This is one of the most beautiful regions in the world. Charlotte Amalie is the capital and major passenger port of the island of St. Thomas, which together with St. Croix and St. John form the principal islands of the United States Virgin Islands. St. Thomas lies at the crossroads between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
     The islands that form this archipelago were at the centre of volatile economic and political negotiations concerning numerous trade routes. The Portuguese first used them as their base for trade with the New World. In the tattered pages of his ship's log, Christopher Columbus described these islands as being particularly beautiful. They were virgin, unexplored and mysterious lands.
     Formerly a part of the Dutch West Indies, the islands became an American territory at the end of the first world war, and its inhabitants eventually became American citizens. Today they have a representative vote in the American Congress, through their governor and although they pay taxes to the American government, they cannot vote in presidential elections.
     St. Thomas is certainly the most cosmopolitan of the three islands. Charlotte Amalie, has always attracted large mercantile ships, even before the arrival of the transatlantic passenger cruisers, and tourism has been the major maritime activity for the last few years. To protect the island and preserve its beautiful coastline and beaches, its lush countryside and natural surroundings, the government has enacted environmental laws. There are many protected areas including the beautiful Virgin Islands National Park that covers over half of the island of St. John. The park was donated to the American Government in 1956 by magnate Lawrence Rockefeller.
     Its beauty has enchanted the likes of Christopher Columbus, Sir Francis Drake, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Woodrow Wilson, Charles Lindbergh and Eleanor Roosevelt, not to mention, navigators, pirates, historians, painters, men of letters and villains.