West Virginia General Information

Abbreviated as WV on ABBREVIATIONFINDER.ORG, West Virginia is one of the US states in the Appalachian Mountains, commonly known as The Mountain State, and is considered part of the Capital Region. West Virginia separated from Virginia in the Civil War. It is famous for its coal mines, unfortunately also due to the so-called mine wars.

Nickname

Mountain State

Capital

Charleston

Biggest town

Charleston

Area

Rank (within the US): 41st out of 50 states

Total: 62,809 km²

Land: 62,436 km²

Water (%): 376 km² (0.6%)

Residents

Rank (within the US): 37th out of 50 states

Total (2000): 1,808,344

Density: 28.8 / km²

State membership

Place: 35th

Since: June 20, 1863

GEOGRAPHY

Time zone: Eastern: UTC -5 / -4

Latitude: 37 ° 10’N to 40 ° 40’N

Longitude 77 ° 40’W to 82 ° 40’W

Width: 210 km

Length: 385 km

Highest position: 1,482 m

Average location: 455 m

Lowest position: 73 m

POPULATION

There are 1,808,344 residents in West Virginia.

HISTORY

West Virginia’s genesis is unique in American history. It was the actual western part of Virginia until the middle of the 19th century. But there was considerable dissatisfaction with the way the plantation owners on the plains controlled political power.

During the outbreak of the American Civil War and Virginia’s detachment from the Union, the western counties separated from their mother state on April 27, 1861. Representatives of these counties formed a new government based in Alexandria, Virginia. They were authorized to do so by a note dated December 31, 1862 by Abraham Lincoln. The residents of West Virginia self-ironically refer to their state as the Ireland of the USA. Because the area is rural and characterized by poor conditions. For generations, the profits from the rich wood and coal deposits flowed into the vaults of monopoly trusts, without a large part of the residents having taken a modest share in it. When finally at the end of the 19th

In the south of the state, the coal mines expanded the principle of the company town to an extreme, that is, the workers received a wage, but had to pay a disproportionately higher share to society for food and accommodation in these cities. The entrepreneurs knew how to gradually tighten the thumbscrews of exploitation by slowly lowering wages, so that the workers only became aware of their exploitation and indebtedness over time. The inevitable result was the aforementioned Mine Wars (mining wars), that is, labor disputes, in which the unions, as is usual in the USA, were brutally suppressed with military aid.

ECONOMY

The once gorgeous forests were cut down for a long time. Afforestation has shown success in the last few decades. Coal mining still plays an important role today, but 50 percent of the state’s income is already provided by tourism.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Allegheny Mountains

These are not yet overly developed for tourism, although they are only a few hours’ drive from the metropolises on the east coast. Suitable for rafting, mountain bike and climbing tours.

New River Gorge

Famous 300 m deep gorge, which can only be reached by water (rafting), west of the village of Lewisburg or from the railway bridge of the Amtrak train with a fantastic view. However, many extreme sports enthusiasts are more attracted to jumping with a paraglider.

PERSONALITIES

Pearl S. Buck, Writer, Hillsboro Joanne Dru, Actress, Logan Thomas Stonewall Jackson, Confederation General, Clarksburg Cyrus Vance, Secretary of State, Clarksburg Chuck Yeager, Test Pilot, US Air Force General, Myra

West Virginia Counties and County Seats

According to Countryaah, there are a total of 55 counties in the state of West Virginia.

1. Barbour County (County Seat: Philippi)
2. Berkeley County (County Seat: Martinsburg)
3. Boone County (County Seat: Madison)
4. Braxton County (County Seat: Sutton)
5. Brooke County (County Seat: Wellsburg)
6. Cabell County (County Seat: Huntington)
7. Calhoun County (County Seat: Grantsville)
8. Clay County (County Seat: Clay)
9. Doddridge County (County Seat: West Union)
10. Fayette County (County Seat: Fayetteville)
11. Gilmer County (County Seat: Glenville)
12. Grant County (County Seat: Petersburg)
13. Greenbrier County (County Seat: Lewisburg)
14. Hampshire County (County Seat: Romney)
15. Hancock County (County Seat: New Cumberland)
16. Hardy County (County Seat: Moorefield)
17. Harrison County (County Seat: Clarksburg)
18. Jackson County (County Seat: Ripley)
19. Jefferson County (County Seat: Charles Town)
20. Kanawha County (County Seat: Charleston)
21. Lewis County (County Seat: Weston)
22. Lincoln County- Hamlin)
23. Logan County (County Seat: Logan)
24. Marion County (County Seat: Fairmont)
25. Marshall County (County Seat: Moundsville)
26. Mason County (County Seat: Point Pleasant)
27. McDowell County (County Seat: Welch)
28. Mercer County (County Seat: Princeton)
29. Mineral County (County Seat: Keyser)
30. Mingo County (County Seat: Williamson)
31. Monongalia County (County Seat: Morgantown)
32. Monroe County (County Seat: Union)
33. Morgan County (County Seat: Berkeley Springs)
34. Nicholas County (County Seat: Summersville)
35. Ohio County (County Seat: Wheeling)
36. Pendleton County (County Seat: Franklin)
37. Pleasants County (County Seat: St. Marys)
38. Pocahontas County (County Seat: Marlinton)
39. Preston County (County Seat: Kingwood)
40. Putnam County (County Seat: Winfield)
41. Raleigh County (County Seat: Beckley)
42. Randolph County (County Seat: Elkins)
43. Ritchie County (County Seat: Harrisville)
44. Roane County (County Seat: Spencer)
45. Summers County (County Seat: Hinton)
46. Taylor County (County Seat: Grafton)
47. Tucker County (County Seat: Parsons)
48. Tyler County (County Seat: Middlebourne)
49. Upshur County (County Seat: Buckhannon)
50. Wayne County (County Seat: Wayne)
51. Webster County (County Seat: Webster Springs)
52. Wetzel County (County Seat: New Martinsville)
53. Wirt County (County Seat: Elizabeth)
54. Wood County (County Seat: Parkersburg)
55. Wyoming County (County Seat: Pineville)