British Virgin Islands History

The islands' first inhabitants were a group of people called the Ciboney. Then the territory which is now called British Virgin Islands was settled by the Amerindians from the Ciboney tribe of Venezuela. The Caribs conquered the Arawak people and destroyed their villages. In 1493 the explorer Christopher Columbus discovered Virgin Gorda and the neighboring islands. The Virgin Islands got their names from the hundreds of rocks, cays, and islets. English seamen passed by the Virgin Islands in 1542. The Dutch were the first Europeans to make permanent settlement in Tortola. European explorers enslaved, murdered, and infected with diseases the Arawaks and the Caribs. The British Virgin Islands have retained its British identity for all of modern history.