Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands

Districts of the U.S. Virgin Islands
Category	County equivalent
Location	United States Virgin Islands
Number	2 (administrative districts) 3 (census districts)
Populations	3,881 (Saint John) – 42,461 (Saint Thomas (census districts)
Areas	19.69 sq mi (51.0 km2) (Saint John) – 83.32 sq mi (215.8 km2) (Saint Croix) (census districts)
Government	Local government
Subdivisions	Subdistrict

Districts

The territorial government of the United States Virgin Islands has for operational purposes established two districts, which include the minor islets nearest to the major islands:^[1][2][3]

1. Saint Croix
2. Saint Thomas and Saint John

The U.S. Virgin Islands legislature has 15 seats: 7 seats are for the Saint Croix District, 7 seats are for the Saint Thomas and Saint John District, and one seat is for someone who must live in Saint John.^[2]

The U.S. Virgin Islands have no municipalities; the only government is for the territory as a whole.^[4]

History of the districts

The Colonial Law of 1863 divided the islands into two municipalities: St. Croix, and St. Thomas–St. John.^[2] Each municipality was served by a Colonial Council.^[2] After the United States had purchased the islands, the U.S. Congress passed the Organic Act of 1936, under which the two Colonial Councils became Municipal Councils.^[2] In 1954, the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands created a unicameral body called the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, consisting of 11 members across three districts (one district for each major island).^[2] In 1966, the United States Congress and the Virgin Islands Legislature passed a resolution, which increased the number of seats from 11 to 15, changed the number districts back to two, and changed the distribution of seats to its current distribution.^[2]

Subdistricts

The territory has historically been divided into quarters (which are not one-fourth of anything) and estates. These were used for census purposes until 1980, and estates are commonly used for navigation, writing addresses, and discussing real estate.^[4] The U.S. Census uses three districts (Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Saint Croix) as county equivalents.^[5][6][7]

In more recent census decades, quarters and estates have been replaced by 20 census subdistricts, which were defined by the territorial government as more meaningful given the terrain and current population distribution. These are used as minor civil divisions.^[4]

Map	Division	Population[8]		Land area[9][10]
#		2020	2010	sq mi	km2
	Saint Croix	41,004	50,601	83.32	215.80
1	Anna's Hope Village	3,282	4,041	9.89	25.61
2	Christiansted	1,866	2,626	0.76	1.97
	Christiansted town	1,770	2,433	0.51	1.32
3	East End	2,336	2,453	12.91	33.44
4	Frederiksted	2,303	3,091	1.38	3.57
	Frederiksted town	528	859	0.17	0.44
5	Northcentral	4,197	4,977	12.66	32.79
6	Northwest	3,431	4,863	18.19	47.11
7	Sion Farm	10,332	13,003	9.40	24.35
8	Southcentral	7,415	8,049	12.62	32.69
9	Southwest	5,842	7,498	5.51	14.27
	Saint Thomas	42,261	51,634	31.31	81.09
1	Charlotte Amalie	14,477	18,481	3.36	8.70
	Charlotte Amalie town	8,194	10,354	1.21	3.13
2	East End	7,502	8,403	5.26	13.62
3	Northside	8,889	10,049	10.59	27.43
4	Southside	4,112	5,411	4.42	11.45
5	Tutu	5,129	6,867	1.52	3.94
6	Water Island	164	182	0.97	2.51
7	West End	1,988	2,241	5.19	13.44
	Saint John	3,881	4,170	19.69	51.00
1	Central	470	779	14.09	36.49
2	Coral Bay	724	634	1.91	4.95
3	Cruz Bay	2,652	2,706	2.77	7.17
4	East End	35	51	0.92	2.38
	U.S. Virgin Islands	87,146	106,405	134.32	347.89

See also

• List of settlements in the United States Virgin Islands
• Islands of U.S. Virgin Islands
• Minor islands of the United States Virgin Islands

References

1. http://www.legvi.org/senators/st-thomasst-john/senator-marvin-a-blyden/ Archived October 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine legvi.org. Senator Marvin A. Blyden. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
2. http://www.legvi.org/history/ Archived October 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Legvi.org. History. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
3. https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-counties-are-there-united-states Archived September 7, 2018, at the Wayback Machine USGS. How many counties are there in the United States? Retrieved July 7, 2018.
4. United States Census (1990). "Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas" (PDF). Retrieved July 20, 2021.
5. https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/codes/cou.html 2010 FIPS Codes for Counties and County Equivalent Entities. Census.gov. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
6. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch4GARM.pdf States, Counties, and Statistically Equivalent Entities (Chapter 4). Census.gov. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
7. http://www.statoids.com/uvi.html Districts of the United States Virgin Islands. Statoids.com. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
8. Population of the United States Virgin Islands: 2010 and 2020, U.S. Census Bureau.
9. Population, Housing Units, Land Area, and Density by Island and Census Subdistrict for the U.S. Virgin Islands: 2010, U.S. Census Bureau.
10. Population, Housing Units, Land Area, and Density by Place for the U.S. Virgin Islands: 2010, U.S. Census Bureau.

External links

• Districts of the United States Virgin Islands, United States Census Bureau

• Historical Evolution of the Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands

• Quarters and estates of Saint Croix
• Quarters and estates of Saint John