Spanish Town | |
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| Coordinates: 18°26′56″N64°25′52″W / 18.449°N 64.431°W Coordinates: 18°26′56″N64°25′52″W / 18.449°N 64.431°W | |
| Country | British Virgin Islands |
Spanish Town on southern Virgin Gorda is the second largest town (after Road Town) on the British Virgin Islands. Also known as The Valley, Spanish Town offers numerous shopping possibilities. The heart of the town is its Yacht Harbor marina, with many bareboat sailing activities every day. It has its own airport and a ferry service is in operation from here to Road Town on Tortola. Overall, though, Spanish Town is small, with few bars and a relaxed atmosphere. The national park "The Baths" is located south of Spanish Town.
Spanish Town was originally settled by Cornish miners, and ruins of the chimney, boiler house, cistern, and mine shafts can be seen. This is now part of the Copper Mine National Park. It served as capital of the territory from 1680 until 1741, [1] when the government moved their offices to Road Town. [2]
Each year in March at Fishers' Cove in Spanish Town there is the Spanish Town Fisherman's Jamboree, an annual event celebrating fishing. The main focus is the fishing competitions which also provide plenty of opportunities for visitors to try freshly caught seafood. [3] [4]
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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 U.S. 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 British Virgin Islands (BVI) are one of three political divisions of the Virgin Islands archipelago located in the Lesser Antilles, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. The BVI are the easternmost part of the island chain. The land area totals and comprises 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands. The islands of Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda and Jost van Dyke are the largest. Maritime claims include 12 nmi territorial sea and a 200 nmi exclusive fishing zone. In terms of land use, it is 20% arable land, 6.67% permanent crops and 73.33% other as of a 2005 figure. It has strong ties to nearby U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
The History of the British Virgin Islands is usually, for convenience, broken up into five separate periods:
Burnham-on-Crouch is a town and civil parish in the Maldon District of Essex in the East of England. It lies on the north bank of the River Crouch. It is one of Britain's leading places for yachting.
Virgin Gorda is the third-largest and second-most populous of the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
Roatán is an island in the Caribbean, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) off the northern coast of Honduras. It is located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, and is the largest of the Bay Islands of Honduras. The island was formerly known in English as Ruatan and Rattan.
The Abaco Islands lie in the northern Bahamas, 180 miles off the South Florida coast. They comprise the main islands of Great Abaco and Little Abaco, along with smaller barrier cays. The northernmost are Walker's Cay, and its sister island Grand Cay. To the south, the next inhabited islands are Spanish Cay and Green Turtle Cay, with its settlement of New Plymouth, Great Guana Cay, private Scotland Cay, Man-O-War Cay, and Elbow Cay, with its settlement of Hope Town. Southernmost are Tilloo Cay and Lubbers Quarters. Another of note off Abaco's western shore is onetime Gorda Cay, now a Disney Island and cruise ship stop and renamed Castaway Cay. Also in the vicinity is Moore's Island. On the Big Island of Abaco is Marsh Harbour, the Abacos' commercial hub and the Bahamas' third largest city, plus the resort area of Treasure Cay. Both have airports. A few mainland settlements of significance are Coopers Town and Fox Town in the north and Cherokee and Sandy Point in the south. Administratively, the Abaco Islands constitute seven of the 31 Local Government Districts of the Bahamas: Grand Cay, North Abaco, Green Turtle Cay, Central Abaco, South Abaco, Moore's Island, and Hope Town.
Anegada is the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It lies approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Virgin Gorda. Anegada is the only inhabited British Virgin Island formed from coral and limestone, rather than being of volcanic origin. While the other islands are mountainous, Anegada is flat and low. Its highest point is only about 28 feet (8.5 m) above sea level, earning it its name, which is the Spanish term for the flooded land, "tierra anegada".
Road Town, located on Tortola, is the capital of the British Virgin Islands. It is situated on the horseshoe-shaped Road Harbour in the centre of the island's south coast. The population was about 15,000 in 2018.
Fisherman's Village is a waterfront mall, commercial boat anchorage and tourist attraction located in the world's largest man-made small boat harbor in Los Angeles County at Marina del Rey, California. The Ballona Wetlands State Ecological Reserve is immediately east of Fisherman's Village and immediately to the south is the federally-owned riverine estuary of Ballona Creek. The historical Fisherman's Village that was built 53 years ago in 1967 is nestled on the eastern bank of main harbor entrance channel between Whiskey Reds restaurant to the south and the Windward boatyard to the north.
Joost van Dyk was a Dutch privateer who was one of the earliest European settlers in the British Virgin Islands in the seventeenth century, and established the first permanent settlements within the Territory. The islands of Jost Van Dyke and its smaller neighbor Little Jost Van Dyke, as well as Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda island, are named after him.
The Copper Mine on Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, is a national park containing the ruins of an abandoned 19th-century copper mine.
Eustatia Island is a 30-acre island of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in the Caribbean. The word "Eustatia" is a Greek derived word meaning, "good place to stay." The entire island, and a small neighboring island, Saba Rock, are under the same long term lease. The island is regularly featured and photographed for several publications and was listed as one of the top 20 most beautiful islands in the world in the December 2004 issue of Islands magazine.
Saba Rock is a small island of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, approximately an acre and a half in size. The island contains a small hotel, restaurant, bar, and gift shop. A dock is available for day visitors and a large mooring field accommodates yachts staying overnight. The resort operates a boat shuttle from Saba Rock to Bitter End Yacht Club and Leverick Bay Marina.
The Baths is a beach area on the island of Virgin Gorda among the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the British Virgin Islands:
The Dutch Virgin Islands is the collective name for the enclaves that the Dutch West India Company had in the Virgin Islands. The area was ruled by a director, whose seat was not permanent. The main reason for starting a colony here was that it lay strategically between the Dutch colonies in the south and New Netherland. The Dutch West India Company was mainly affected by the competition from Denmark, England and Spain. In 1680 the remaining islands became a British colony.
Association football – commonly known as football – is a popular sport in the British Virgin Islands. The British Virgin Islands Football Association – the territory's football governing body – organizes the men's and women's national teams and administers the territory's professional league the BVIFA National Football League. As members of Caribbean Football Union teams are eligible for the Caribbean Club Championship and the territory's membership in CONCACAF allows teams to participate in that organizations club and national team competitions. The British Virgin Island are also a member of FIFAand is therefore eligible to play in the World Cup. The national teams also compete in the Virgin Islands Championship against the US Virgin Islands.
