The British Virgin Islands were sighted and named by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. They were first settled in 1648 by the Dutch and were annexed by England soon after in 1672. They were called the "Virgin Islands" until "British" was added at the end of World War I after the United States had purchased the nearby Danish West Indies and renamed them as the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Although named by Columbus, many diverse groups of people have called the Virgin Islands home. The Arawaks emigrated from South America over a thousand years ago, and they were followed by the Caribs, Africans, and Europeans. Each community has contributed to the islands, creating the rich cultural tapestry that is the British Virgin Islands.

Discover ancient Arawak shell burial mounds on Anegada. Explore the ruins of sugar mills and plantation houses on Jost Van Dyke, and at Soper’s Hole on Tortola, look for a trace of the first European settlement, a Dutch fort built in 1648.

On Virgin Gorda, visit the 19th century Cornish Copper Mines, and on Guana Island, see the ruins of a Sugar Mill that reflect the Quaker presence in the BVI. On Tortola, the ruins of a Great House mark the spot where William Thornton, architect of the United States Capitol, once lived, while on Little Jost Van Dyke the memory of John Coakley Lettsome, founder of the London Medical Society, lingers still. The Folk Museum in Road Town, Tortola and the Anegada Museum display artifacts from the Indian, plantation, and slavery eras.

Beneath the turquoise waters, explore the secrets of the wrecks of British men-of-war and Spanish galleons, and on all the islands discover how our African legacy has enriched our customs and traditions.

Animals and plants are in abundance in the BVI. The British Virgin Islands are semi-tropical islands, neither lush nor overly dry. The mountainsides are covered for much of the year in a thick green carpet of tropical trees, bushes and scrub. Most prevalent of these trees is the wild tamarind, a hardy tree with deep roots that needs little moisture.

Also covering the hillsides are fields of tall guinea grass, upon which cattle and goats feed, as well as wild and fragrant frangipani trees and turpentine trees (locally referred to as tourist trees because of their red and peeling trunks). On dryer areas of the islands, such as the eastern portion of Tortola, much of Virgin Gorda and some of the outer islands, there are many varieties of cactus and succulents, including Turks Head, Pipe Organ and Prickly Pear.

The Century Plant, a massive succulent with tall, spiky leaves, puts out a lofty stalk which can reach 40 feet in length and contains pods of yellow flowers. Each plant blooms only every eight years, but in the spring you will see dozens of the plants adorning the hillsides. The White Cedar, which has delicate white or pink flowers when in blossom, is indigenous to the BVI, and is the territory's national tree.