parties and leaders: Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [E.
Walwyn BREWLEY]; Independent People's Movement or IPM [Omar HODGE and
Allen O'NEAL]; United Party or UP ; Virgin Islands
Party or VIP

International organization participation: Caricom (associate), CDB,
ECLAC (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO
(associate)

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (overseas territory of the
UK)

Diplomatic representation from the US: none (overseas territory of the
UK)

Flag description: blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper
hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in
the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked
on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll
bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful)

@British Virgin Islands:Economy

Economy - overview: The economy, one of the most prosperous in the
Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, which generates an
estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists,
mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1997. In the mid-1980s, the
government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing
to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate
substantial revenues. An estimated 250,000 companies were on the
offshore registry by yearend 1997. The adoption of a comprehensive
insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of
confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of
criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even
more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the
most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands'
ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally
close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has
used the dollar as its currency since 1959.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $287 million (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 6.8% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $15,000 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 6.2%
services: 92% (1996 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.3% (1998)

Labor force: 4,911 (1980)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services
NA%

Unemployment