The Virgin Islands comprises a group of about 90 small islands, islets, cays, and rocks in the West Indies, situated some 40 to 50 miles east of Puerto Rico. The islands extend from west to east for about 60 miles and are located west of the Anegada Passage, a major channel connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The islands are administered in two groups—the British Virgin Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. The former is a British colony consisting of four larger islands—Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, and Jost Van Dyke—and 32 smaller islands and islets, of which more than 20 are uninhabited. The latter group, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior as an unincorporated territory, consists of three larger islands—St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas—and some 50 smaller islets and cays. The landscape of the islands offers scenes of dramatic contrast, varying from craggy cliffs and mountaintops to small lagoons with coral reefs and barrier beaches, from landlocked harbours to unprotected bays, and from small, level plains to elevated plateaus with rolling lands and junglelike regions. Individual islands have their own distinguishing characteristics.