Districts of the U.S. Virgin Islands
CategoryCounty equivalent
LocationUnited States Virgin Islands
Number2 (administrative districts)
3 (census districts)
Populations3,881 (Saint John) – 42,461 (Saint Thomas (census districts)
Areas19.69 sq mi (51.0 km2) (Saint John) – 83.32 sq mi (215.8 km2) (Saint Croix) (census districts)
Government
Subdivisions

Districts

The territorial government of the United States Virgin Islands has for operational purposes established two districts, which include the minor islets nearest to the major islands:[1][2][3]

  1. Saint Croix
  2. Saint Thomas and Saint John

The U.S. Virgin Islands legislature has 15 seats: 7 seats are for the Saint Croix District, 7 seats are for the Saint Thomas and Saint John District, and one seat is for someone who must live in Saint John.[2]

The U.S. Virgin Islands have no municipalities; the only government is for the territory as a whole.[4]

History of the districts

The Colonial Law of 1863 divided the islands into two municipalities: St. Croix, and St. Thomas–St. John.[2] Each municipality was served by a Colonial Council.[2] fter the United States had purchased the islands, the U.S. Congress passed the Organic Act of 1936, under which the two Colonial Councils became Municipal Councils.[2] In 1954, the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands created a unicameral body called the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, consisting of 11 members across three districts (one district for each major island).[2] In 1966, the United States Congress and the Virgin Islands Legislature passed a resolution, which increased the number of seats from 11 to 15, changed the number districts back to two, and changed the distribution of seats to its current distribution.[2]

Subdistricts

The territory has historically been divided into quarters (which are not one-fourth of anything) and estates. These were used for census purposes until 1980, and estates are commonly used for navigation, writing addresses, and discussing real estate.[4] The U.S. Census uses three districts (Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Saint Croix) as county equivalents.[5][6][7]

In more recent census decades, quarters and estates have been replaced by 20 census subdistricts, which were defined by the territorial government as more meaningful given the terrain and current population distribution. These are used as minor civil divisions.[4]

MapDivisionPopulation[8]Land area[9][10]
#20202010sq mikm2
Saint Croix41,00450,60183.32215.80
1Anna's Hope Village3,2824,0419.8925.61
2Christiansted1,8662,6260.761.97
Christiansted town1,7702,4330.511.32
3East End2,3362,45312.9133.44
4Frederiksted2,3033,0911.383.57
  Frederiksted town5288590.170.44
5Northcentral4,1974,97712.6632.79
6Northwest3,4314,86318.1947.11
7Sion Farm10,33213,0039.4024.35
8Southcentral7,4158,04912.6232.69
9Southwest5,8427,4985.5114.27
Saint Thomas42,26151,63431.3181.09
1Charlotte Amalie14,47718,4813.368.70
  Charlotte Amalie town8,19410,3541.213.13
2East End7,5028,4035.2613.62
3Northside8,88910,04910.5927.43
4Southside4,1125,4114.4211.45
5Tutu5,1296,8671.523.94
6Water Island1641820.972.51
7West End1,9882,2415.1913.44
Saint John3,8814,17019.6951.00
1Central47077914.0936.49
2Coral Bay7246341.914.95
3Cruz Bay2,6522,7062.777.17
4East End35510.922.38
U.S. Virgin Islands87,146106,405134.32347.89

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.legvi.org/senators/st-thomasst-john/senator-marvin-a-blyden/ Archived October 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine legvi.org. Senator Marvin A. Blyden. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 http://www.legvi.org/history/ Archived October 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Legvi.org. History. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  3. ↑ https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-counties-are-there-united-states Archived September 7, 2018, at the Wayback Machine USGS. How many counties are there in the United States? Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 United States Census (1990). "Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas" (PDF). Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  5. ↑ https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/codes/cou.html 2010 FIPS Codes for Counties and County Equivalent Entities. Census.gov. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  6. ↑ https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch4GARM.pdf States, Counties, and Statistically Equivalent Entities (Chapter 4). Census.gov. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  7. ↑ http://www.statoids.com/uvi.html Districts of the United States Virgin Islands. Statoids.com. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  8. ↑ Population of the United States Virgin Islands: 2010 and 2020, U.S. Census Bureau.
  9. ↑ Population, Housing Units, Land Area, and Density by Island and Census Subdistrict for the U.S. Virgin Islands: 2010, U.S. Census Bureau.
  10. ↑ Population, Housing Units, Land Area, and Density by Place for the U.S. Virgin Islands: 2010, U.S. Census Bureau.


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