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'''Virginia''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Virginia.ogg|v|ər|ˈ|dʒ|ɪ|n|i|ə}}), officially the '''Commonwealth of Virginia''', is a [[U.S. state|state]] in the [[Southeastern United States|Southeastern]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/maps/united-states-regions/|title=United States Regions|first=National Geographic|last=Society|date=January 3, 2012|publisher=|access-date=April 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327193614/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/maps/united-states-regions/|archive-date=March 27, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Mid-Atlantic (United States)|Mid-Atlantic]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/|title=Mid-Atlantic Home : Mid–Atlantic Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics|website=www.bls.gov|access-date=July 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408092405/https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/|archive-date=April 8, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> regions of the [[United States]] between the [[East Coast of the United States|Atlantic Coast]] and the [[Appalachian Mountains]]. The geography and climate of the [[Commonwealth (U.S. state)|Commonwealth]] are shaped by the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]] and the [[Chesapeake Bay]], which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]]; [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Virginia Beach]] is the most-populous city, and [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]] is the most-populous political subdivision. The Commonwealth's estimated population {{as of|2019|lc=on}} is over 8.54{{nbsp}}million,<ref name=QuickFacts/> with 36% of them living in the [[Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area|Washington, D.C.–Baltimore metropolitan area]].
The area's history begins with [[Native American tribes in Virginia|several indigenous groups]], including the [[Powhatan]]. In 1607 the [[London Company]] established the [[Colony of Virginia]] as the first permanent [[English overseas possessions|English colony]] in the [[New World]]. Virginia's state nickname, the Old Dominion, is a reference to this status. Slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colony's early politics and plantation economy. Virginia was one of the [[Thirteen Colonies|13 Colonies]] in the [[American Revolution]]. In the [[American Civil War]], Virginia's [[Virginia Secession Convention of 1861|Secession Convention]] resolved to join the Confederacy while the [[Wheeling Convention#First Wheeling Convention|First Wheeling Convention]] resolved to remain in the Union, leading to a split that created [[West Virginia]]. Although the Commonwealth was under [[Solid South|one-party rule]] for nearly a century following [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], both major national parties are competitive in modern Virginia.<ref name=purple/>
Virginia's state legislature is the [[Virginia General Assembly]], which was established in 1619 and is the oldest continuous law-making body in North America. It is made up of a 40-member [[Senate of Virginia|Senate]] and a 100-member [[Virginia House of Delegates|House of Delegates]].<ref name=hemisphere>{{cite news |url= https://www.dailypress.com/virginiagazette/news/va-vg-general-assembly-joint-session-0731-story.html |newspaper= The Virginia Gazette |title= General Assembly commemorates origins of democracy in America |first= Jack |last= Jacobs |date= July 30, 2019 |accessdate= May 7, 2020}}</ref> The state government is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginia's economy has many sectors: agriculture in the [[Shenandoah Valley]]; federal agencies in [[Northern Virginia]], including the headquarters of the [[United States Department of Defense|U.S. Department of Defense]] and [[Central Intelligence Agency]]; and military facilities in [[Hampton Roads]], the site of the [[Virginia Port Authority|region's main seaport]].
==Geography==
{{Main|Environment of Virginia}}
[[File:Virginia geographic map-en.svg|thumb|300px|Virginia is shaped by the [[Chesapeake Bay]] and the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]], and is bordered by five states and the District of Columbia.|alt=A topographic map of Virginia, with text identifying cities and natural features.]]
Virginia has a total area of {{convert|42774.2|sqmi|km2|1}}, including {{convert|3180.13|sqmi|km2|1}} of water, making it the 35th-[[List of U.S. states by area|largest state]] by area.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc3-us-pt1.pdf |page= 71 |website= [[United States Census Bureau]] |date= April 2004 |title= 2000 Census of Population and Housing |accessdate= November 3, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171203135357/https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc3-us-pt1.pdf |archive-date= December 3, 2017 |url-status= live }}</ref> Virginia is bordered by [[Maryland]] and [[Washington, D.C.]] to the north and east; by the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the east; by [[North Carolina]] to the south; by [[Tennessee]] to the southwest; by [[Kentucky]] to the west; and by [[West Virginia]] to the north and west. Virginia's boundary with Maryland and Washington, D.C. extends to the low-water mark of the south shore of the [[Potomac River]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nsglc.olemiss.edu/SandBar/SandBar2/2.4supreme.htm|title=Supreme Court Rules for Virginia in Potomac Conflict|website=The Sea Grant Law Center|publisher=[[University of Mississippi]]|year=2003|accessdate=November 24, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610050345/http://nsglc.olemiss.edu/SandBar/SandBar2/2.4supreme.htm|archive-date=June 10, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>
The state's southern border is defined as [[Parallel 36°30′ north#In the United States|36°30' north latitude]], though surveyor error in the 1700s led to deviations of as much as three [[arcminute]]s.{{sfn|Hubbard, Jr.|2009|p=140}} From 1802 to 1803, a commission appointed by Virginia and [[Tennessee]] surveyed the area and set their border as a line from the summit of [[White Top Mountain]] to the top of the [[Cumberland Mountains]]. Errors discovered in 1856 led Virginia to propose a new surveying commission in 1871, but in 1893 the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] decided in favor of the 1803 line in the case ''[[Virginia v. Tennessee]]''.{{sfn|Van Zandt|1976|pp=92–95}}{{sfn|Smith|2015|pp=71–72}} One result of this is the division of the city of [[Bristol, Virginia|Bristol]] between the two states.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.heraldcourier.com/news/pieces-of-the-past-supreme-court-looked-at-controversy-over/article_37075b77-6b6c-5a8b-a33d-4f74b5d3a0f1.html |title= Pieces of the Past: Supreme Court looked at controversy over Bristol border location |first1= Dalena |last1= Mathews |first2= Robert |last2= Sorrell |newspaper= Bristol Herald Courier |date= October 6, 2018 |accessdate= September 16, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181006224334/https://www.heraldcourier.com/news/pieces-of-the-past-supreme-court-looked-at-controversy-over/article_37075b77-6b6c-5a8b-a33d-4f74b5d3a0f1.html |archive-date= October 6, 2018 |url-status= live }}</ref>
===Geology and terrain===
The [[Chesapeake Bay]] separates the contiguous portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginia's [[Eastern Shore of Virginia|Eastern Shore]]. The bay was formed from the drowned river valleys of the [[Susquehanna River]] and the [[James River]].<ref name=bay>{{cite web| url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs102-98/| title=Fact Sheet 102–98 – The Chesapeake Bay: Geologic Product of Rising Sea Level| publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]| date=November 18, 1998| accessdate=August 24, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090901073112/http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs102-98/| archive-date=September 1, 2009| url-status=live}}</ref> Many of [[List of rivers of Virginia|Virginia's rivers]] flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the [[Potomac River|Potomac]], [[Rappahannock River|Rappahannock]], [[York River (Virginia)|York]], and James, which create three peninsulas in the bay.{{sfn|Burnham|Burnham|2018|pp=1}} [[Sea level rise]] has eroded the land on Virginia's islands, which include [[Tangier, Virginia|Tangier Island]] in the bay and [[Chincoteague, Virginia|Chincoteague]], one of [[Virginia Barrier Islands|23 barrier islands]] on the Atlantic coast.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/tangier-the-sinking-island-in-the-chesapeake |title= Tangier, the Sinking Island in the Chesapeake |magazine= The New Yorker |first= Carolyn |last= Kormann |date= June 8, 2018 |accessdate= May 22, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://roadtrippers.com/magazine/virginia-barrier-islands/ |title= Shifting sands: Virginia's barrier islands are constantly on the move |first= Amy Brecount |last= White |magazine= Roadtrippers |date= April 16, 2020 |accessdate= May 22, 2020}}</ref>
[[File:Golden Sunset --Timber Hollow Overlook (22014263936).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Deciduous and evergreen trees give the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]] their distinct color.{{sfn|Heinemann|Kolp|Parent, Jr.|Shade|2007|p=3}}|alt=The rays of a sunset spread over mountain ridges that turn from green to purple and blue as they progress toward the horizon.]]
