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In recent years , the expansion of the southern suburbs of Washington , D.C. into Northern Virginia has introduced an urban heat island primarily caused by increased absorption of solar radiation in more densely populated areas . In the American Lung Association 's 2011 report , 11 counties received failing grades for... |
= = = Flora and fauna = = =
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Forests cover 65 % of the state , primarily with deciduous , broad leaf trees in the western part of the state and evergeens and conifers dominant the central and eastern part of Virginia . Lower altitudes are more likely to have small but dense stands of moisture @-@ loving hemlocks and mosses in abundance , with hic... |
Mammals include white @-@ tailed deer , black bear , beaver , bobcat , coyote , raccoon , skunk , groundhog , Virginia opossum , gray fox , red fox , and eastern cottontail rabbit . Other mammals include : nutria , fox squirrel , gray squirrel , flying squirrel , chipmunk , brown bat , and weasel . Birds include cardi... |
Virginia has 30 National Park Service units , such as Great Falls Park and the Appalachian Trail , and one national park , the Shenandoah National Park . Shenandoah was established in 1935 and encompasses the scenic Skyline Drive . Almost 40 % of the park 's area ( 79 @,@ 579 acres / 322 km2 ) has been designated as w... |
= = History = =
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" Jamestown 2007 " marked Virginia 's quadricentennial year , celebrating 400 years since the establishment of the Jamestown Colony . The celebrations highlighted contributions from Native Americans , Africans , and Europeans , each of which had a significant part in shaping Virginia 's history . Warfare , including a... |
= = = Colony = = =
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The first people are estimated to have arrived in Virginia over 12 @,@ 000 years ago . 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 , which they referred to as Tsenacommacah . Th... |
Several European expeditions , including a group of Spanish Jesuits , explored the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th century . In 1583 , Queen Elizabeth I of England granted Walter Raleigh a charter to plant a colony north of Spanish Florida . In 1584 , Raleigh sent an expedition to the Atlantic coast of North America . ... |
Life in the colony was perilous , and many died during the Starving Time in 1609 and the Anglo @-@ Powhatan Wars , including the Indian massacre of 1622 , which fostered the colonists ' negative view of all tribes . By 1624 , only 3 @,@ 400 of the 6 @,@ 000 early settlers had survived . However , European demand for t... |
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 80 % of the population . Rebels , largely from the colony 's frontier , were also opposed to the conciliatory policy towards native ... |
= = = Statehood = = =
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The 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 taxation without representation was led by Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee , among others . Virginians began to coordinate their actions with oth... |
When the American Revolutionary War began , George Washington was selected to head the colonial army . During the war , the capital was moved to Richmond at the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson , who feared that Williamsburg 's coastal location would make it vulnerable to British attack . In 1781 , the combined act... |
Virginians were instrumental in writing the United States Constitution . James Madison drafted the Virginia Plan in 1787 and the Bill of Rights in 1789 . Virginia ratified the Constitution on June 25 , 1788 . The three @-@ fifths compromise ensured that Virginia , with its large number of slaves , initially had the la... |
= = = Civil War and aftermath = = =
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In addition to agriculture , slave labor was increasingly used in mining , shipbuilding and other industries . 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 plantatio... |
Virginia 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 . After the 1861 Wheeling Convention , 48 counties in the northwest sep... |
