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Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Map of the U.S. Virgin Islands. 
Trunk Bay Beach, in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. 
Reef Bay and Virgin Islands
National Park from Cocoloba Point. Saint John is an island in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. It is renowned as the wealthiest and most expensive of the U.S. Virgin Islands, enjoying a level of affluence that is comparable with the nearby island of St. Barts. It is the smallest of the three main islands of Saint John, Saint Thomas, and Saint Croix. St. John is located in the Caribbean Sea about 4 miles east of Saint Thomas, the location of the territory's capital, Charlotte Amalie, and 4 miles south and west of Tortola, part of the British Virgin Islands. It is 50.8 km² (19.61 sq mi) in area and has a population of 4,197 (2000 census) http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01cn172.html. Because there are no airports on St. John, the only access to the island is by boat. The ferry service runs hourly from St. Thomas and daily from Tortola; regular ferries also operate from Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke and Anegada.
HistorySt. John was first settled by the Arawak Indians who had migrated north from coastal Colombia and Venezuela around AD 300. The Arawaks inhabited the island until around the year AD 1300, when they were driven off by the more aggressive and warlike Carib Indians. Extensive archaeological work has been undertaken from 1996 to the present at Cinnamon Bay. The artifacts from this dig are currently being studied and should yield more detailed information on pre-Columbus civilization in the Virgin Islands (Taino). Christopher Columbus is credited with being the first European to see the Virgin Islands during his second voyage to the New World in 1493. He named the island group "Once Mil Virgenes", or Eleven Thousand Virgins, in honor of the feast day of Saint Ursula and the 11,000 virgins who were martyred with her. The Danish West India and Guinea Company represented the first Europeans to settle the island in 1718. They are also credited with naming the island St. John (Danish: Sankt Jan). The Danish crown took full control of the colony in 1754, along with St. Thomas and St. Croix. Sugar plantations, such as the famous Annaberg Sugar Plantation, were established in great numbers on St. John because of the intense heat and fertile terrain, which provided ideal growing conditions. The establishment of sugar plantations also led to the importation of more slaves from Africa. St. John was the site of one of the first significant slave rebellions in the New World in 1733, when slaves took over the island for six months. The Danish were able to defeat the enslaved Africans with help from the French in Martinique. Many Africans committed suicide by jumping off cliffs instead of returning to slavery, as they commonly believed that when they died they would return to Africa. It is estimated that by 1775, slaves outnumbered the Danish settlers by a ratio of 5:1. The indigenous Caribs and Arawaks were also used as slave labor, to the point of wiping out their entire population. Slavery was finally abolished in St. John on July 3, 1848. In 1917 the United States of America bought the Virgin Islands from the Danish government in order to establish a naval base whose purpose was to prevent German expansion in the western hemisphere. The U.S. government paid $25 million for the three islands. They also agreed to recognize Denmark's claim to Greenland, which they had previously disputed. Virgin Islanders are now U.S. citizens, although they cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections and have only non-voting status in Congress. The Virgin Islands are an organized, unincorporated territory of the US, and since 1972 have elected their own Governor. They enjoy a large degree of self-rule through a local 15-seat legislature that covers all three of the islands. In 1956, Laurance Rockefeller donated most of the land he had acquired on the island to the United States' National Park Service, under the condition that it must be protected from future development. The remaining portion, the Caneel Bay Resort, continues to operate on a lease arrangement while the park owns the actual land. The Virgin Islands National Park borders encompass 75% of the island, but various in-holdings within the park boundary (eg. Peter Bay, Maho Bay) reduce the actual land the park owns to 60%. However, much of the island's waters, coral reefs and shoreline are protected via their inclusion in the park. This protection was expanded in 2001, when the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument was created. Subdistricts
Districts and subdistricts of the US Virgin Islands Government and demographicsResidents of the U.S. Virgin Islands elect a legislature of 15 delegates every four years. Of these 15, seven are from St. Croix, seven are from St. Thomas and St. John, and one is elected at-large, but must be a resident of St. John. This assembly is responsible for deciding most of the islands' internal affairs. The Islands also elect a governor every four years. St. John itself has no local government; however, the Governor appoints an administrator for the island. Having no official powers, this figure acts more as an advisor to the Governor and as a spokesperson for the Governor's policies. Cruz Bay has become the principal town on the island since the ferry service from St. Thomas became the main route of entry to the island. Previously, Coral Bay was the hub of economic activity on the island, as its natural port offered protection to the sailing vessels of the day as well as an easy sail that involved minimal tacking to the nearby British Virgin Islands. In fact, until the late 20th century the residents of Coral Bay and East End had easier and more frequent access to Tortola than those of either Cruz Bay or St. Thomas. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, St. John has a resident population of 4,157 people, most of whom live in either Cruz Bay or Coral Bay on the eastern end of the island. However, being merely a U.S. territory, its population is not included in the overall U.S. population count. Tourism and sites
Cruz Bay in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. 
Entrance to Mongoose Junction, a popular shopping center in Cruz Bay 
Participant in a Carnival Troupe in St. John The beaches on the South Side of St. John are considerably wilder and more remote. Some are only accessible by rough dirt roads. Tourism starts late October and runs through June, when Carnival starts. The off-season is considered to be the hot summer months. National protected areasEducationSt. Thomas-St. John School District operates schools for the island residents. EconomyThe main export of St. John used to be sugar cane, which was produced in great quantity using African and Indian slave labor. However, this industry all but fell apart in the 19th century after the island's slaves were given their freedom. The economy of St. John is now almost entirely founded on tourism and tourism-related industries, real estate development, guest houses, and hotels. References
External links
Further reading
da:Sankt Jan de:Saint John (Amerikanische Jungferninseln) es:Saint John (Islas Vírgenes) fr:Saint-John (Îles Vierges américaines) gl:San Xoán, Illas Virxes he:??? ?'?? (??? ??????) nl:Saint John (Maagdeneilanden) ja:???????? no:Saint John pl:Saint John (wyspa) ru:????-???? (??????) simple:Saint John, United States Virgin Islands sr:???? ??? (?????????? ??????) sv:Saint John, Amerikanska Jungfruöarna Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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