The [[Tidewater (geographic term)|Tidewater]] is a [[Atlantic coastal plain|coastal plain]] between the Atlantic coast and the [[Atlantic Seaboard fall line|fall line]]. It includes the Eastern Shore and major [[estuary|estuaries]] of Chesapeake Bay. The Piedmont is a series of [[sedimentary rock|sedimentary]] and [[igneous rock]]-based [[foothills]] east of the mountains which were formed in the [[Mesozoic]] era.{{sfn|Pazzaglia|2006|pp=135–138}} The region, known for its heavy clay soil, includes the [[Southwest Mountains]] around [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]].<ref name=agriculture>{{cite web| url=http://www.deq.state.va.us/vanaturally/guide/agriculture.html| title=Virginia's Agricultural Resources| website=Natural Resource Education Guide| publisher=Virginia Department of Environmental Quality| date=January 21, 2008| accessdate=February 8, 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020193915/http://www.deq.state.va.us/vanaturally/guide/agriculture.html| archive-date=October 20, 2008| url-status=live}}</ref> The Blue Ridge Mountains are a [[physiographic regions of the world|physiographic province]] of the [[Appalachian Mountains]] with the highest points in the commonwealth, the tallest being [[Mount Rogers (Virginia)|Mount Rogers]] at {{convert|5729|ft|m}}.<ref name=mtrogers>{{harvnb|Burnham|Burnham|2018|pp=277}}</ref> The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the [[Great Appalachian Valley]]. The region is [[carbonate rock]] based and includes [[Massanutten Mountain]].<ref name=regions>{{cite web|url=http://geology.blogs.wm.edu/valley-ridge/ |title=Physiographic Regions of Virginia |website=The Geology of Virginia |publisher=[[College of William and Mary]] |date=July 2015 |accessdate=June 5, 2020}}</ref> The Cumberland Plateau and the [[Cumberland Mountains]] are in the southwest corner of Virginia, south of the [[Allegheny Plateau]]. In this region, rivers flow northwest, with a [[drainage system (geomorphology)#Dendritic drainage pattern|dendritic drainage system]], into the [[Ohio River]] basin.{{sfn|Palmer|1998|pp=49–51}}
The [[Virginia Seismic Zone]] has not had a history of regular [[earthquake]] activity. Earthquakes are rarely above 4.5 in [[Richter magnitude scale|magnitude]], because Virginia is located away from the edges of the [[North American Plate]]. A [[2011 Virginia earthquake|5.8 magnitude earthquake]] struck central Virginia on August 23, 2011, near [[Mineral, Virginia|Mineral]], and was the state's largest in at least a century.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-20110823-2011-08-23-dp-nws-earthquake-regional-20110823-story.html |title= Virginia earthquake largest recorded in commonwealth |first= Peter |last= Frost |newspaper= The Daily Press |date= August 23, 2011 |accessdate= May 22, 2020}}</ref> Due to the area's geologic properties, the earthquake was felt from [[Northern Florida]] to [[Southern Ontario]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2011-virginia-earthquake-felt-by-third-of-us/ |title= 2011 Virginia earthquake felt by third of U.S. |first= Charles Q. |last= Choi |date= August 23, 2012 |website= CBS News |accessdate= May 8, 2020}}</ref> 35{{nbsp}}million years ago, a [[bolide]] impacted what is now eastern Virginia. The resulting [[Chesapeake Bay impact crater]] may explain what [[earthquake]]s and [[subsidence]] the region does experience.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/11/1113_chesapeakcrater.html|title=Chesapeake Bay Crater Offers Clues to Ancient Cataclysm|first=Hillary|last=Mayell|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|date=November 13, 2001|accessdate=March 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190052/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/11/1113_chesapeakcrater.html|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Coal mining in the United States|Coal mining]] takes place in the three mountainous regions at 45 distinct coal beds near Mesozoic basins.<ref name=mining>{{cite web|url=http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commercedocs/COAL.pdf|title=Coal|publisher=Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy|date=July 31, 2008|accessdate=February 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103143221/http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commercedocs/COAL.pdf|archive-date=January 3, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> More than 67{{nbsp}}million tons of other non-fuel resources, such as [[slate]], [[kyanite]], sand, or gravel, were also mined in Virginia {{As of|2019|alt=in 2019}}.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/dmm/PDF/DATA/Production.xls |title= Comparison of Annually Reported Tonnage Data |publisher= Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy |date= July 27, 2020 |accessdate= July 30, 2020 |format= XLS}}</ref> The commonwealth's carbonate rock is filled with more than 4,000 caves, ten of which are open for tourism, including the popular [[Luray Caverns]] and [[Skyline Caverns]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/10/12/6-spectacular-caves-youll-want-explore-shenandoah/|title=6 Spectacular Caves You’ll Want to Explore in the Shenandoah |first= Dale |last= Leatherman |date= October 12, 2017 |magazine= Washingtonian Magazine |accessdate= June 5, 2020}}</ref>
===Climate===
{{Main|Climate of Virginia}}
{{climate chart|Virginia state-wide averages 1895–2020
|25.1|44.7|3.3
|26.2|47.4|3.0
|33.5|56.3|3.8
|42.0|66.5|3.4
|51.4|75.5|4.0
|59.8|82.4|4.1
|64.0|85.7|4.6
|62.8|84.1|4.3
|56.3|78.6|3.6
|44.4|68.3|3.2
|34.5|57.0|2.9
|27.3|47.1|3.3
|float=right
|units=imperial
|source=[[#CITEREFNOAA|U.S. Climate Divisional Dataset]]
}}
Virginia has a [[humid subtropical climate]] that transitions to [[Humid continental climate|humid continental]] west of the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2016|pp=12–13}} Seasonal extremes vary from average lows of {{convert|25|°F|°C|0}} in January to average highs of {{convert|86|°F|°C|0}} in July.<ref name=noaa/> The Atlantic Ocean and [[Gulf Stream]] have a strong effect on eastern and southeastern coastal areas of the commonwealth, making the climate there warmer and more constant. Most of Virginia's recorded extremes in temperature and precipitation have occurred in the Blue Ridge Mountains and areas west.<ref name=Burnham/> Virginia receives an average of {{convert|43.34|in|cm|0}} of precipitation annually,<ref name=noaa>{{cite web |url= https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/statewide/time-series/44/pcp/ann/1/1895-2020?base_prd=true&begbaseyear=1895&endbaseyear=2020 |title= Climate at a Glance |year= 2020 |website= NOAA National Centers for Environmental information |author= U.S. Climate Divisional Dataset |accessdate= May 29, 2020 |ref=CITEREFNOAA}}</ref> with the [[Shenandoah Valley]] being the state's driest region due to the mountains on either side.<ref name=Burnham/>