During the post @-@ war Reconstruction era , Virginia adopted a constitution which provided for free public schools , and guaranteed political , civil , and voting rights . The populist Readjuster Party ran an inclusive coalition until the conservative white Democratic Party gained power after 1883 . It passed segrega... |
= = = Modern era = = =
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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 on Richmond . In 1886 , railroad magnate Collis Potter Huntington founded Newport News Shipbuilding , which was responsible for b... |
Protests started by Barbara Rose Johns in 1951 in Farmville against segregated schools led to the lawsuit Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County . This case , filed by Richmond natives Spottswood Robinson and Oliver Hill , was decided in 1954 with Brown v. Board of Education , which rejected the segregat... |
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 and others to integrate schools . ... |
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 . The Central Intelligence Agency in Langley was involved in various Cold War events , including as the target of Soviet espionage activities . Als... |
= = Cities and towns = =
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Virginia is divided into 95 counties and 38 independent cities , the latter acting in many ways as county @-@ equivalents . This general method of treating cities and counties on par with each other is unique to Virginia , with only three other independent cities in the United States outside Virginia , in three differ... |
Virginia has 11 Metropolitan Statistical Areas ; Northern Virginia , Hampton Roads , and Richmond @-@ Petersburg are the three most populous . Richmond is the capital of Virginia , and its metropolitan area has a population of over 1 @.@ 2 million . As of 2010 , Virginia Beach is the most populous city in the Commonwe... |
Fairfax County is the most populous locality in Virginia , with over one million residents , although that does not include its county seat Fairfax , which is one of the independent cities . Fairfax County has a major urban business and shopping center in Tysons Corner , Virginia 's largest office market . Neighboring... |
= = Demographics = =
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The United States Census Bureau estimates that the state population was 8 @,@ 382 @,@ 993 on July 1 , 2015 , a 4 @.@ 77 % increase since the 2010 United States Census . This includes an increase from net migration of 381 @,@ 969 people into the Commonwealth since the 2010 census . Immigration from outside the United S... |
= = = Ethnicity = = =
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The state 's most populous ethnic group , Non @-@ Hispanic White , has declined from 76 % in 1990 to 62 @.@ 7 % in 2015 . In 2011 , non @-@ Hispanic Whites were involved in 50 @.@ 9 % of all the births . People of English heritage settled throughout the Commonwealth during the colonial period , and others of British a... |
The largest minority group in Virginia is African American , at 19 @.@ 7 % as of 2015 . Most African American Virginians have been descendants of enslaved Africans who worked on tobacco , cotton , and hemp plantations . These men , women and children were brought from West and West @-@ Central Africa , primarily from ... |
More recent immigration in the late 20th century and early 21st century has fueled new communities of Hispanics and Asians . As of 2015 , 9 @.@ 0 % of Virginians are Hispanic or Latino ( of any race ) , and 6 @.@ 5 % are Asian . The state 's Hispanic population rose by 92 % from 2000 to 2010 , with two @-@ thirds of H... |
Additionally , 0 @.@ 5 % of Virginians are American Indian or Alaska Native , and 0 @.@ 1 % are Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander . Virginia has extended state recognition to eight Native American tribes resident in the state , though some lack federal recognition status . Most Native American groups are locat... |
As of 2011 , 49 @.@ 1 % of Virginia 's population younger than age 1 were minorities ( meaning that they had at least one parent who was not non @-@ Hispanic white ) .
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= = = Languages = = =
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The Piedmont region is known for its dialect 's strong influence on Southern American English . While a more homogenized American English is found in urban areas , various accents are also used , including the Tidewater accent , the Old Virginia accent , and the anachronistic Elizabethan of Tangier Island .
