Virginia Seal

Virginia Geography and Economy

Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state of the United States of America, which includes parts of the South Atlantic coastal plain, the Piedmont and the Southern Appalachians. After over 150 years as an Anglo-British colony, Virginia gained independence along with twelve other colonies. In 1788, Virginia was the tenth state to ratify the US Constitution. During the Civil War, the northwestern counties split off and became a separate state of West Virginia. Virginia’s capital is Richmond.

Birthplace of George Washington

Virginia’s nickname is Old Dominion (“Old Dominion”). It is also called the ” Mother of the Presidents ” because eight presidents were from Virginia, more than from any other state.

Area 110,785 km²
Residents 8,411,808
Residents per km² 75.9
Capital Richmond
Postal Code VA
ISO-3166-2 code US VA
FIPS code 51

Geography

Abbreviated as VA by AbbreviationFinder, Virginia is located on the Atlantic coast of the United States about midway between the northern (Maine) and southern (Florida) extension of the US coast. From the Atlantic coastal plain along Chesapeake Bay to the heights of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Appalachians in the west of the state, the state has a topographical diversity.

The southern border with North Carolina and Tennessee is an almost straight east-west line, while the northern border with Maryland and the District of Columbia is formed by the Potomac River. Kentucky and West Virginia are also direct neighbors on the west side of the Appalachians.

Virginia shares with the neighboring state of Maryland just under one half of the vast urban conurbation around the Federal District Washington, DC This includes besides the airport Dulles International also Arlington County, in which a variety of American federal agencies, including the Pentagon, are located. In the western part of the country is the highest mountain in Virginia, Mount Rogers, 1746 meters high . Shenandoah National Park is also located in the Appalachian Mountains .

Climate

The climate is mild compared to other US states. Most of the state east of the Blue Ridge Mountains is determined by a warm temperate rainy climate (class Cfa) according to the effective climate classification. In the mountain regions west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the climate is humid-continental (class Dfa).

Climatic natural disasters are at times a serious problem. H urrikans make the coast of Virginia very vulnerable, although severe hurricanes rarely start the region and then only arrive weakened. The state is far more often affected by other weather systems from the south, the foothills of which bring torrential rainfall into the state. Thunderstorms are at times worrying and occur 30 to 50 days a year depending on the region, with the frequency increasing towards the west. Conversely Virginia has a higher Tornado rate ; the national average is 10 tornadoes annually.

History

By the indigenous people of Virginia to the are best Virginia Algonquian belonging Powhatan known who lived near the coast. Other groups were the Iroquois-speaking family Nottaway and Meherrin southwest of these, the Sioux-speaking Monacan and Saponi who lived in the foothills of the Appalachians, and the Cherokee in the far west of the state.

Virginia was given the name in honor of Queen Elizabeth I of England by Walter Raleigh in the course of his 1584 expedition when he founded the first settlement on Roanoke Island. Since the unmarried queen had the nickname ” Virgin Queen ” (Virgin Queen) and it was from the point of view of the colonialists ultimately about the settlement and reclamation of such a land, this name was chosen. However, it was once used to designate an area that would later become the states of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee Ohio included.

The first attempts at settlement by the English took place in Virginia. Initially, the colonization attempts had only moderate success. Of the 144 men who started in England in December 1606, only 38 were alive nine months later; 39 had died during the crossing, 67 in the first nine months after arriving at the coast. Famine was also not uncommon, but more and more English people took the opportunity and emigrated to Virginia.

As the home of many grandfathers, Virginia played a prominent role in the American independence movement. The British colonizers were finally expelled from Virginia after the lost Battle of Great Bridge on December 9, 1775. The Convention of Virginia, which met in Williamsburg, declared Virginia independent on May 15, 1776. With the adoption of the United States’ Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4th of that year, Virginia became one of the thirteen founding states of the United States.

Fought in the American Civil War, Virginia was part of the Confederation. The slave-free north-western counties therefore declared on April 27, 1861, secession from the state and remaining in the Union. This part of Virginia became West Virginia as the 35th member state of the USA during the war in 1863.

Economy

Virginia is one of the most economically successful states in the USA. The real gross domestic product per capita (per capita real GDP) was USD 58,768 in 2016 (national average of the 50 US states: USD 57,118; national ranking: 15).

The civil and military authorities in Arlington (Pentagon) and Hampton are important economic factors. Tourism also plays an important role. The oyster fishery is also an important industry. Virginia is also rich in natural resources.

Agriculture
The cultivation of tobacco, cotton, peanuts, maize and wheat is important. Livestock is also of great importance, especially dairy farming, a lot of hay is made for this purpose in Virginia.

Industry
In addition to shipbuilding, coal, natural stone, iron, wood, paper, glass and tobacco processing are of great importance.

Virginia Flag

The flag of the US state of Virginia was introduced on March 9, 1904.

The flag shows the seal of Virginia on a blue field. Blue is the color of the Union.

The white bordered seal shows in the middle a woman dressed in blue, the ancient personification of the bravery Virtus, who is depicted as the victor over a dead tyrant. She puts one foot on the vanquished and leans on a spear. She carries a sword in her left hand.

The tyrant, England, holds a broken chain in his left hand and a whip in his right. The fallen crown illustrates the detachment from the monarchy. Above the female figure is the name of the state of Virginia as text, below the Latin motto:

” Sic semper tyrannis.” (” This is how it should always be for tyrants! “)

Also known as The Old Dominion / Mother of Presidents, Virginia is short for VA with a population of 7,078,515. According to Countryaah, the capital city of Virginia is Richmond and the biggest city is Virginia Beach.

Virginia Seal