The Last Bastions of The British Empire

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British Virgin Islands

Located in the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico with a population of 24,491.  The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with over fifty other smaller islands and islets. Approximately fifteen of the islands are inhabited.  The Virgin Islands were settled by the Dutch in 1648 but annexed by the English 24 years later. The US Virgin Islands, which lie to the west, have a larger population, and the economies of the two sets of islands are closely related – the US dollar is the legal currency for both. 

Gibraltar

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The Cayman Islands

Located in the Western Caribbean Sea south of Cuba.  Total population 51 900.  Captured from the Spanish and ceded to Britain in 1670 in the Treaty of Madrid. Today the Islands are a major offshore financial centre. The Cayman Islands historically have been popular as a tax-exempt destination. Legend has it that in 1788 Caymanians rescued the crews of a Jamaican merchant ship convoy which had struck a reef at Gun Bay during a hurricane, and that the Caymanians were rewarded with King George III’s promise to never again impose any tax.

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Falkland Islands

Located in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of southern Argentina with a population of 3140.  The Falkland Islands have been disputed over since the 18th century, with Spain, Argentina and Britain all laying claim. The UK asserted its claim to the islands in 1833 by establishing a naval post there. The islands were then invaded by Argentina in 1982, triggering the Falklands war between Britain and Argentina. After 74 days of violence, Argentina surrendered on 14th June 1982.

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Gibraltar

Gibraltar was captured from the Spanish in 1704.  The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the war, awarded Britain sovereignty over Gibraltar.  Located on the Southern Iberian peninsula close to Spain with a population of 28 000 and a land mass of 2.642 square miles.

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Montserrat

Montserrat became a British territory in 1783 after a long battle with the French.  Located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea east southeast of Puerto Rico and southwest of Antigua. It measures approximately 10 miles long and 7 miles wide.   It’s land mass is 40 square miles and is gradually increasing due to volcanic deposits on the southeast coast of the island.

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The Pitcairn Islands

The Pitcairn’s consist of four islands in the South Pacific, only one of them Pitcairn is populated with less that 50 people.  The Islands were inhabited by the British in 1790, with the territory officially becoming British in 1838. The islands are best known as home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers. The surnames of many of the islanders are still linked with those mutineers and can be seen in the last nine remaining families.

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South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

Located in the South Atlantic Ocean with no indigenous population, except a group of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey which based on South Georgia.  The islands have been under British administration since 1908, but became involved in the Falklands dispute in 1982 (they are approximately 1000km east of the Falklands Islands). They were briefly occupied by Argentina that year, but remain British territory.

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Turks and Caicos Islands

Consisting of two sub tropical islands located in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of The Bahamas with a population of 22,942.  In 1655 England seized Jamaica from the Spanish, and the Turks and Caicos Islands were part of the UK’s Jamaican colony until 1962 when they were separated from Jamaica. In 2009 a commission of enquiry set up by the Foreign Office in London found evidence of widespread corruption on the islands, and the British government imposed direct rule from August 2009.

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