Virginia has around 35–45 days with thunderstorms annually, and storms are common in the late afternoon and evenings between April and September.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.dcmilitary.com/pentagram/news/news_notes/severe-weather-awareness-for-spring-summer/article_434e2ce1-5441-5b2f-9113-d61f3ff1702f.html |title= Severe weather awareness for spring, summer |website= Pentagram |first= Jim |last= Dresbach |date= Apr 11, 2019 |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref> These months are also the most common for [[tornado]]es, 19 of which touched down in the state in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://wset.com/news/local/annual-tornado-drill-in-virginia-will-be-held-march-17 |title= Annual tornado drill in Virginia will be held March 17 |agency= Associated Press |date= February 12, 2020 |website= WSET-TV |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref> [[List of Virginia hurricanes|Hurricanes]] and tropical storms can occur from August to October, and though they typically impact coastal regions, the deadliest natural disaster in Virginia was [[Hurricane Camille#Virginia|Hurricane Camille]], which killed over 150 people in 1969, mainly inland in [[Nelson County, Virginia|Nelson County]].<ref name=Burnham/><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/08/19/virginias-deadliest-natural-disaster-unfolded-years-ago-hurricane-camille/ |title= Virginia’s deadliest natural disaster unfolded 50 years ago from Hurricane Camille |first= Jeff |last= Halverson |date= August 19, 2019 |newspaper= The Washington Post |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref> Between December and March, [[cold-air damming]] caused by the Appalachian Mountains can lead to significant snowfalls across the state, such as the [[January 2016 United States blizzard|January 2016 blizzard]], which created the state's highest recorded snowfall of {{convert|36.6|in|cm}} near [[Bluemont, Virginia|Bluemont]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/02/07/your-primer-to-understanding-mid-atlantic-cold-air-damming-and-the-wedge/ |title= Your primer to understanding Mid-Atlantic cold air damming and 'the wedge' |first= Jeff |last= Halverson |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= February 7, 2018 |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://patch.com/virginia/vienna/snowiest-day-record-day-fairfax-co-saw-25-5-inches-fall |title= Snowiest Day On Record: The Day Fairfax Co. Saw 25.5 Inches Fall |first= Emily |last= Leayman |website= Patch |date= January 22, 2020 |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref> Virginia only received {{convert|13.1|in|cm}} of snow during winter 2018–19, just above the state's average of {{convert|10|in|cm}}.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.richmond.com/weather/we-made-it-to-the-end-of-richmonds-snow-season-heres-how-our-numbers-stacked/article_314618da-4448-503b-af4f-e9386902afcb.html |title= We made it to the end of Richmond's snow season. Here's how our numbers stacked up |first= John |last= Boyer |newspaper= The Richmond Times-Dispatch |date= March 23, 2019 |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref>
==== Climate change ====
{{Main|Climate change in Virginia}}
[[Climate change in Virginia]] is leading to higher temperatures year-round as well as more heavy rain and flooding events.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.wdbj7.com/content/news/Virginia-summers-getting-more-hot-and-humid-385709001.html |title= Virginia summers getting more hot and humid |first= Brent |last= Watts |website= WDBJ-TV |date= July 6, 2016 |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref> [[Urban heat island]]s can be found in many Virginia cities and suburbs, particularly in neighborhoods linked to historic [[redlining]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.virginiamercury.com/blog-va/there-may-be-a-link-between-urban-heat-islands-and-past-redlining-practices-study-finds/ |title= In Virginia and U.S., urban heat islands and past redlining practices may be linked, study finds |newspaper= The Virginia Mercury |first= Sarah |last= Vogelsong |date= January 15, 2020 |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/24/climate/racism-redlining-cities-global-warming.html |title= How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering |first1= Brad |last1= Plumer |first2= Nadja |last2= Popovich |newspaper= The New York Times |date= August 24, 2020 |accessdate= August 25, 2020}}</ref> [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington]] had the most [[Ozone Action Day|code orange days]] in 2019 for high [[ozone]] pollution in the air, with 12, followed by [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]] with 7.<ref name="polution">{{cite web|url=https://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/sota/city-rankings/states/virginia/|title=Report Card: Virginia|website=State of the Air: 2020|publisher=[[American Lung Association]]|date=April 22, 2020|accessdate=May 29, 2020}}</ref> Exposure of [[Particulate pollution|particulate matter]] in Virginia's air has decreased 49% from 13.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2003 to 6.9 in 2019.<ref name="ahr" /> The closure and conversion of coal power plants in Virginia and the Ohio Valley region has reduced haze in the mountains, which peaked in 1998.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.roanoke.com/weather/weather-journal-you-really-can-see-more-clearly-on-hot-summer-days-than-you-used/article_08e9554d-1435-570a-926c-6e06b2d4ce1f.html |title= Weather Journal: You really can see more clearly on hot summer days than you used to |first= Kevin |last= Myatt |date= August 27, 2019 |newspaper= The Roanoke Star |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref> Virginia's 6 coal power plants must shut down by 2025,<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/coal/041320-bulk-of-virginias-coal-plants-must-shut-down-before-2025-under-new-state-law |title= Bulk of Virginia's coal plants must shut down before 2025 under new state law |first= Darren |last= Sweeney |website= S&P Global |date= April 13, 2020 |accessdate= May 29, 2020}}</ref> and current plans call for 30 percent of the state's electricity to be renewable by 2030 and for all of it to be carbon-free by 2050.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://apnews.com/97033f76286b4fd0ad0f25fb4108e627 |title= Virginia to develop 4 new solar energy projects |first= Jimmy |last= O'Keefe |agency= Associated Press |date= October 4, 2019 |accessdate= November 22, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191122230741/https://apnews.com/97033f76286b4fd0ad0f25fb4108e627 |archive-date= November 22, 2019 |url-status= live }}</ref>
===Ecosystem===
{{see also|List of endangered species in Virginia}}
Forests cover 62 percent of Virginia {{as of|2019|lc=on}}, of which 78 percent is considered [[hardwood]] forest, meaning that trees in Virginia are primarily [[deciduous]] and [[Broad-leaved tree|broad-leaved]]. The other 22 percent is pine, with [[Pinus taeda|Loblolly]] and [[Pinus echinata|shortleaf pine]] dominating much of central and eastern Virginia.<ref name=stateoftheforest>{{cite web |url= http://www.dof.virginia.gov/infopubs/_sof/SOF-2019_pub.pdf |format= PDF |title= State of the Forest Annual Report on Virginia's Forests 2019 |date= December 2019 |publisher= Virginia Department of Forestry |accessdate= May 8, 2020}}</ref> In the western and mountainous parts of the commonwealth, oak and hickory are most common, while lower altitudes are more likely to have small but dense stands of moisture-loving hemlocks and mosses in abundance.<ref name=Burnham>{{harvnb|Burnham|Burnham|2018|pp=xvii–xxi, 64}}</ref> [[Gypsy moths in the United States|Gypsy moth infestations]] in oak trees and the [[chestnut blight|blight in chestnut trees]] have decreased both of their numbers, leaving more room for hickory and invasive [[Ailanthus altissima|ailanthus]] trees.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.wdbj7.com/content/news/Gyspy-Moths-on-wide-destructive-path-in-Southwest-Virginia-390498551.html |title= Gyspy Moths on wide, destructive path in Southwest Virginia |website= WDBJ-TV |first= Justin |last= Ward |date= August 17, 2016 |accessdate= May 14, 2020}}</ref><ref name=Burnham/> In the lowland tidewater and [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]], yellow pines tend to dominate, with bald cypress wetland forests in the Great Dismal and Nottoway swamps.<ref name=stateoftheforest/> Other common trees and plants include red bay, wax myrtle, dwarf palmetto, [[Liriodendron tulipifera|tulip poplar]], [[Kalmia latifolia|mountain laurel]], [[Asclepias|milkweed]], daisies, and many species of ferns. The largest areas of wilderness are along the Atlantic coast and in the western mountains, where the largest populations of [[Trillium grandiflorum|trillium wildflowers]] in North America are found.<ref name=Burnham/>{{sfn|Carroll|Miller|2002|pp=xi–xii}}
[[File:Deer Big Meadow (13082497565).jpg|thumb|left|White-tailed deer, also known as Virginia deer, graze at [[Big Meadows]] in [[Shenandoah National Park]]|alt=Two red-brown colored deer graze among tall grass and purple flowers in a meadow.]]
