The United States Virgin Islands
Where Are They?
A chain of islands runs from below Florida in a rough arc down to the coast of South America just east of Venezuela. Going down the chain, you first encounter Cuba; then Haiti and the Dominican Republic; then Puerto Rico. Just east of Puerto Rico are the US Virgin Islands. These islands are collectively called the Greater Antilles. The US Virgin Islands are made up of three larger islands; St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John; and roughly 50 smaller islands. In total, the US Virgin Islands comprise only about 135 square miles of land area. St. Thomas is only about 13 miles west to east, and about 3 miles north to south.
The larger islands you encounter as you continue down the island chain are the British Virgin Islands; St. Kitts and Nevis; Antigua and Barbuda; Montserrat; Guadeloupe; Dominica; Martinique; Barbados; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Grenada; and Trinidad and Tobago (just off the coast of Venezuela). These more southern islands are called the Lesser Antilles.
To the West and South of these islands is the Caribbean Sea, to the North and East is the North Atlantic Ocean.
What Are They:
If you are interested in geology, the Caribbean islands are a product of the subduction of the North Atlantic ocean floor beneath the Caribbean plate. Volcanism associated with subducting slab has formed the back island arc system that make up the islands. The process is ongoing today; Soufriere Hills, a stratovolcano on the island of Montserrat, began erupting on July 18, 1995 and as of this writing is still occasionally spewing out ash and steam.
Here is a view of the US and British Virgin Islands from Earth Orbit
The "West Indies"
You also hear the region called the West Indies, due to a small geographical error (OOPS!) made in the 1400’s when the Caribbean islands were believed to be the next land mass west of the country of India (sorry, Africa). So when you visit the islands and hear people speak of the “West Indies" or say "West Indian”, they refer to the Caribbean or to people of Caribbean heritage. If they speak of the “East Indies" or say "East Indian” they refer the country of India or to people of Indian heritage.
For more information there are innumerable resources on the internet, just enter "US Virgin Islands" into any search engine and enjoy browsing!
Enjoy your St Thomas Vacation rental condo.
The maps and the US Virgin Island flag (in the background) are in the public domain and came from the CIA World Fact Book.
The image from Earth orbit is courtesy of the NASA Visible Earth project.