Business View Caribbean - December 2015 47
by the United States from Denmark for $25 million.
In 1927, the U.S. Congress granted citizenship to the
Virgin Islanders. Universal suffrage followed in 1936
to all persons who could read and write English. The
U.S.Virgin Islands are considered an organized, unin-
corporated territory. Its government consists of three
co-equal branches: the Executive, the Judicial, and the
Legislative which is comprised of a unicameral, 15-per-
son legislature. Administratively, the Islands are divid-
ed into three districts and twenty sub-districts. Since
1970, the Governor has been elected by popular vote
every four years; previously he had been appointed by
the U.S. President.
The Virgin Islands are represented in the United States
House of Representatives by a non-voting, at-large
delegate who serves a two-year term and can sit and
vote in committee. U.S. Virgin Islands residents can-
not vote in presidential elections, but they are able to
vote in presidential primary elections for delegates to
the Democratic National Convention and the Republi-
can National Convention. Unlike persons born on the
mainland and naturalized citizens who derive their citi-
zenship from the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S.
constitution, those born in the U.S. Virgin Islands de-
rive their U.S. citizenship from Congressional statute.
On January 6, 2015, Kenneth E. Mapp was sworn in
as the eighth elected Governor of the United States
Virgin Islands. With his running mate, Osbert E. Pot-
ter, the team earned nearly 64 percent of the popular
vote in a run-off election held on November 18, 2014.
Mapp was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1955, and moved to
St. Croix in 1961. Soon after graduating from St. Croix
Central High School, he was accepted for training by
the New York City Police Department, and went on to
serve in Brooklyn’s 83rd precinct. He later became an
officer of the Virgin Islands Police Department, whose
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
The Government of the United States Virgin
Islands
WHAT:
A United States territory
WHERE:
Capital at Charlotte Amalie
WEBSITE
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