The BVI consist of 
about fifty islands,
mostly of volcanic origin.
Sixteen of these islands
are inhabited, but only a
few are of major
significance.
These include Tortola,
Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke,
and Anegada (which is a coral
atoll). At 153 sq. km. the BVI
are just smaller in area than
Washington D.C. Tortola can
be reached by international
flights, but much of the travel
to and between the BVI is via 
ferries or private boats. The
islands were administered
variously as part of the
Leeward Islands Colony or
with St. Kitts and Nevis, with
a Commissioner representing
the British Government on
the Islands. The Federation
of the Leeward Islands was
dissolved in 1956 and the
Islands became autonomous
with a new constitution in
1967. The English introduced
sugar cane to the Islands,
which was to become, along
with cotton and indigo, the
major plantation crops and
the source of foreign trade.
Slaves were brought from
Africa to work on the sugar
cane plantations. The
plantation system in the
BVI collapsed after
emancipation and most of
the white population left for
pastures anew. The
population is now 82% black,
7% white, 5% "mixed", and
3.1% East
Indian. It is 86%
Protestant: the Methodists
have 23% and the Anglicans
11.6%, although
less-mainstream
groups such as the Church
of God (11.4%) are gaining
ground: 9.5% are Roman 
Catholics. The BVI remained
of strategic importance to the
British after the plantation era,
but little was done to develop
them economically. This
remained true well into the
twentieth century: in the
late 1960s one of the major
sources of income was
postage stamps. Since the
1960s, the Islands have
diversified away
from their traditionally
agriculture based economy
towards tourism and
financial services, becoming
one of the richest areas in the
Caribbean with a per capita
GDP of US$38,500.