BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

Fifty-nine square miles of land named for - no not what the sailors were hoping to (briefly) find when they discovered them!

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1493: Columbus discovers the islands, and calls them Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes (Saint Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins). For some reason this overlong name doesn't stick! There is sporadic Spanish settlement.

1648: After several changes of ownership, the Dutch come into possession. Sugarcane and slavery are introduced to the islands.

1672-4: Third Dutch War between Great Britain and the Netherlands ends with the islands being transferred to the British.

1835: Slavery abolished throughout the British Empire.

1917: The Danes next door sell their part of the Virgin group to the USA, so the Brits rename their bit the British Virgin Islands.

1967: The islanders gain control of their own government.

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