Dutch Virgin Islands

Nederlandse Maagdeneilanden (Dutch Virgin Islands)
1625–1680
Flag of Dutch Virgin Islands
Flag
Coat of arms of Dutch Virgin Islands
Coat of arms
StatusColony of the Dutch Republic
Common languagesDutch, Negerhollands
Religion
Dutch Reformed
History 
• Dutch West India Company fort established on Saint Croix
1625
• Dutch expelled from Saint Croix by British
1650
• Saint Thomas post established
1657
• Danish West India Company takes possession of Saint Thomas
1672
• Disestablished
1680
CurrencyGulden (WIC)
Succeeded by
British Virgin Islands
Danish West Indies
Map of the Virgin Islands

The Dutch Virgin Islands is the collective name for the enclaves that the Dutch West India Company had in the Virgin Islands. The area was ruled by a director, whose seat was not permanent. The main reason for starting a colony here was that it lay strategically between the Dutch colonies in the south (Netherlands Antilles, Suriname) and New Netherland. The Dutch West India Company was mainly affected by the competition from Denmark, England and Spain. In 1680 the remaining islands became a British colony.