Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Virginia shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Virginia offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Virginia at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Virginia? Wrong! If the Virginia is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Virginia then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Virginia? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Virginia and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Virginia wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Virginia then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Virginia site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Virginia, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Virginia, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{US state|Name = Virginia|Fullname = Commonwealth of Virginia|Located = East United States|Flag = Flag of Virginia.svg|Flaglink = Flag of Virginia|Capital = [Richmond, Virginia|First Capital = Jamestown, Virginia|LargestCity = Virginia Beach, Virginia|Governor = Tim Kaine (D)] (R)
Jim Webb (D)]|AreaRank = 35th|TotalAreaUS = 42,774|TotalArea = 110,785|LandAreaUS = 39,594|LandArea = 102,548|WaterAreaUS = 3,180|WaterArea = 8,236|PCWater = 7.4|PopRank = 12th|2000Pop = 7,078,515|DensityRank = 14th|2000DensityUS = 178.8|2000Density = 69.03|MedianHouseholdIncome = $53,275|IncomeRank = 7th|AdmittanceOrder = 10th|AdmittanceDate = June 25, 1788: [UTC-5/Daylight saving time|Latitude = 36° 32′ N to 39° 28′ N|Longitude = 75° 15′ W to 83° 41′ W|WidthUS = 200|Width = 320|LengthUS = 430|Length = 690|HighestPoint = Mount Rogers{{cite web] 2005|LowestElevUS = 0|LowestElev = 0|ISOCode = US-VA|Website = www.virginia.gov-->The Commonwealth of Virginia ([IPA: /IPA chart for English/) is a Southeastern United States U.S. state historically considered part of the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is named after Elizabeth I of England of England, who was known as the Virgin Queen because she never married.

The Virginia Colony was the first part of the Americas to be continuously inhabited by English (following the 1707 Acts of Union 1707, British) colonists from its founding as a European colony up to the American Revolution. It included area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America, and at one time it also included Bermuda (or Virgineola). The Virginia Company of London became incorporated as a joint stock company by a proprietary charter drawn up on April 10, 1606. The charter granted lands stretching from approximately the 34th parallel (North Carolina) north to approximately the 45th parallel (New York) and from the Atlantic Ocean westward. The Third Charter of 1612 extended its boundaries far enough across the Atlantic to incorporate Bermuda, which the company had possessed since 1609. The Commonwealth (United States) was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British Empire rule in the American Revolution to form the United States of America.

Virginia is known as the "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of eight President of the United States (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson), more than any other state. Most of the United States' early presidents were from the state. Virginia has also been known as the "Mother of States" (sometimes "Mother of States and Statesmen") because portions of the original Colony subsequently became Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, as well as some portions of Ohio. Additionally, most of what is now Wisconsin and Michigan was also briefly claimed by Virginia during the Revolutionary War. As a result of the American Civil War (1861-1865), many western counties formed a separate state which was admitted to the Union as West Virginia.

The capital is Richmond, Virginia and the most populous city is Virginia Beach. Due to the nature of independent cities in Virginia, the most populous local jurisdiction is Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. Independent cities and counties function in the same manner; according to the US Census Bureau independent cities are considered county-equivalent. The largest city in land area is Suffolk, Virginia, which includes a large portion of the Great Dismal Swamp.

Virginia has a diverse economy, with many federal and military employees in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, which have the world's largest office building and the world's largest naval base respectively. In modern times, the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia area includes Jamestown, Virginia, Yorktown, Virginia and the restored area and living museum of Colonial Williamsburg. Linked by the Colonial Parkway, they combine to form one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Geography

Virginia is bordered by West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (across the Potomac River) to the north; by Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south; and by Kentucky and West Virginia to the west. Due to a peculiarity of Virginia's original charter, its northern boundary with Maryland does not extend past the Potomac River#Legal issues of the Potomac River, meaning Maryland possesses the whole width of the river rather than it being split between them. Virginia has an area of 42,774 square miles (110,785 km²) making it the 35th largest state.