Virginia is home to more than one million [[white-tailed deer]], whose population have rebounded from an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 during the [[Great Depression]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.richmond.com/sports/local/clarkson-deer-populations-abound-but-number-of-hunters-continues-to/article_3ac70bd5-8345-57e2-a6b2-0031130c926d.html |title= Clarkson: Deer populations abound, but number of hunters continues to decline |first= Tee |last= Clarkson |newspaper= The Richmond Times-Dispatch |date= March 3, 2018 |accessdate= April 2, 2020}}</ref> Native [[carnivora]]ns include [[American black bear|black bears]], bobcats, coyotes, both [[gray fox|gray]] and [[red fox]]es, raccoons, and skunks. Rodents include groundhogs, weasels, nutria, beavers, both [[Eastern gray squirrel|gray squirrels]] and [[fox squirrel]]s, chipmunks, and [[Allegheny woodrat]]s, while bats include brown bats and the [[Virginia big-eared bat]], the [[List of U.S. state mammals|state mammal]].<ref name=dwr_list>{{cite web |url=https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/|title= Wildlife Information |publisher=Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources|date= June 2, 2016 |accessdate=July 4, 2020}}</ref> The [[Virginia opossum]] is also the only [[marsupial]] native to the United States and Canada,<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091215202320.htm |title= Ancient origins of modern opossum revealed |date= December 17, 2009 |author= University of Florida |website= Science Daily |accessdate= April 2, 2020}}</ref> and the native [[Appalachian cottontail]] was recognized as a distinct species of rabbit in 1992.<ref>{{Cite iucn | author = Barry, R. | author2 = Lazell, J. | name-list-style = amp | title = ''Sylvilagus obscurus'' | volume = 2008 | page = e.T41301A10434606 | date = 2008 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T41301A10434606.en }}</ref>
[[List of birds of Virginia|Virginia's bird fauna]] consists of 422 counted species, of which 359 are regularly occurring, 41 are accidental ([[Vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]]), 20 are [[Hypothetical species|hypothetical]], and two are extinct; of the regularly occurring species, 214 have bred in Virginia, while the rest are [[Bird migration|winter residents or transients]] in Virginia.<ref name=Terwilliger>Karen Terwilliger, ''A Guide to Endangered and Threatened Species in Virginia'' (Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries/McDonald & Woodward: 1995), p. 158.</ref> There are no species of bird [[Endemic species|endemic]] to the state.<ref name=Terwilliger/> [[National Audubon Society|Audubon]] recognizes 21 [[Important Bird Area]]s in the Virginia.<ref>[https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/state/virginia Important Bird Areas: Virginia], National Audubon Society (last accessed July 4, 2020).</ref> [[Peregrine falcon]]s, whose numbers dramatically declined due to [[DDT]] [[pesticide poisoning]] in the middle of the 20th century, are the focus of conservation efforts in the state; as of 2017, Virginia had 31 breeding pairs of the bird, and a reintroduction program in Shenandoah National Park was underway.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.bayjournal.com/archives/peregrine-falcons-slow-to-return-to-appalachia/article_28e00ba7-e86e-518d-8e06-5f025b618ae7.html |title= Peregrine falcons slow to return to Appalachia |first= William H. |last= Funk |newspaper= The Chesapeake Bay Journal |date= October 8, 2017 |accessdate= April 2, 2020}}</ref>
Virginia has 226 species of freshwater fish, from 25 families; the state's diverse array of fish species is attributable to its varied and humid climate, [[Physical geography|physiography]], river system interconnections, and lack of [[Pleistocene glaciation|Pleistocene glaciers]]. For example, the state is home to [[Eastern blacknose dace]] and [[sculpin]] (on the [[Appalachian Plateau]]); [[smallmouth bass]] and [[redhorse sucker]] (in the [[Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians|Ridge and Valley]] region); [[brook trout]], [[rainbow trout]], [[brown trout]], and the [[Kanawha darter]] (in the Blue Ridge); [[stripeback darter]] and [[Roanoke Bass]] (in the Piedmont); and [[swampfish]], [[bluespotted sunfish]], and [[pirate perch]] (on the [[Tidewater (region)|Coastal Plain]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia|author1=Paul E. Bugas, Jr.|author2=Corbin D. Hilling|author3=Val Kells|author4=Michael J. Pinder|author5=Derek A. Wheaton|author6=Donald J. Orth|date=2019|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|page=13–16}}</ref> The [[Chesapeake Bay]] is host to many species, including [[Callinectes sapidus|blue crabs]], clams, oysters, rockfish, as well as the invasive [[blue catfish]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/as-blue-catfish-multiply-in-chesapeake-bay-watermen-pursue-new-catch/2019/06/10/5b5df3f2-8973-11e9-a870-b9c411dc4312_story.html |title= As blue catfish multiply in Chesapeake Bay, watermen pursue new catch |first1= Christina |last1= Tkacik |first2= Scott |last2= Dance |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= June 10, 2019 |accessdate= June 2, 2020}}</ref> Running brooks with rocky bottoms are often inhabited by plentiful amounts of crayfish.<ref name=Burnham/> Amphibians found in Virginia include the [[Cumberland Plateau salamander]] and [[Eastern hellbender]].<ref>Jeffrey C. Beane, Alvin L. Braswell, William M. Palmer, Joseph C. Mitchell & Julian R. Harrison III, ''Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia'' (2d ed.: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 51, 102.</ref>
Virginia has 30 [[National Park Service]] units, such as [[Great Falls Park]] and the [[Appalachian Trail]], and one national park, [[Shenandoah National Park]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/state/va/index.htm|title=Virginia|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|accessdate=July 4, 2020}}</ref> Shenandoah was established in 1935 and encompasses the scenic [[Skyline Drive]]. Almost forty percent ({{convert|79579|acre|km2|disp=or|abbr=on}}) of the park's total {{convert|199,173|acre|km2}} area has been designated as wilderness under the [[National Wilderness Preservation System]].{{sfn|Carroll|Miller|2002|p=158}} Virginia also has 38 [[List of Virginia state parks|Virginia state parks]], 3 undeveloped parks, and 63 natural areas, totaling {{convert|127,000|acres}}, of which approximately {{convert|70,000|acres}} are in state parks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/fun-facts|title=Fun Facts|publisher=Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation|accessdate=July 4, 2020}}</ref> All are managed by the [[Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation]] except for [[Breaks Interstate Park]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/find-a-park|title=Find a Park|publisher=Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation|accessdate=July 4, 2020}}</ref> which lies on the Virginia-Kentucky border and is one of only two inter-state parks in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knoxnews.com/story/entertainment/2018/01/12/breaks-centuries-struggle-breaks-interstate-park/1012506001/|title=That's the Breaks: Documentary chronicles significant natural area on Virginia-Kentucky border|work=Knoxville News Sentinel|date=January 12, 2018|author=Randall Brown}}</ref> There are 22 [[List of Virginia state forests|state forests]] and other state lands managed by the [[Virginia Department of Forestry]], totaling {{convert|67,920|acres}}.<ref name=forests>{{cite web|url=http://dof.virginia.gov/infopubs/_state-forests/VAs-State-Forests-2012-09_pub.pdf|title=Virginia's State Forests|date=2012|publisher=Virginia Department of Environmental Quality}}</ref> The Chesapeake Bay is not a national park, but is protected by both state and federal legislation; the jointly run [[Chesapeake Bay Program]] which conducts restoration on the bay and its watershed. The [[Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge]] extends into North Carolina, as does the [[Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge]], which marks the beginning of the [[Outer Banks]].{{sfn|Smith|2008|pp=152–153, 356}}
==History==
{{Main|History of Virginia}}
[[File:John Smith Saved by Pocahontas.jpg|thumb|upright|The story of [[Pocahontas]], an ancestress of many of the [[First Families of Virginia]], was romanticized by later artists.<ref name=slate_pocahontas>{{cite news |url= http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/06/pocahontas_wedding_re_enactment_john_rolfe_john_smith_and_native_americans.html |title= Pocahontas: Fantasy and Reality |work= Slate Magazine |first= Laurie Gwen |last= Shapiro |date= June 22, 2014 |accessdate= June 23, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140623013337/http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/06/pocahontas_wedding_re_enactment_john_rolfe_john_smith_and_native_americans.html |archive-date= June 23, 2014 |url-status= live }}</ref>|alt=A painting of a young dark-haired Native American woman shielding an Elizabethan era man from execution by a Native American chief. She is bare-chested, and her face is bathed in light from an unknown source. Several Native Americans look on at the scene.]]
