Virginia, VA

The Commonwealth of Virginia is a Southeastern state historically considered part of the Southern region of the United States of America.

It is named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was known as the Virgin Queen because she never married.

The Virginia Colony was the first part of the Americas to be continuously inhabited by English (following the 1707 Acts of Union, British) colonists from its founding as a European colony up to the American Revolution.

It included area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America, and at one time it also included Bermuda (or Virgineola).

The Virginia Company of London became incorporated as a joint stock company by a proprietary charter drawn up on April 10, 1606.

The charter granted lands stretching from approximately the 34th parallel (North Carolina) north to approximately the 45th parallel (New York) and from the Atlantic Ocean westward.

The Third Charter of 1612 extended its boundaries far enough across the Atlantic to incorporate Bermuda, which the company had possessed since 1609.

The commonwealth was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution to form the United States of America. Virginia is known as the "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson), more than any other state.

Most of the United States' early presidents were from the state. Virginia has also been known as the "Mother of States" (sometimes "Mother of States and Statesmen") because portions of the original Colony subsequently became Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, as well as some portions of Ohio.

Additionally, most of what is now Wisconsin and Michigan was also briefly claimed by Virginia during the Revolutionary War. As a result of the American Civil War (1861-1865), many western counties formed a separate state which was admitted to the Union as West Virginia.

The capital is Richmond and the most populous city is Virginia Beach. Due to the nature of independent cities in Virginia, the most populous local jurisdiction is Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. Independent cities and counties function in the same manner; according to the US Census Bureau independent cities are considered county-equivalent.

The largest city in land area is Suffolk, which includes a large portion of the Great Dismal Swamp. Virginia has a diverse economy, with many federal and military employees in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, which have the world's largest office building and the world's largest naval base respectively.

In modern times, the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia area includes Jamestown, Yorktown and the restored area and living museum of Colonial Williamsburg.

Linked by the Colonial Parkway, they combine to form one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Geography

Virginia is bordered by West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (across the Potomac River) to the north; by Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south; and by Kentucky and West Virginia to the west.

Due to a peculiarity of Virginia's original charter, its northern boundary with Maryland does not extend past the low-water mark of the southern shore of the Potomac River, meaning Maryland possesses the whole width of the river rather than it being split between them. Virginia has an area of 42,774 square miles (110,785 km²) making it the 35th largest state.

The Chesapeake Bay divides the commonwealth, with Virginia's Eastern Shore, a part of the Delmarva Peninsula, completely separate (an exclave) from the rest of the Commonwealth. Geographically, Virginia is divided into the following six regions: Ridge and Valley—between the Appalachian Plateau and Allegheny Plateau to the west and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east. Sometimes referred to as Valley and Ridge.

Shenandoah Valley—located within the Ridge and Valley Region; it is referred to geographically—and culturally— as its own region. Blue Ridge Mountains—between the Ridge and Valley Region to the west and the Piedmont region to the east. Foothills—area now recognized directly between the Piedmont and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Pertaining to the counties of Madison, Green, Albemarle, and Nelson. Denotes a region just west of the Southwest Mountains range and north of the James river subject to its own unique microclimate. Piedmont—between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and the Tidewater region to the east.

Tidewater—between the fall line to the west and the Atlantic coast to the east; it includes the Eastern Shore. Virginia's long east-west axis means that metropolitan northern Virginia lies as close to New York City and New England as to its own rural western panhandle.

Lee County, at the tip of the panhandle, is closer to eight other state capitals than it is to Richmond, Virginia's own capital. Virginia has many National Park Service units, including one national park, the Shenandoah National Park.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Virginia".