The territorial government of the United States Virgin Islands has for operational purposes established two districts, which include the minor islets nearest to the major islands:[1][2][3] The U.S. Virgin Islands legislature has 15 seats: 7 seats are for the Saint Croix District, 7 seats are for the Saint Thomas and Saint John District, and one seat is for someone who must live in Saint John.

[4] The Colonial Law of 1863 divided the islands into two municipalities: St. Croix, and St. Thomas–St.

[2] In 1966, the United States Congress and the Virgin Islands Legislature passed a resolution, which increased the number of seats from 11 to 15, changed the number districts back to two, and changed the distribution of seats to its current distribution.

[2] The territory has historically been divided into quarters (which are not one-fourth of anything) and estates.

[5][6][7] In more recent census decades, quarters and estates have been replaced by 20 census subdistricts, which were defined by the territorial government as more meaningful given the terrain and current population distribution.