Virginia celebrated its quadricentennial year in 2007, marking 400 years since the establishment of the Jamestown Colony. The observances highlighted contributions from [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], Africans, and Europeans, each of which had a significant part in shaping Virginia's history.{{sfn|Wallenstein|2007|pp=406–407}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/13/AR2007051300412.html|first1=Fredrick|last1=Kunkle|first2=Steve|last2=Vogel|title=President Bush Caps Celebration Of Success in Face of Adversity|accessdate=November 11, 2009|work=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 14, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122181742/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/13/AR2007051300412.html|archive-date=November 22, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Warfare, including among these groups, has also had an important role. Virginia was a focal point in conflicts from the [[French and Indian War]], the [[American Revolution]] and the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], to the [[Cold War]] and the [[War on Terrorism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/vmd/vmdintro.htm|title=Virginia Military Dead Database Introduction|website=Library of Virginia|publisher=[[Government of Virginia]]|year=2009|accessdate=April 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903100536/http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/VMD/vmdintro.htm|archive-date=September 3, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Fictionalized stories about the early colony, in particular the story of [[Pocahontas]] and [[John Smith (explorer)|John Smith]], first became popular in the period after the Revolutionary War, and together with other myths surrounding [[George Washington]]'s childhood and plantation elite in the [[Antebellum Era in the United States|antebellum period]] became touchstones of Virginian and American culture and helped shape the state's historic politics and beliefs.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.history.com/news/how-early-american-stage-dramas-turned-pocahontas-into-fake-news |title= How a Romanticized Take on Pocahontas Become a Touchstone of American Culture |website= History Chanel |first= Alicia |last= Puglionesi |date= April 4, 2019 |accessdate= September 16, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191004154838/https://www.history.com/news/how-early-american-stage-dramas-turned-pocahontas-into-fake-news |archive-date= October 4, 2019 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=slate_pocahontas/>
===Colony===
{{Main|Colony of Virginia}}
The first people are estimated to have arrived in Virginia over 12,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Wood|editor1-first=Karenne|editor1-link=Karenne Wood|title=The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail|date=2007|publisher=Virginia Foundation for the Humanities|location=Charlottesville, Virginia|isbn=978-0-9786604-3-7|edition=second|url=http://virginiaindians.pwnet.org/lesson_plans/Heritage%20Trail_2ed.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704031303/http://virginiaindians.pwnet.org/lesson_plans/Heritage%20Trail_2ed.pdf|archivedate=July 4, 2009}}</ref> By 5,000 years ago more permanent settlements emerged, and farming began by 900 AD. By 1500, the [[Algonquian peoples]] had founded towns such as [[Werowocomoco]] in the [[Tidewater region of Virginia|Tidewater region]], which they referred to as ''[[Tsenacommacah]]''. The other major language groups in the area were the [[Siouan languages|Siouan]] to the west, and the [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquoians]], who included the [[Nottoway Tribe|Nottoway]] and [[Meherrin]], to the north and south. After 1570, the Algonquians consolidated under [[Chief Powhatan]] in response to threats from these other groups on their trade network.{{sfn|Heinemann|Kolp|Parent, Jr.|Shade|2007|pp=4–11}} Powhatan controlled more than 30 smaller tribes and more than 150 settlements, who shared a common [[Powhatan language|Virginia Algonquian]] language. In 1607, the native Tidewater population was between 13,000 and 14,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/powhatan-indian-lifeways.htm|title=Powhatan Indian Lifeways|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|first=Lee|last=Cotton|date=July 1999|accessdate=June 26, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924132642/http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/powhatan-indian-lifeways.htm|archivedate=September 24, 2008}}</ref>
Several European expeditions, including a [[Ajacán Mission|group of Spanish Jesuits]], explored the [[Chesapeake Bay]] during the 16th century.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Glanville, Jim|url=http://www.holstonia.net/files/Conquistadors2.pdf|title=16th Century Spanish Invasions of Southwest Virginia|type=Reprint|journal=Historical Society of Western Virginia Journal|volume=XVII|issue=1|pages=34–42|year=2009|access-date=January 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212092301/http://www.holstonia.net/files/Conquistadors2.pdf|archive-date=December 12, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1583, Queen [[Elizabeth I of England]] granted [[Walter Raleigh]] a charter to plant a colony north of [[Spanish Florida]].{{sfn|Wallenstein|2007|pp=8–9}} In 1584, Raleigh sent an expedition to the [[East Coast of the United States|Atlantic coast of North America]].{{sfn|Moran|2007|p=8}} The name "Virginia" may have been suggested then by Raleigh or Elizabeth, perhaps noting her status as the "Virgin Queen", and may also be related to a native phrase, "Wingandacoa", or name, "Wingina".{{sfn|Stewart|2008|p=22}} Initially the name applied to the entire coastal region from South Carolina to Maine, plus the island of [[Bermuda]].{{sfn|Vollmann|2002|pp=695–696}} The [[London Company]] was incorporated as a joint stock company by the proprietary [[Charter of 1606]], which granted land rights to this area. The company financed the first permanent English settlement in the "[[New World]]", [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]]. Named for [[James I of England|King James I]], it was founded in May 1607 by [[Christopher Newport]].{{sfn|Conlin|2009|pp=30–31}} In 1619, colonists took greater control with an elected legislature, later called the [[House of Burgesses]]. With the bankruptcy of the London Company in 1624, the settlement was taken into royal authority as an English [[crown colony]].{{sfn|Gordon|2004|p=17}}
[[File:The Governor's Palace -- Williamsburg (VA) September 2012.jpg|thumb|left|[[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] was Virginia's capital from 1699 to 1780.|alt=A three-story red brick colonial style hall and its left and right wings during summer.]]
