Charlotte Amalie

Charlotte Amalie (əmäl`ē), town (2000 pop. 11,044), capital of the Virgin Islands of the United States, on St. Thomas Island. It is the commercial center of the islands, a free port, and a popular tourist resort. Founded in the late 17th cent., Charlotte Amalie was a center of Danish colonial life. It became important as a trading center during the American Civil War. It was renamed St. Thomas in 1921, but the former Danish name was restored in 1937. The town still retains a Danish flavor in its architecture and street names; it has one of the oldest synagogues in the New World.

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Charlotte Amalie

City (pop., 2000: 11,004), capital of the island of Saint Thomas and of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lying on St. Thomas Harbor, it was established as a Danish colony in 1672 and named for the Danish queen (its name was St. Thomas during 1921–36). The largest city in the Virgin Islands, it is built on three low volcanic spurs. Two castles, attributed to the pirates Blackbeard and Bluebeard, overlook the harbour. Tourism is economically important.