Table 1: Geographical information about the U.S. Virgin Islands

Table 1: Geographical information about the U.S. Virgin Islands.

St. Croix St. Thomas St. John U.S.V.I.

Land Area (sq. mi.) 84 32 20 136 Shoreline (miles) 70.3 52.8 49.7 172.8 Tidal/Subtidal Wetlands (sq. mi.) 2.5 2.4 1.1 5.9 Embayments (sq. mi.) 1.5 0.9 0.1 3 Source: U.S.VI.DPNR, 2005

The islands lie in the middle of a mainstream of ocean currents moving from an easterly to westerly direction. These currents have influenced navigation and shipping patterns since the early days of exploration. The North Equatorial current originating in the Canary Islands region turns into the Antilles current and flows northward towards the mainland United States. The South Equatorial current originating in the Gulf of Guinea flows northward from the northern shore of South America as the Guiana current and eventually meets up with the Antilles current to form the Gulf Stream (Dookhan, 1974). The currents have allowed easy access into and out of the West Indies, which, along with the prevailing Northeast Trade winds, allowed European sailing ships to establish trade routes that endured for centuries.

The U.S. Virgin Islands occur on two separate insular shelf platforms separated by a 4,000-meter deep ocean trench. St. Thomas and St. John share the same shelf, while St. Croix occurs on a much narrower shelf to the south (CFMC, 2005). The islands of St. John and St. Thomas benefit from their wider and deeper shelf, which permits them to be a major hub for large ocean-going freight vessels and a popular destination for cruise ships. St. Thomas and St. John have very deep bays with narrow entrances, which make for good harbors since they protect vessels from rough seas and high winds (Dookhan, 1974). In contrast, St. Croix has wider bays that are open to rough weather.

The U.S. Virgin Islands are located in the belt of the northeast trade winds, which affords them a mild and uniform subtropical climate. High temperatures generally reach 95 ° F in the summer months while low temperatures reach 67 ° F in the winter months, with mild seasonal variations. The rainy season runs from September to November. The average annual rainfall is 41 inches per year. Rainfall, unlike temperature, can vary significantly, raising water conservation concerns, particularly in drier years due to a lack of naturally occurring freshwater throughout the islands (Dookhan, 1974).

The topography of the U.S. Virgin Islands is predominantly hilly with mountain peaks reaching upwards of 1,200 feet or more above sea level at points on all three islands. Its soils are generally porous and not very suitable for agriculture due to poor water-holding capacity and increased erosion. The exception to this rule is St. Croix, which contains a relatively large, flat coastal plain to the south with gentle slopes and productive soils in the central and southwestern portions of the island (Shaw, 1935; Dookhan, 1974). The low-lying coastal plains and productive soils of St. Croix favored the development of farming and livestock rearing.

3.1.2. Contemporary Economy and Society

The U.S. Virgin Islands are an “unincorporated” territory administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, with a non-voting delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although U.S. Virgin Islanders have U.S. citizenship, they cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections. U.S. Virgin Islanders vote for governor and lieutenant governor every four years and for fifteen legislators every two years to form a unicameral legislature. The capital is located in Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas.

The islands have a population of 112,801 people (U.S.V.I. B.E.R., 2006). Approximately 96 percent of the population lives on the islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix, while St. John is sparsely populated (Table 2). The majority of the residents are black of West Indian descent, with English being the most common spoken language (C.I.A., 2008). Baptist and Roman Catholic are the two most prominent religious practices (C.I.A., 2008). The cultural and ethnic makeup of the islands has been shaped by the slave trade, importation of migrant workers from neighboring islands, and more recently, by the influx of U.S. ‘continentals’ (i.e., people from the mainland) and retirees settling along the coast.

U.S. Virgin Islands’ gross territorial product (GTP) was about $3.1 billion in 2006 (U.S.V.I. B.E.R., 2006). Tourism and manufacturing are the two most important economic sectors. Of the 45,209 nonagricultural jobs in the Virgin Islands, 73% are private sector jobs, and remaining 27% are public sector jobs (both federal and territorial). In 2006, 11,462 people were employed by the territorial government (860 by the federal government), followed by 7,188 people in the leisure and hospitality sector, and 6,930 persons in the wholesale and retail trade. The construction and mining sector hired 3,095 people in 2006 (U.S.V.I. B.E.R., 2006). Table 3 offers additional economic indicators.