美國接管維京群島 (Virgin Islands) ：1917年3月31日

如果你擁有一座熱帶島嶼，你會把這座島嶼取名為什麼？當美國於1917年3月31日正式接管丹麥在西印度群島上的殖民地時，美國決定將這些島嶼命名為「維京群島」。美國以2千5百萬美金的代價，從丹麥手中買下這些島嶼。這些島鏈包括聖湯瑪斯 (St. Thomas) 、聖克洛伊克斯 (St. Croix) 、聖約翰 (St. John) ，以及其他50座小島。這些島嶼是位於小安地列斯群島 (Lesser Antilles) 上，介於加勒比海 (Caribbean Sea) 與大西洋 (Atlantic Ocean) 之間。

當克裡斯多夫‧哥倫布 (Christopher Columbus) 於1943年登陸聖克洛伊克斯島時，當地是由原住民加勒比印第安人所佔領。很遺憾的是，當歐洲人在1600年在當地定居之後，許多原住民都因為歐洲人帶來的疾病而死亡了。


If you owned a tropical island, what would you call it? The U.S. chose the name "Virgin Islands" when it took formal possession of the Danish West Indies on March 31, 1917. The U.S. bought the islands from Denmark for $25 million. The island chain consists of St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John, and about 50 other small islands, most of which are uninhabited. The islands are in the Lesser Antilles, between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

When Christopher Columbus landed on St. Croix in 1493, the native Carib Indians occupied the islands. Sadly, by the time Europeans began to settle there in the 1600s, most of the native population had died from diseases introduced by early explorers.

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