United States Virgin Islands

The United States Virgin Islands,[b] officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States.[8] The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.[9] The islands have a tropical climate.

The U.S. Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas and 50 other surrounding minor islands and cays.[10] The total land area of the territory is 133.73 square miles (346.36 km2).[8] The territory's capital is Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas.

Previously known as the Danish West Indies of the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway (from 1754 to 1814) and the independent Kingdom of Denmark (from 1814 to 1917), they were sold to the United States by Denmark for $25,000,000 in the 1917 Treaty of the Danish West Indies[8] ($595 million in 2023) and have since been an organized, unincorporated United States territory. The U.S. Virgin Islands are organized under the 1954 Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands and have since held five constitutional conventions. As with other territories in the United States, the Virgin Islands elects a delegate who can participate in debates in the House of Representatives but cannot vote.[11]

Tourism and related categories are the primary economic activities.[8]