Life in the colony was perilous, and many died during the [[Starving Time (Jamestown)|Starving Time]] in 1609 and the [[Anglo-Powhatan Wars]], including the [[Indian massacre of 1622]], which fostered the colonists' negative view of all tribes.<ref>{{harvnb|Hoffer|2006|p=132}}; {{harvnb|Grizzard|Smith|2007|pp=128–133}}</ref> By 1624, only 3,400 of the 6,000 early settlers had survived.<ref>[http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/drought/drght_james.html "The lost colony and Jamestown droughts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913074343/http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/drought/drght_james.html |date=September 13, 2009 }}, Stahle, D. W., M. K. Cleaveland, D. B. Blanton, M. D. Therrell, and D. A. Gay. 1998. ''Science'' 280:564–567.</ref> However, European [[Tobacco in the American Colonies|demand for tobacco]] fueled the arrival of more settlers and servants.{{sfn|Wallenstein|2007|p=22}} The [[headright]] system tried to solve the labor shortage by providing colonists with land for each [[indentured servant]] they transported to Virginia.{{sfn|Hashaw|2007|pp=76–77, 239–240}} African workers were first imported to Jamestown in 1619 initially under the rules of indentured servitude. The shift to a system of African [[History of slavery in Virginia|slavery in Virginia]] was propelled by the legal cases of [[John Punch (slave)|John Punch]], who was sentenced to lifetime slavery in 1640 for attempting to escape his servitude, and of [[John Casor]], who was claimed by [[Anthony Johnson (colonist)|Anthony Johnson]] as his servant for life in 1655.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/horrible-fate-john-casor-180962352/ |title= The Horrible Fate of John Casor, The First Black Man to be Declared Slave for Life in America |first= Kat |last= Eschner |magazine= Smithsonian Magazine |date= March 8, 2017 |accessdate= June 5, 2020}}</ref> Slavery first appears in Virginia statutes in 1661 and 1662, when a law made it hereditary based on the mother's status.{{sfn|Hashaw|2007|pp=211–215}}
Tensions and the geographic differences between the working and ruling classes led to [[Bacon's Rebellion]] in 1676, by which time current and former indentured servants made up as much as eighty percent of the population.{{sfn|Heinemann|Kolp|Parent, Jr.|Shade|2007|pp=51–59}} Rebels, largely from the colony's frontier, were also opposed to the conciliatory policy towards [[Native American tribes in Virginia|native tribes]], and one result of the rebellion was the signing at [[Middle Plantation (Virginia)|Middle Plantation]] of the [[Treaty of 1677]], which made the signatory tribes [[tributary state]]s and was part of a pattern of appropriating tribal land by force and treaty. Middle Plantation saw the founding of [[The College of William & Mary]] in 1693 and was renamed [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] as it became the colonial capital in 1699.{{sfn|Heinemann|Kolp|Parent, Jr.|Shade|2007|pp=76–77}} In 1747, a group of Virginian speculators formed the [[Ohio Company]], with the backing of the British crown, to start English settlement and trade in the [[Ohio Country]] west of the [[Appalachian Mountains]].{{sfn|Anderson|2000|p=23}} [[France]], which claimed this area as part of their colony of [[New France]], viewed this as a threat, and the ensuing [[French and Indian War]] became part of the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–1763). A militia from several British colonies, called the [[Virginia Regiment]], was led by then-Lieutenant Colonel [[George Washington]].{{sfn|Anderson|2000|pp=42–43}}
===Statehood===
[[File:Patrick Henry Rothermel.jpg|thumb|upright|1851 painting of [[Patrick Henry]]'s speech before the [[House of Burgesses]] on the [[Virginia Resolves]] against the [[Stamp Act of 1765]]|alt=Upper-class middle-aged man dressed in a bright red cloak speaks before an assembly of other angry men. The subject's right hand is raise high in gesture toward the balcony.]]
The [[Parliament of Great Britain|British Parliament's]] efforts to levy new taxes following the [[French and Indian War]] were deeply unpopular in the colonies. In the [[House of Burgesses]], opposition to [[No taxation without representation|taxation without representation]] was led by [[Patrick Henry]] and [[Richard Henry Lee]], among others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/bio26.htm|title=Signers of the Declaration (Richard Henry Lee)|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|date=April 13, 2006|accessdate=February 2, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611071114/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/bio26.htm|archive-date=June 11, 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> Virginians began to [[committee of correspondence|coordinate their actions]] with other colonies in 1773, and sent delegates to the [[Continental Congress]] the following year.{{sfn|Gutzman|2007|pp=24–29}} After the House of Burgesses was dissolved by the royal governor in 1774, Virginia's revolutionary leaders continued to govern via the [[Virginia Conventions]]. On May 15, 1776, the Convention declared Virginia's independence from the British Empire and adopted [[George Mason]]'s [[Virginia Declaration of Rights]], which was then included in a new constitution.{{sfn|Heinemann|Kolp|Parent, Jr.|Shade|2007|pp=125–133}} Another Virginian, [[Thomas Jefferson]], drew upon Mason's work in drafting the national [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref name=mason>{{cite journal|last=Schwartz|first=Stephan A.|title=George Mason: Forgotten Founder, He Conceived the Bill of Rights|journal=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|issue=2|page=142|date=May 2000|volume=31}}</ref>
When the [[American Revolutionary War]] began, [[George Washington]] was selected to head the [[Continental Army|colonial army]]. During the war, the capital was moved to [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] at the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson, who feared that Williamsburg's coastal location would make it vulnerable to British attack.{{sfn|Cooper|2007|p=58}} In 1781, the combined action of [[Continental Army|Continental]] and French land and naval forces trapped the British army on the [[Virginia Peninsula]], where troops under George Washington and [[Comte de Rochambeau]] defeated British [[General Cornwallis]] in the [[Siege of Yorktown]]. His surrender on October 19, 1781 led to [[Peace of Paris (1783)|peace negotiations in Paris]] and secured the independence of the colonies.{{sfn|Heinemann|Kolp|Parent, Jr.|Shade|2007|pp=131–133}}
Virginians were instrumental in writing the [[United States Constitution]]. [[James Madison]] drafted the [[Virginia Plan]] in 1787 and the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]] in 1789.<ref name=mason/> [[Virginia Ratifying Convention|Virginia ratified]] the Constitution on June 25, 1788. The [[three-fifths compromise]] ensured that Virginia, with its large number of slaves, initially had the largest bloc in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]. Together with the [[Virginia dynasty]] of presidents, this gave the Commonwealth national importance. In 1790, both Virginia and Maryland ceded territory to form the new [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]], though the Virginian area was [[District of Columbia retrocession|retroceded]] in 1846.{{sfn|Wallenstein|2007|p=104}} Virginia is called the "Mother of States" because of its role in being carved into states such as [[Kentucky]], which became the 15th state in 1792, and for the numbers of [[American pioneer]]s born in Virginia.<ref name=Robertson/>
===Civil War and aftermath===
{{Main|Virginia in the American Civil War}}
[[File:Richmond Civil War ruins.jpg|thumb|left|Richmond was made the capital of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] in 1861 and was partially burned by them prior to its [[Third Battle of Petersburg|recapture by Union forces]] in 1865.|alt=A single soldier stands among cannons and cannonballs across a river from the ruins of a city.]]
