= mm/dd/yyyy | drives_on = left | calling_code = +1–340 | postal_code_type = | postal_code = VI | postal2_code_type = Trad. abbreviation | postal2_code = U.S.V.I. | iso_code = | cctld = .vi }} The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles to the east of Puerto Rico and west of the British Virgin Islands. The U.S. Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas and 50 other surrounding minor islands and cays. The total land area of the territory is . The territory's capital is Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas. Previously known as the Danish West Indies of the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway (from 1754 to 1814) and the independent Kingdom of Denmark (from 1814 to 1917), they were sold to the United States by Denmark for $25,000,000 in the 1917 Treaty of the Danish West Indies and have since been an organized, unincorporated United States territory. The U.S. Virgin Islands are organized under the 1954 Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands and have since held five constitutional conventions. Residents of the United States Virgin Islands are politically disenfranchised, having no representation in the United States congress. Tourism and related categories are the primary economic activities. Etymology The islands were named Santa Úrsula y las Once Mil Vírgenes by Christopher Columbus in 1493 after the legend of Saint Ursula and the 11,000 virgins. The name was later shortened to the Virgin Islands. History Pre-European contact The U.S. Virgin Islands were originally inhabited by the Ciboney and Arawaks, with some scholars thinking that the islands were inhabited from as early as 1000 BC. The Caribs arrived around the mid-15th century AD. Early European settlers Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage in 1493, is thought to have been the first European to see the islands, giving them their current name. The Spanish later settled in 1555, with English and French settlers arriving on St. Croix from 1625. There followed a complex period in which the islands were disputed among Spain, France, Britain and the Netherlands. Danish period Denmark–Norway also took an interest in the islands, and the Danish West