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C H E M C O N T R O L Integrated Supply Solutions
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Main Geographic Markets Our market primarily includes the Eastern Caribbean. See Caribbean GDP Figures.
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BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency. History The British Virgin Islands were initially populated by the Ciboney Indians who arrived on stone age canoes from the Americas. A few hundred years later, the Arawak Indians arrived from South America. The Arawaks settled throughout the Virgin Islands and lead a simple agricultural lifestyle, they produced exquisite pottery and ornaments and maintained a strictly hereditary society. The Arawaks peacefully dominated the islands for many years until the arrival of the Carib Indians who worked their way north from South America about one hundred years before Christopher Columbus arrived. The Caribs were similar in appearance to the Ciboney and Arawak Indians although they plucked their beards because they believed them to be a deformity. The Caribs also flattened the fronts and backs of their children's heads to make them beautiful and, they scarred and painted their own bodies for the same purpose. The Caribs were a fierce and aggressive bunch who terrorized the entire Caribbean with their territorial and warlike behavior. When the Caribs came upon a settlement, they would raid and pillage whatever was worth removing including women and children (they fattened up young boys for eating-the Caribs were cannibals). The Caribs practiced euthanasia and blamed all unpleasant occurrences on evil spirits. The Caribs continued their warlike behavior as late as 1620, in some ways, one could say that they were the Caribbean's first true pirates. Colombus discovered the islands in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World and as legend would have it, named them "Las Once Mil Virgines", after the 11,000 followers of St. Ursula. Virgin Gorda was so named by Columbus because he thought the island resembled a reclining woman with a protruding belly when viewed from the sea. The Spaniards, the most powerful nation in Europe during the time began to settle and lay claim to the West Indies and in 1555 they sent forces that invaded the islands, defeated the Caribs and officially laid claim to the territory. For almost a century the islands were considered too small and unimportant for Spanish settlement therefore, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they were mainly uninhabited. As the other European countries challenged the Spaniards for control of the territory, some hearty French settlers colonialized the islands. They made their living by barbecuing beef in smokehouses called boucans which they sold to passing ships. The Spaniards drove them off the islands and in revenge, they took to the sea where they began hunting Spanish ships. The term Buccaneer became the word used for these pirates and as time passed, more joined the ranks as out of work naval crews drifted through the area. Many of these pirates terrorized the Caribbean shipping lanes with the blessing of one European country or another, provided that they only attacked ships with the Spanish ensign. The defeat of the Spanish Armada brought times of peace and settlement to the area, pirates were rounded up and punished while others settled peacefully in the territory. Many of the islands, Norman, named after a French pirate; Thatch, named after Edward Thatch (or Teach-commonly known as Blackbeard), and others still bear their names. Other notable pirates in Caribbean history include: Charles Vane, Edward England, Calico Jack and Anne Bonny!! Economy The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. 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. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. 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. Population The total population of the British Virgin Islands is 108,708 (July 2005 est.) Currency The official currency used in the British Virgin Islands is USD. 1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents |
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