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As of 2010 , 85 @.@ 87 % ( 6 @,@ 299 @,@ 127 ) of Virginia residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language , while 6 @.@ 41 % ( 470 @,@ 058 ) spoke Spanish , 0 @.@ 77 % ( 56 @,@ 518 ) Korean , 0 @.@ 63 % ( 45 @,@ 881 ) Vietnamese , 0 @.@ 57 % ( 42 @,@ 418 ) Chinese ( which includes Mandarin ) , a... |
= = = Religion = = =
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Virginia is predominantly Christian and Protestant ; Baptists are the largest single group with 27 % of the population as of 2008 . Baptist congregations in Virginia have 763 @,@ 655 members . Baptist denominational groups in Virginia include the Baptist General Association of Virginia , with about 1 @,@ 400 member ch... |
The Virginia Conference is the regional body of the United Methodist Church in most of the Commonwealth , while the Holston Conference represents much of extreme Southwest Virginia . The Virginia Synod is responsible for the congregations of the Lutheran Church . Presbyterian , Pentecostal , Congregationalist , and Ep... |
In November 2006 , 15 conservative Episcopal churches voted to split from the Diocese of Virginia over the ordination of openly gay bishops and clergy in other dioceses of the Episcopal Church ; these churches continue to claim affiliation with the larger Anglican Communion through other bodies outside the United Stat... |
Among other religions , adherents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter @-@ day Saints constitute 1 % of the population , with 197 congregations in Virginia as of March 2014 . Fairfax Station is the site of the Ekoji Buddhist Temple , of the Jodo Shinshu school , and the Hindu Durga Temple . While the state 's Jewis... |
= = Economy = =
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Virginia is an employment @-@ at @-@ will state ; its economy has diverse sources of income , including local and federal government , military , farming and business . Virginia has 4 @.@ 1 million civilian workers , and one @-@ third of the jobs are in the service sector . The unemployment rate in Virginia is among t... |
= = = Government = = =
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Virginia has the highest defense spending of any state per capita , providing the Commonwealth with around 900 @,@ 000 jobs . 12 % of all U.S. federal procurement money is spent in Virginia , the second @-@ highest amount after California . Many Virginians work for federal agencies in Northern Virginia , which include... |
Virginia has one of the highest concentrations of veterans of any state , and is second to California in total Department of Defense employees . The Hampton Roads area has the largest concentration of military personnel and assets of any metropolitan area in the world , including the largest naval base in the world , ... |
= = = Business = = =
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Virginia has the highest concentration of technology workers of any state , and the fourth @-@ highest number of technology workers after California , Texas , and New York . Computer chips became the state 's highest @-@ grossing export in 2006 , surpassing its traditional top exports of coal and tobacco combined , re... |
The state has the highest average and peak Internet speeds in the United States , with the third @-@ highest worldwide . Northern Virginia 's data centers can carry up to 70 % of the nation 's internet traffic , with Loudoun County alone home to as much data center space as northern California .
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Virginia companies received the fourth @-@ highest amount of venture capital funding in the first half of 2011 after California , Massachusetts , and New York . In 2009 , Forbes magazine named Virginia the best state in the nation for business for the fourth year in a row , while CNBC named it the top state for busine... |
Tourism in Virginia supported an estimated 210 @,@ 000 jobs and generated $ 21 @.@ 2 billion in 2012 . Arlington County is the top tourist destination in the state by domestic spending , followed by Fairfax County , Loudoun County , and Virginia Beach .
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= = = Agriculture = = =
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Agriculture occupies 32 % of the land in Virginia . As of 2012 , about 357 @,@ 000 Virginian jobs were in agriculture , with over 47 @,@ 000 farms , averaging 171 acres ( 0 @.@ 27 sq mi ; 0 @.@ 69 km2 ) , in a total farmland area of 8 @.@ 1 million acres ( 12 @,@ 656 sq mi ; 32 @,@ 780 km2 ) . Though agriculture has d... |
= = = Taxes = = =
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Virginia collects personal income tax in five income brackets , ranging from 3 @.@ 0 % to 5 @.@ 75 % . The state sales and use tax rate is 4 @.@ 3 % , while the tax rate on food is 1 @.@ 5 % . There is an additional 1 % local tax , for a total of a 5 @.@ 3 % combined sales tax on most Virginia purchases and 2 @.@ 5 % ... |
= = Culture = =
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Virginia 's culture was popularized and spread across America and the South by figures such as George Washington , Thomas Jefferson , and Robert E. Lee . Their homes in Virginia represent the birthplace of America and the South . Modern Virginia culture has many sources , and is part of the culture of the Southern Uni... |
Besides the general cuisine of the Southern United States , Virginia maintains its own particular traditions . Virginia wine is made in many parts of the state . Smithfield ham , sometimes called " Virginia ham " , is a type of country ham which is protected by state law , and can only be produced in the town of Smith... |
Literature in Virginia often deals with the state 's extensive and sometimes troubled past . The works of Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Glasgow often dealt with social inequalities and the role of women in her culture . Glasgow 's peer and close friend James Branch Cabell wrote extensively about the changing position of... |
= = = Fine and performing arts = = =
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