s in recent years; frequent and severe droughts and
floods; occasional earthquakes

Environment - current issues:

lack of natural freshwater resources

Geography - note:

important location along the Anegada Passage - a key shipping lane
for the Panama Canal; Saint Thomas has one of the best natural
deepwater harbors in the Caribbean

People
Virgin Islands

Population:

109,840 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 21% (male 11,698/female 11,390)
15-64 years: 66.2% (male 34,035/female 38,670)
65 years and over: 12.8% (male 6,312/female 7,735) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 38.5 years
male: 38 years
female: 39 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.002% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

12.29 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.55 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-5.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.88 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 0.9 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 7.72 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.43 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 78.92 years
male: 75.9 years
female: 82.11 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.88 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

NA

Nationality:

noun: Virgin Islander(s) (US citizens)
adjective: Virgin Islander

Ethnic groups:

black 76.2%, white 13.1%, Asian 1.1%, other 6.1%, mixed 3.5% (2000
census)

Religions:

Baptist 42%, Roman Catholic 34%, Episcopalian 17%, other 7%

Languages:

English 74.7%, Spanish or Spanish Creole 16.8%, French or French
Creole 6.6%, other 1.9% (2000 census)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90-95% est.
male: NA%
female: NA% (2005 est.)

Education expenditures:

NA

Government
Virgin Islands

Country name:

conventional long form: United States Virgin Islands
conventional short form: Virgin Islands
former: Danish West Indies
abbreviation: USVI

Dependency status:

organized, unincorporated territory of the US with policy relations
between the Virgin Islands and the US