British Virgin Islands Real Estate Listings

Raffles Hotel & Residences
New exclusive residences. more

Mainsail
British Virgin Islands
Exciting new resort on private island. more

BVI Map Locus Google Satellite View

The British Virgin Islands are located about 20 miles east and north of the United States Virgin Islands. The largest islands are Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, with nearly 50 smaller islands and cays in the surrounding turquoise Caribbean waters. The British Virgins, as a rule, are comprised of volcanic mountains and feature many white sand beaches and coral reefs. Anegada, a notable exception, is quite flat. The BVI has world-acclaimed sailing waters and a considerable charter fleet.

The BVI were “discovered” by Columbus, but Spain took little interest and it was the British who first settled the area in 1628. The Dutch moved in and began sugar plantations, and the islands were embroiled in the economic and territorial competition between the European superpowers of the day. The BVI were given charter by the British Crown in 1773 and have been British ever since. The emancipation of the slaves in 1834 brought the sugarcane industry to a halt, and the islands suffered many years of depression until the tourism industry rekindled the economy.

Although, the British Virgin Islands had been relatively slow to develop there certainly is actively occurring at a controlled pace. Business opportunities have lagged here for years, but with the increase in development the government is encouraging investment in resort & marina construction, textiles, handicrafts, food processing, movie production, boat construction, and electronic assembly. Increased Off-shore activity has certainly fueled expansion. Recently, the government has intimated it will stimulate investment, but under strict guidelines and has authorized a ten year development study for tourist and development sectors and future projects will include expansion of the airport.