Danish West Indies

The Danish West Indies (Danish: Dansk Vestindien), also known as the Danish Virgin Islands (Danish: Danske Jomfruøer) or the Danish Antilles, were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with 83 square kilometres (32 sq mi), Saint John (Danish: St. Jan) with 49 square kilometres (19 sq mi), and Saint Croix with 220 square kilometres (85 sq mi). The islands were purchased by the United States in 1917 and became known as the United States Virgin Islands. An exception for this was Water Island, which was bought by the US Government in 1944, and became part of the US Virgin Islands in 1996.