The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Santa Cruz (island)

SANTA CRUZ, or Saint Croix, an island of the West Indies, 65 m. E. S. E. of Porto Rico, the largest and southernmost of the Virgin group, forming with St. Thomas and St. John the Danish government of the West Indies; length about 25 m., greatest breadth 5 m.; area, 84 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 22,760. The surface is level, with a range of low hills in the north. There are numerous streams, and the soil is fertile. Nearly the whole island is cultivated, about half being planted with sugar cane. Santa Cruz was discovered by Columbus on his second voyage, and has been in the hands of the Dutch, British, Spanish, and French, the last of whom ceded it to Denmark in 1733. The British took it in 1807, but restored it to the Danes by the treaty of Paris. English is the language generally spoken. Capital, Christiansted.