ÿþ<html> <head> <title> British Virgin Islands Government 2009, CIA World Factbook </title> <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="British Virgin Islands Government 2009, CIA World Factbook"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="British Virgin Islands, Government, 2009, CIA, World, Factbook"> <script language="JavaScript"> function AddToFaves_hp(){ var is_4up = parseInt(navigator.appVersion); var is_mac = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("mac")!=-1; var is_ie = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase().indexOf("msie")!=-1; var thePage = location.href; if (thePage.lastIndexOf('#')!=-1) thePage = thePage.substring(0,thePage.lastIndexOf('#')); if (is_ie && is_4up && !is_mac) window.external.AddFavorite(thePage,document.title); else if (is_ie || document.images) booker_hp = window.open(thePage,'booker_','menubar,width=325,height=100,left=140,top=60'); //booker_hp.focus(); } //--> </script> <style type="text/css"> A:link { text-decoration: none; color:#000066; } A:visited { text-decoration: none; color:#000066; 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//728x90, created 1/28/08 google_ad_slot = "6589376789"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </td></tr> <tr height="3" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="white" nowrap units="pixels"><td colspan="2" align="left" valign="top" height="3" width="972" nowrap bgcolor="white" nowrap> <img src="http://www.theodora.com/wfb2008/images/line1.gif"></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2" align="middle" background="http://www.theodora.com/wfb2008/images/light_blue.gif" width="972"> <font size="-2"> <br></font> <font face="arial" size="5"><b>British Virgin Islands</b> Government 2009</font> <br> <font size = "-2"> http://www.geographic.org/wfb2009/british_virgin_islands/british_virgin_islands_government.html </font> <br> <font size="-2"><B>SOURCE: 2009 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK</B></FONT> </FONT></td></tr> <tr height="3" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="white" nowrap units="pixels"> <td colspan="2" align="left" valign="top" height="3" width="972" nowrap bgcolor="white" nowrap> <img src="http://www.theodora.com/wfb2008/images/line13.gif"></td></tr></table> <table border="0" bgcolor="#FFCC99" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="972" align="left" valign="top" hspace="0" vspace="0" units="pixels"> <tr><td background="http://www.theodora.com/wfb2008/images/light_blue.gif" width="200" valign="top"> <font face="arial"> <!-- SiteSearch Google --> <br> <style type="text/css"> @import url(http://www.google.com/cse/api/branding.css); </style> <div class="cse-branding-bottom" style="background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000000"> <div class="cse-branding-form"> <form action="http://www.google.com/cse" id="cse-search-box" target="_blank"> <div> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="partner-pub-7437757543052749:qztv86fmqbg" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="text" name="q" size="18" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> </div> </form> </div> <div class="cse-branding-logo"> <img src="http://www.google.com/images/poweredby_transparent/poweredby_FFFFFF.gif" alt="Google" /> </div> <div class="cse-branding-text"> Custom Search </div> </div> <!-- SiteSearch Google --> <font size="2" face="arial"> <b> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfb">|Main INDEX|</a> <li><a href="../index.html">2009 INDEX</a> <li><a href="http://www.photius.com/rankings/index.html">Country Ranks</a> <li><a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html">DEFINITIONS</a> <br><br> <a href="index.html">British Virgin Islands Index 2009</a> <br><br> <a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/british_virgin_islands/index.html">British Virgin Islands Main Index</a> <li><a href="british_virgin_islands_introduction.html">Introduction</a> <li><a href="http://workmall.com/wfb2001/caribbean_islands/caribbean_islands_history_index.html">History</a> <li><a href="british_virgin_islands_geography.html">Geography</a> <li>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theodora.com/maps">Maps</a><br> <li><a href="british_virgin_islands_people.html">People</a><br> </b> &nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.photius.com/religion">Religion</a> <b><li><a href="british_virgin_islands_government.html">Government</a><br></B> &nbsp;&nbsp; Gov. Leaders <br>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theodora.com/flags">Flags</a> <b><br> <li><a href="british_virgin_islands_economy.html">Economy</a> <li><a href="british_virgin_islands_communications.html">Communications</a> <li><a href="british_virgin_islands_transportation.html">Transportation</a> <br></B> &nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.photius.com/wfb2001/airport_codes_alpha.html">Airport Codes</a> <b> <li><a href="british_virgin_islands_military.html">Military</a> <li><a href="british_virgin_islands_issues.html">Transnational Issues</a> <li><a href="http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/">Photos</a> </ul> <br><br> . <A href="http://www.theodora.com/theodora_feedback.html">Feedback</a> </ul> </b> </font> <br> <a href="http://www.theodora.com/dot.