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Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands

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

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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

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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] After 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

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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In more recent census decades, quarters and estates have been replaced by 20 census subdistricts, which were defined by the territorial government as more meaningful given the terrain and current population distribution.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]

Map Division Population[8] Land area[9][10]
# 2020 2010 sq mi km2
Saint Croix 41,004 50,601 83.32 215.80
1 Anna's Hope Village 3,282 4,041 9.89 25.61
2 Christiansted 1,866 2,626 0.76 1.97
Christiansted town 1,770 2,433 0.51 1.32
3 East End 2,336 2,453 12.91 33.44
4 Frederiksted 2,303 3,091 1.38 3.57
  Frederiksted town 528 859 0.17 0.44
5 Northcentral 4,197 4,977 12.66 32.79
6 Northwest 3,431 4,863 18.19 47.11
7 Sion Farm 10,332 13,003 9.40 24.35
8 Southcentral 7,415 8,049 12.62 32.69
9 Southwest 5,842 7,498 5.51 14.27
Saint Thomas 42,261 51,634 31.31 81.09
1 Charlotte Amalie 14,477 18,481 3.36 8.70
  Charlotte Amalie town 8,194 10,354 1.21 3.13
2 East End 7,502 8,403 5.26 13.62
3 Northside 8,889 10,049 10.59 27.43
4 Southside 4,112 5,411 4.42 11.45
5 Tutu 5,129 6,867 1.52 3.94
6 Water Island 164 182 0.97 2.51
7 West End 1,988 2,241 5.19 13.44
Saint John 3,881 4,170 19.69 51.00
1 Central 470 779 14.09 36.49
2 Coral Bay 724 634 1.91 4.95
3 Cruz Bay 2,652 2,706 2.77 7.17
4 East End 35 51 0.92 2.38
U.S. Virgin Islands 87,146 106,405 134.32 347.89

See also

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References

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  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. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b c 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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