In Pre-Columbian times, the archipelago known as the British Virgin Islands was settled by tribal groups migrating from South America in ocean-going dugout canoes. The Arawakan-speaking Taino Indians came first and were followed by the Caribs - from whose name the word Caribbean is derived.

Columbus discovered the islands in 1493 on his second voyage to the West Indies. The British Virgin Islands is a colony of the United Kingdom and is linked with Great Britain. The word "British" was added to the Territory’s name for clarity, when at the end of World War I, the United States bought the "Danish West Indies" from Denmark and renamed them the "U.S. Virgin Islands."

The British Virgin Islands consist of over thirty islands, islets, cays, and jagged rocks, sixteen of which are inhabited, with a total area of 59 square miles and a total population of about 19,000. The largest islands are Tortola (Turtle Dove), Virgin Gorda (Fat Virgin) and Anegada (Drowned Land). Guana Island, the seventh largest island in the chain, is named for an iguana-shaped rock formation on its northwestern coast.