Virgin Islands - wikipedia Virgin Islands This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 11 December 2017. For other uses, see Virgin Islands ( disambiguation ). Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands, with the Puerto Rican territory in green, United States Virgin Islands in red, and British Virgin Islands in blue Geography Location Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean Archipelago Leeward Islands United States Insular area United States Virgin Islands Unincorporated territory Puerto Rico United Kingdom Overseas territory British Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, and form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The archipelago is separated from the Renaissance Islands by the Anegada Passage and from the main island of Puerto Rico by the Virgin Passage. The islands fall into three different political jurisdictions : British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory, United States Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States, Spanish ( or Puerto Rican ) Virgin Islands, the easternmost islands of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, itself an unincorporated territory of the United States. Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Traffic control 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources 7 External links Etymology The locations of the US and UK Virgin Islands Rigobert Bonne : Map of the Virgin Islands, 1780 Christopher Columbus named the islands after Saint Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins ( Spanish : Santa Úrsula y las Once Mil Vírgenes ), shortened to the Virgins ( las Vírgenes ). The official name of the British territory is the Virgin Islands, and the official name of the U.S. territory is the Virgin Islands of the United States. In practice, the two island groups are almost universally referred to as the British Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. History Main articles : Danish West Indies, History of the United States Virgin Islands, History of the British Virgin Islands, and History of Puerto Rico The Virgin Islands were originally inhabited by the Arawak, Carib, and Cermic, almost all of whom are thought to have perished during the colonial period due to enslavement, foreign disease, and mass extermination brought about by European colonists, as is the case in the rest of the Caribbean. European colonists later settled here and established sugar plantations, at least one tobacco plantation, and purchased slaves acquired from Africa. The plantations are gone, but the descendants of the slaves remain the bulk of the population, sharing a common African - Caribbean heritage with the rest of the English - speaking Caribbean. In 1916 and 1917, Denmark and the U.S., respectively, ratified a treaty in which Denmark sold the Danish West Indies to the United States of America for $25 million in gold. In the 1990s, a Puerto Rican tourism campaign renamed the Passage Islands as the Spanish Virgin Islands, though they are seldom identified as such on maps and atlases. They are part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, located east of the main island of Puerto Rico. They are closer to St. Thomas than St. Thomas is to St. Croix. Traffic control Motor vehicles are driven on the left - hand side of the road in both the British and the U.S. Virgin Islands, although the steering wheels on most cars are located on the left side ( as is the norm for drive - on - the - right localities ). In the Spanish Virgin Islands, vehicles are driven on the right - hand side of the road. See also Caribbean portal British Virgin Islands portal Puerto Rico portal United States portal United Kingdom portal Culture of the Virgin Islands Music of the Virgin Islands Virgin Islands Creole Danish Virgin Islands Dutch Virgin Islands Virgin Islands patch reefs References Jump up ^ Pereña, Luciano ( 1992 ). Genocidio en América. Madrid : Editorial MAPFRE. p. 351. ISBN 84 - 7100 - 453 - 4. Sources Colin Thomas, J. ; Allard, William Albert ; Wolinsky, Cary ( February 1981 ). `` Paradise Comes of age : The U.S. Virgin Islands ''. National Geographic. 159 ( 2 ) : 225 -- 243. External links Virgin Islands. Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Virgin Islands. Works related to Virgin Islands at Wikisource BVI.gov : British Virgin Islands government website U.S. Office of Insular Affairs.gov : United States Virgin Islands government website Digital Library of the Caribbean.edu : University of the Virgin Islands information Coordinates : 18 ° 5 ′ 37 '' N 64 ° 49 ′ 49 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 18.09361 ° N 64.83028 ° W ﻿ / 18.09361 ; - 64.83028 Caribbean Greater Antilles Cayman Islands Cuba Dominican Republic Haiti Jamaica Puerto Rico Leeward Antilles Aruba Bonaire Curaçao Federal Dependencies of Venezuela Leeward Islands Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda British Virgin Islands Guadeloupe Montserrat Saba Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Kitts and Nevis Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Windward Islands Dominica Grenada Martinique Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Other islands Barbados Bahamas Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands Continental coasts Belize Bermuda Colombia Costa Rica French Guiana Guatemala Guyana Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Suriname Venezuela Caribbean articles History Timeline Taíno -- Arawak Spanish Caribbean ( 1492 -- 1898 ) Dutch Caribbean ( 1554 -- 1863 ) British Caribbean ( 1586 -- 1834 ) French Caribbean ( 1625 -- 1817 ) Baltic - German Caribbean ( 1654 - 1689 ) Danish Caribbean ( 1672 -- 1917 ) German Caribbean ( 1685 - 1693 ) Swedish Caribbean ( 1784 -- 1878 ) By topic Afro - Caribbean Territorial evolution Geography Regions Antilles Greater Antilles Lesser Antilles Leeward Leeward Antilles Windward Caribbean Basin Caribbean Lowlands Caribbean Plate Caribbean Sea Caribbean South America Southern Caribbean By topic Bioregion Earthquakes Extreme points Islands by area Metropolitan areas Mountains Rivers Ultras sovereign states dependent territories Politics African - Caribbean leftism Caribbean Community CARIFORUM Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Sovereign states and dependent territories Western Caribbean Zone Economy Airlines Airports Central banks and currencies Citrus Fishing Stock exchanges Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange Sugar in Cuba in the Danish West Indies Telecommunications Tourism Culture Afro - Caribbean Art Beer Cuisine Literature Music People Sport Stadiums Television stations Demographics Immigration Languages Pre-Arawakan Population Diseases Religion Portal Outlying territories of European countries Territories under European sovereignty but closer to or on continents other than Europe ( see inclusion criteria for further information ). 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Question: what two countries claim the virgin islands in the caribbean sea
Answer: United States