Christopher Columbus named the islands Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes (shortened to Las Vírgenes), after Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgins.They were inhabited by Arawak, Carib and Cermic Indians, all of whom died out during the colonial period from disease, harsh labor conditions, and murder.

The islands were later populated by Africans who were enslaved on sugar plantations, and on at least one tobacco plantation. The sugar plantations are now gone, but the descendants of the slaves are still there, sharing a common Afro-Caribbean heritage with the other English-speaking islands of the Caribbean.

On both the British and the U.S. Virgin Islands, vehicles are driven on the left-hand side of the road, yet most cars on the islands have their steering wheels on the left side (as is the norm for drive-on-the-right localities). Also on both the British and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the United States dollar is the official currency.

The islands in Vieques and Culebra to the east of Puerto Rico (and territorially part of it), are locally called the Spanish Virgin Islands.