Virgin Islands

(vŭrjin,) (The,) a group of rocky islets, 100 in number, in the W. Indies, forming a connecting link bet. the Greater and Le er Antilles, bet. N. Lat. 18° 5'-18° 50′, W. Lon. 64° 10′-65° 40′. They are pretty evenly divided bet. Great Britain and Denmark, the chief belonging to the first being Tortola; to Denmark, St. Thomas. They have a fertile soil of volcanic formation, are only partially inhabited, and were discovered by Columbus in 1494. [s. 941]