Portal:British Virgin Islands
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The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S. Virgin Islands. Technically the name of the Territory is simply the "Virgin Islands", but in practice since 1917 they have been almost universally referred to as the "British Virgin Islands" to distinguish the islands from the American Territory.[1] To add to the regional confusion, the Puerto Rican islands of Culebra, Vieques and surrounding islands began referring to themselves as the "Spanish Virgin Islands" as part of a tourism drive in the early 2000s. Administratively, these islands are part of Spanish speaking Puerto Rico, and were historically ruled by Spain.
The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with over fifty other smaller islands and cays. Approximately fifteen 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.
Virgin Islands Creole is an English-based creole spoken in the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. Virgin Islands Creole is not to be confused with Negerhollands, a Dutch-based creole that was once spoken in the Danish West Indies, now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Virgin Islands Creole does not have the status of an official language. It is strictly an informal form of communication and is a constantly changing dialect filled with various slang terms and idioms. The language of government, education and the media is American English in the U.S. Virgin Islands and British English in the British Virgin Islands. In the Virgin Islands, standard English and Virgin Islands Creole both function in a fairly diglossic relationship with English as the language of high prestige and formality and Virgin Islands Creole as the spoken vernacular. Native Virgin Islanders can easily switch from English to Virgin Islands Creole depending on their mood, subject matter, or the person they are speaking to. (more...)
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Arthur William Hodge (1763 - 1811) was a plantation farmer, member of the Council and Legislative Assembly and slave owner in the British Virgin Islands who was hanged on 8 May 1811 for the murder of one of his slaves. Hodge was the first, if not the only slave owner executed for the murder of a slave in the British West Indies. He though was not, as some have claimed, the first white person to have been lawfully executed for the killing of a slave.
Hodge was born in the British Virgin Islands, studied at Oriel College, Oxford and served in the British Army. His wife was a sister-in-law of the Marquess of Exeter. He was described as a man of great accomplishments and elegant manners [2] and upon his father's death, he returned to the British Virgin Islands to assume control of the family's plantation. (more...)
edit More at British Virgin Islands
Anegada · Beef Island · Bellamy Cay · Buck Island · Carvel Rock · Cockroach Island · Cooper Island · Dead Chest Cay · Dead Chest Island · Diamond Cay · Dog Islands · Drowned Island · East Seal Dog Island · Eustatia Island · Fallen Jerusalem Island · Flanagan Island · Frenchman's Cay · George Dog Island · Ginger Island · Great Camanoe · Great Dog Island · Great Thatch · Great Tobago Island · Green Cay · Guana Island · Jost Van Dyke · Little Anegada · Little Camanoe · Little Cay · Little Jost Van Dyke · Little Seal Dog Island · Little Sisters · Little Thatch · Little Tobago · Little Wickmans Cay · Marina Cay · Mosquito Island · Nanny Cay · Necker Island · Norman Island · Old Jerusalem Island · Oyster Rock · Pelican Island · Peter Island · Prickly Pear · Saba Rock · Salt Island · Sandy Cay · Sandy Spit · Scrub Island · Spanish Island · Tortola · Virgin Gorda · West Dog Island · Whale Rock