In addition to agriculture, slave labor was increasingly used in mining, shipbuilding and other industries.{{sfn|Davis|2006|pp=125, 208–210}} The execution of [[Gabriel Prosser]] in 1800, [[Nat Turner's slave rebellion]] in 1831 and [[John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry]] in 1859 marked the growing social discontent over slavery and its role in the [[plantation economy]]. By 1860, almost half a million people, roughly 31{{nbsp}}percent of the total population of Virginia, were enslaved.{{sfn|Morgan|1998|p=490}} This division contributed to the start of the [[American Civil War]].
Virginia [[Ordinance of Secession|voted to secede]] from the United States on April 17, 1861, after the [[Battle of Fort Sumter]] and [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s call for volunteers. On April 24, Virginia joined the [[Confederate States of America]], which chose Richmond as its capital.<ref name=Robertson>{{harvnb|Robertson|1993|pp=8–12}}</ref> After the 1861 [[Wheeling Convention]], 48 counties in the northwest separated to form a new state of [[West Virginia]], which chose to remain loyal to the [[Union (Civil War)|Union]]. Virginian general [[Robert E. Lee]] took command of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] in 1862, and led invasions into Union territory, ultimately becoming commander of all Confederate forces. During the war, more battles were fought in Virginia than anywhere else, including [[First Battle of Bull Run|Bull Run]], the [[Seven Days Battles]], [[Battle of Chancellorsville|Chancellorsville]], and the concluding [[Battle of Appomattox Court House]].{{sfn|Goodwin|2012|pp=4}} After the [[Siege of Petersburg|capture of Richmond]] in April 1865, the state capital was briefly moved to [[Lynchburg, Virginia|Lynchburg]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Tripp|first=Steve|title=Lynchburg During the Civil War|url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Lynchburg_During_the_Civil_War|website=Encyclopedia of Virginia|publisher=Library of Virginia|accessdate=May 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517025843/http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Lynchburg_During_the_Civil_War|archive-date=May 17, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> while the Confederate leadership fled to [[Danville, Virginia|Danville]].{{sfn|Robertson|1993|p=170}} Virginia was formally restored to the United States in 1870, due to the work of the [[Committee of Nine]].{{sfn|Heinemann|Kolp|Parent, Jr.|Shade|2007|pp=249–250}}
During the post-war [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction era]], Virginia adopted a constitution which provided for free public schools, and guaranteed political, civil, and [[Voting rights in the United States|voting rights]].{{sfn|Morgan|1992|pp=160–166}} The populist [[Readjuster Party]] ran an inclusive coalition until the conservative white [[Democratic Party of Virginia|Democratic Party]] gained power after 1883.{{sfn|Dailey|Gilmore|Simon|2000|pp=90–96}} It passed segregationist [[Jim Crow laws]] and in 1902 rewrote the [[Constitution of Virginia]] to include a [[Poll tax (United States)|poll tax]] and other voter registration measures that effectively [[Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era|disenfranchised]] most African Americans and many poor European Americans.{{sfn|Wallenstein|2007|pp=253–254}} Though their schools and public services were segregated and underfunded due to a lack of political representation, African Americans were able to unite in communities and take a greater role in Virginia society.{{sfn|Davis|2006|pp=328–329}}
===Post-Reconstruction===
[[File:USS Virginia in port, 1906-07.tiff|thumb|Many [[World War I]]-era warships were built in [[Newport News, Virginia|Newport News]], including the [[USS Virginia (BB-13)|USS ''Virginia'']].|alt=A white battleship with three smokestacks and two tall masts sitting in port.]]
New economic forces also changed the Commonwealth. Virginian [[James Albert Bonsack]] invented the tobacco cigarette rolling machine in 1880 leading to new industrial scale production centered around Richmond. In 1886, railroad magnate [[Collis Potter Huntington]] founded [[Newport News Shipbuilding]], which was responsible for building six [[World War I]]-era [[dreadnought]]s, seven battleships, and 25 destroyers for the [[U.S. Navy]] from 1907 to 1923.{{sfn|Styron|2011|pp=42–43}} During the war, [[German Empire|German]] submarines like [[SM U-151|U-151]] attacked ships outside the port.{{sfn|Feuer|1999|pp=50–52}} In 1926, Dr. [[W.A.R. Goodwin]], rector of Williamsburg's [[Bruton Parish Church]], began restoration of colonial-era buildings in the historic district with financial backing of [[John D. Rockefeller, Jr.]]{{sfn|Goodwin|2012|p=238}} Though their project, like others in the state, had to contend with the [[Great Depression]] and [[World War II]], work continued as [[Colonial Williamsburg]] became a major tourist attraction.{{sfn|Greenspan|2009|pp=37–43}}
[[File:Virginia Civil Rights Memorial wide.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Virginia Civil Rights Memorial]] was erected in 2008 to commemorate the protests which led to school desegregation.|alt=Bronze sculptures of seven figures marching stand around a large rectangular block of white engraved granite.]]
Protests started by [[Barbara Rose Johns]] in 1951 in [[Farmville, Virginia|Farmville]] against segregated schools led to the lawsuit ''[[Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County]]''. This case, filed by Richmond natives [[Spottswood William Robinson III|Spottswood Robinson]] and [[Oliver Hill]], was decided in 1954 with ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', which rejected the segregationist doctrine of "[[separate but equal]]". But, in 1958, under the policy of "[[massive resistance]]" led by the influential segregationist Senator [[Harry F. Byrd]] and his [[Byrd Organization]], the Commonwealth prohibited [[desegregation|desegregated]] local schools from receiving state funding.{{sfn|Wallenstein|2007|pp=340–341}}
The [[civil rights movement]] gained many participants in the 1960s. It achieved the moral force and support to gain passage of national legislation with the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]. In 1964 the [[United States Supreme Court]] ordered [[Prince Edward County, Virginia|Prince Edward County]] and others to [[racial integration|integrate]] schools.{{sfn|Wallenstein|2007|pp=357}} In 1967, the Court also struck down the state's ban on [[Interracial marriage in the United States|interracial marriage]] with ''[[Loving v. Virginia]]''. From 1969 to 1971, state legislators under Governor [[Mills Godwin]] rewrote the constitution, after goals such as the repeal of [[Jim Crow laws]] had been achieved. In 1989, [[Douglas Wilder]] became the first African American elected as governor in the United States.{{sfn|Heinemann|Kolp|Parent, Jr.|Shade|2007|pp=359–366}}
The [[Cold War]] led to the expansion of national defense government programs housed in offices in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., and correlative population growth.{{sfn|Accordino|2000|pp=76–78}} The [[Central Intelligence Agency]] in [[Langley, Virginia|Langley]] was involved in various [[Timeline of events in the Cold War|Cold War events]], including as the target of [[History of Soviet and Russian espionage in the United States|Soviet espionage activities]]. Also among the federal developments was [[the Pentagon]], built during World War II as the headquarters for the Department of Defense. It was one of the targets of the [[September 11 attacks]]; 189 people died at the site when a jet passenger plane was flown into the building.<ref>{{cite news|last=Caplan |first=David |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-releases-batch-911-pentagon-photos/story?id=46484696 |title=FBI re-releases 9/11 Pentagon photos |website= ABC News |date=March 31, 2017 |accessdate=June 5, 2020}}</ref> Mass shootings at [[Virginia Tech shooting|Virginia Tech in 2007]] and in [[2019 Virginia Beach shooting|Virginia Beach in 2019]] led to passage of gun control measures in 2020.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.roanoke.com/news/local/northam-signs-history-making-batch-of-gun-control-bills/article_af8f9c9f-529f-502e-b225-b8c538036b69.html |title= Northam signs history-making batch of gun control bills |newspaper= The Roanoke Times |first= Amy |last= Friedenberger |date= April 10, 2020 |accessdate= June 15, 2020}}</ref> Racial injustice and the presence of [[List of Confederate monuments and memorials in Virginia|Confederate monuments in Virginia]] have also led to large demonstrations, including in August 2017, when a white supremacist [[Charlottesville car attack|drove his car into protesters]], killing one, and in June 2020, when protests that were part of the larger [[Black Lives Matter]] movement brought about the removal of statues on [[Monument Avenue]] in Richmond and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/jeb-stuart-richmond/2020/07/07/bbfe4ff8-bfd3-11ea-b4f6-cb39cd8940fb_story.html |title= Gen. Robert E. Lee is the only Confederate icon still standing on a Richmond avenue forever changed |newspaper= The Washington Post |first1= Gregory S. |last1= Schneider |first2= Laura |last2= Vozzella |date= July 7, 2020 |accessdate= July 7, 2020}}</ref>