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://www.theodora.com/wfb2008/images/dot_ad.gif" valign="top"></a> </td> <td bgcolor="white" width="14"></td> <td bgcolor="white" width="558" valign="top"> <font face="arial"><br> <p><b>Country name:</b> <br> <i>conventional long form:</i> none <br><i>conventional short form:</i> British Virgin Islands <br><i>abbreviation:</i> BVI <p><b>Dependency status:</b> <br> overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing <p><b>Government type:</b> <br> NA <p><b>Capital:</b> <br> <i>name:</i> Road Town <br><i>geographic coordinates:</i> 18 27 N, 64 37 W <br><i>time difference:</i> UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) <p><b>Administrative divisions:</b> <br> none (overseas territory of the UK) <p><b>Independence:</b> <br> none (overseas territory of the UK) <p><b>National holiday:</b> <br> Territory Day, 1 July (1956) <p><b>Constitution:</b> <br> 13 June 2007 <p><b>Legal system:</b> <br> English law <p><b>Suffrage:</b> <br> 18 years of age; universal <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/wfb2000/definitions.html#executive_branch">Executive branch</a>:</b> <br> <i>chief of state:</i> Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor David PEAREY (since 18 April 2006) <br><i>head of government:</i> Premier Ralph T. O'NEAL (since 23 August 2007) <br><i>cabinet:</i> Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the House of Assembly <br><i>elections:</i> the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed premier by the governor <p><b>Legislative branch:</b> <br> unicameral House of Assembly (13 elected seats and 1 non-voting ex officio member in the attorney general; members are elected by direct popular vote, 1 member from each of nine electoral districts, 4 at-large members; members serve four-year terms) <br><i>elections:</i> last held 20 August 2007 (next to be held in 2011) <br><i>election results:</i> percent of vote by party - VIP 45.2%, NDP 39.6%, independent 15.2%; seats by party - VIP 10, NDP 2, independent 1 <p><b>Judicial branch:</b> <br> Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction <p><b>Political parties and leaders:</b> <br> Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL] <p><b>Political pressure groups and leaders:</b> <br> The Family Support Network; The Women's Desk <br><i>other:</i> environmentalists <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/wfb/abbreviations.html">International organization participation</a>:</b> <br> Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WFTU <p><b>Diplomatic representation in the US:</b> <br> none (overseas territory of the UK) <p><b>Diplomatic representation from the US:</b> <br> none (overseas territory of the UK) <p><b><a href = "http://www.theodora.com/flags/">Flag</a> description:</b> <br> blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful) </font> <p> <p> <BR> <P> <font size = "-2"<B> NOTE: The information regarding British Virgin Islands on this page is re-published from the 2009 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of British Virgin Islands Government 2009 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about British Virgin Islands Government 2009 should be addressed to the CIA. </B></font> </P> <br> <hr> <img src="http://www.theodora.com/images/bookmark_banner.gif" align="left" width="176" height="52" border="0"> <font color=brown> - Please bookmark this page (add it to your favorites). <br> - If you wish to <b>link</b> to this page, you can do so by referring to the URL address below this line.</font> <hr> http://www.geographic.org/wfb2009/british_virgin_islands/british_virgin_islands_government.html <br><br> This page was last modified 10-Jun-09 <br> Copyright &copy 1995-2009 <a href="http://www.theodora.com/ita.html">ITA</a> all rights reserved. <br> </td> <td width=200 valign="top" align="middle" background="http://www.theodora.com/wfb2008/images/drugsbgr.gif"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-7437757543052749"; //200x200, created 1/29/08 google_ad_slot = "3788218132"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 200; //--></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <br><br> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-7437757543052749"; //200x200created 1/29/08 google_ad_slot = "9108209763"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 200; //--></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <hr> <br><br> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-7437757543052749"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; google_ad_format = "200x90_0ads_al"; //2007-05-25: Drugs Link Unit google_ad_channel = "7897034790"; google_color_border = "6699ff"; google_color_bg = "99ccff"; google_color_link = "000033"; google_color_text = "000000"; google_color_url = "FF6600"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <br><br> <br><br> </td></tr></table> </body> </html>