of the Virgin Islands,also known as the British Virgin Islands. He also served as the territory's Minister of Natural Resources and Labour. He is a member of the National Democratic Party.
The 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands gubernatorial election took place on November 6,2018,to select the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. The election was held concurrently with the 2018 United States midterm elections. Since no candidate received a majority of the General Election vote,as required by the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands,a runoff was held 14 days later between Albert Bryan Jr. and Incumbent Governor Kenneth Mapp,the top two vote-getters. On November 20,2018,Democrat Albert Bryan Jr. won the runoff with 54.5% of the vote.
Ethlyn Smith was a civil servant from the British Virgin Islands,who became one of the first two women elected to the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands. After a career of more than two decades as an accountant and public administrator in the civil service of the British Virgin Islands,Smith retired and entered politics. She contested her first election in 1995 as an independent,winning the 5th District. She was reelected to the post in 1999,serving until her defeat in the 2003 elections.