==Cities and towns==
{{See also|Political subdivisions of Virginia|Virginia statistical areas}}
[[File:Virginia-Population.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Virginia counties and cities by population in 2010]]
Virginia is divided into 95{{nbsp}}[[List of counties in Virginia|counties]] and 38{{nbsp}}[[independent city (United States)|independent cities]], the latter acting in many ways as [[county-equivalent]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/2010/geo/state-local-geo-guides-2010/virginia.html |title= Virginia Basic Information |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |date= June 25, 2018 |accessdate= June 5, 2020}}</ref> This general method of treating cities and counties on par with each other is unique to Virginia; only three other [[Independent city (United States)#Other states|independent cities]] exist elsewhere in the United States, each in a different state.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/opinion/article/unique-structural-issues-make-progress-in-virginia-difficult/201616/|title=Unique structural issues make progress in Virginia difficult|date=September 28, 2009|first=Bernie|last=Niemeier|work=Virginia Business|accessdate=October 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511132428/http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/opinion/article/unique-structural-issues-make-progress-in-virginia-difficult/201616/|archive-date=May 11, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Virginia limits the authority of cities and counties to countermand laws expressly allowed by the [[Virginia General Assembly]] under what is known as [[Dillon's Rule]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/why-arlington-and-fairfax-cant-tax-plastic-bags--and-why-that-might-change/2019/12/09/0913fd32-1544-11ea-9110-3b34ce1d92b1_story.html |title= Virginia Democrats poised to relax Dillon Rule |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= December 10, 2019 |first= Patricia |last= Sullivan |accessdate= June 7, 2020}}</ref> In addition to independent cities, there are also [[List of towns in Virginia|incorporated ''towns'']] which operate under their own governments, but are part of a county. Finally there are hundreds of [[List of unincorporated towns in Virginia|unincorporated communities]] within the counties. Virginia does not have any further political subdivisions, such as villages or townships.
Over 3.1{{nbsp}}million people, 36{{nbsp}}percent of Virginians, live in [[Northern Virginia]], which is part of the larger [[Washington metropolitan area]] and the [[Northeast megalopolis]].<ref name=msa>{{cite web |url= https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html |title= Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Population Totals and Components of Change: 2010–2019 |website= U.S. Census Bureau |date= June 18, 2020 |accessdate= June 29, 2020 |ref=CITEREFMSA}}</ref> [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]] is the most populous locality in the state, with more than 1.1{{nbsp}}million residents, although that does not include its [[county seat]] [[Fairfax, Virginia|Fairfax City]], which is one of the independent cities.<ref name=wapo2018pop>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/virginias-growth-is-most-robust-in-washington-suburbs/2018/01/25/8de356f0-0134-11e8-93f5-53a3a47824e8_story.html|title=Virginia’s population growth is most robust in Washington suburbs|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 25, 2018|accessdate=May 6, 2020|first=Antonio|last=Olivo}}</ref> Fairfax County has a major urban business and shopping center in [[Tysons Corner]], Virginia's largest office market.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://wtop.com/business-finance/2017/08/booming-tysons-looming-problem/ |website= WTOP |title= Booming Tysons, looming problems: Office vacancies, traffic headaches and more |first= Jeff |last= Clabaugh |date= August 9, 2017 |accessdate= June 7, 2020}}</ref> Neighboring [[Prince William County, Virginia|Prince William County]] is Virginia's second most populous county, with a population exceeding 450,000, and is home to [[Marine Corps Base Quantico]], the [[FBI Academy]] and [[Manassas National Battlefield Park]]. [[Loudoun County, Virginia|Loudoun County]], with the county seat at [[Leesburg, Virginia|Leesburg]], is the fastest-growing county in the state.<ref name=wapo2018pop/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://wtop.com/loudoun-county/2019/12/loudoun-county-one-of-the-fastest-growing-in-the-country/|title=Loudoun County one of the fastest growing in the country|first=Kyle|last=Cooper|work=WTOP|date=December 31, 2019|accessdate=May 6, 2020}}</ref> [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County]], the smallest self-governing county in the United States by land area, is an urban community organized as a county.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112202165_pf.html|title=Silent Streams|work=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Mary|last=Battiata|date=November 27, 2005|accessdate=April 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012131623/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112202165_pf.html|archive-date=October 12, 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>
Richmond is the capital of Virginia, and its metropolitan area has a population over 1.2{{nbsp}}million.<ref name=popnews/> {{As of|2019}}, [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Virginia Beach]] is the most populous independent city in the Commonwealth, with [[Chesapeake, Virginia|Chesapeake]] and [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]] second and third, respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-total-cities-and-towns.html|title=City and Town Population Totals: 2010–2019|website=U.S. Census Bureau|date=May 7, 2020|accessdate=June 29, 2020}}</ref> The three are part of the larger [[Hampton Roads]] metropolitan area, which has a population over 1.7{{nbsp}}million people and is the site of the world's largest naval base, [[Naval Station Norfolk]].<ref name=popnews>{{cite news|url=http://hamptonroads.com/2008/01/chesapeake-suffolk-track-pass-neighbors-terms-population|title=Chesapeake, Suffolk on track to pass neighbors in terms of population|first=Marc|last=Davis|work=[[The Virginian-Pilot]]|date=January 31, 2008|accessdate=October 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108092853/http://hamptonroads.com/2008/01/chesapeake-suffolk-track-pass-neighbors-terms-population|archive-date=January 8, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=hr/> [[Suffolk, Virginia|Suffolk]], which includes a portion of the [[Great Dismal Swamp]], is the largest city by area at {{convert|429.1|sqmi|km2}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.suffolkva.us/1065/History |title=All About Suffolk |publisher=[[Suffolk, Virginia|Suffolk]] |date=February 12, 2007 |accessdate=February 19, 2008}}</ref> In western Virginia, [[Roanoke, Virginia|Roanoke]] city and [[Montgomery County, Virginia|Montgomery County]], part of the [[Blacksburg–Christiansburg metropolitan area]], both have surpassed a population of over 100,000 since 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.roanoke.com/news/local/new-population-estimates-montgomery-county-passes-roanoke/article_b4ad525d-96ad-55dd-978b-d82f58db46c0.html |title= New population estimates: Montgomery County passes Roanoke |first= Yann |last= Ranaivo |newspaper= The Roanoke Star |date= January 31, 2020 |accessdate= May 6, 2020}}</ref>
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