Colleen Gray snorkels in Magens Bay in St. Thomas. Her son, Lee Neubert, made the U.S. Virgin Island the site of his wedding earlier this month.

The Virgin Islands are a group of about 100 small islands east of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea. The islands are divided politically between the United States and Great Britain.

They are of volcanic origin overlaid with limestone. The islands are subject to severe hurricanes between August and October and suffer from light earthquakes.

The tropical climate, with its cooling northeast trade winds and the picturesque quality of the islands, have encouraged a large tourist trade.

The population is predominantly of African descent and the main religion is Protestantism. English and some Spanish and Creole are spoken. The islands were first visited by Europeans when Columbus landed on St. Croix in 1493.

Since 1666, England has held six of the main islands; the remaining three (St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John), as well as about 50 of the islets, were eventually acquired by Denmark, which named them the Danish West Indies. In 1917, these islands were purchased by the United States for $25 million.

The capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands is Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas with a population of 18,481. The total population of the U.S. Virgin Islands is a little more than 100,000.

Congress granted U.S. citizenship to Virgin Islanders in 1927. Universal suffrage was given in 1936 to all persons who could read and write English, but they can’t vote for president. Residents enjoy the same rights as mainlanders.

The governor was elected by popular vote for the first time in 1970; previously the post had been appointed by the U.S. president.

All goods made in the Virgin Islands qualify for duty-free entry into the United States.