The Chesapeake Bay divides the commonwealth, with Virginia's Eastern Shore of Virginia, a part of the Delmarva Peninsula, completely separate (an exclave) from the rest of the Commonwealth. Geographically, Virginia is divided into the following six regions:

Virginia's long east-west axis means that metropolitan northern Virginia lies as close to New York City and New England as to its own rural western panhandle. Lee County, Virginia, at the tip of the panhandle, is closer to eight other List of capitals in the United States than it is to Richmond, Virginia, Virginia's own capital.

Virginia has many National Park Service units, including one national park, the Shenandoah National Park. For a list of all areas managed by the National Park Service within Virginia, see: List of areas in the National Park System of the United States in Virginia.

For Virginia state parks, see: List of Virginia state parks.

Climate The climate is considered mild compared to other areas of the United States. Most of the state east of the Blue Ridge, plus the southern part of the Shenandoah Valley, has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen climate classification Cfa). In the mountainous areas west of the Blue Ridge, the climate becomes humid continental climate (Koppen Dfa).

Many variations occur because of the state's significant relief. Elevations in Virginia vary from sea level to Mount Rogers at 5,729 ft (1,746 m) above sea level, with major gradations occurring at the edges of the Atlantic Ocean, the end of the Piedmont (United States), and the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains chains of the Appalachian Mountains. The usually moderating influence of the ocean from the east, powered by the Gulf Stream, is interspersed with brief moments of danger due to the potential for tropical cyclone near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. On the other hand, cold air masses arrive over the mountains, especially in winter, leading to significant snowfalls. However, in something of an anomaly, much of the state south of Northern Virginia has not had over one foot of snow in a single storm since the Blizzard of 1996. The interaction of these elements with the state's topography create micro-climates in the Shenandoah Valley, the mountainous southwest, and the coastal plains that are slightly but noticeably distinct from each other. An additional element in recent years is the expansion of the southern suburbs of Washington, D.C. into northern Virginia, creating an urban heat island due to the increased energy output of the city. However, aside from the urban stations, no global warming effects have been noted by Virginia weather stations by 2001.

Severe weather is a concern in Virginia. Hurricanes make the coastal area of Virginia vulnerable. It is fairly rare for a major hurricane to threaten the Virginia coast as hurricanes this far north tend to become somewhat weakened, but it happens (see Hurricane Gaston). Virginia is often struck with the remnants of systems which hit further south bringing torrential rain to the state. Thunderstorms are an occasional concern with the state averaging anywhere from 30-50 days of thunderstorm activity annually, with the highest area of occurrence going towards the west. Eastern Virginia has a lower rate of tornadoes, and the state averages around 2 tornadoes per year. The last tornado that Virginia experienced was around November 2006.

{| class="wikitable" "text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|| colspan="13" style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;background:#E8EAFA;"|Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Virginia Cities|-! style="background: #E5AFAA; color: #000000" height="17" | City! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Jan! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Feb! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Mar! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Apr! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | May! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Jun! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Jul! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Aug! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Sep! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Oct! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Nov! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Dec|-! style="background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Lynchburg| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 37/22| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 42/27| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 56/30| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 68/43| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 76/51| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 82/60| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 86/64| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 85/62| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 78/56| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 68/44| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 58/35| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 44/28|-! style="background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Norfolk| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 48/32| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 50/34| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 58/40| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 67/48| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 75/58| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 83/66| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 87/71| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 85/70| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 79/65| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 69/53| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 61/44| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 52/36|-! style="background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Richmond| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 45/28| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 49/30| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 58/37| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 69/45| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 76/55| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 84/63| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 88/68| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 86/67| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 80/60| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 69/47| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 60/38| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 50/31|-! style="background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Roanoke| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 39/25| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 43/27| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 58/32| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 68/44| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 76/52| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 83/60| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 88/65| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 86/63| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 79/57| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 69/45| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 58/37| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 45/29|-| colspan="13" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;background:#E8EAFA;"||}

Faults and quakes Virginia has not had a history of major seismic activity: the earthquakes are rarely above 4.5 on the Richter magnitude scale. The largest, at 6.0 magnitude, came in 1897 in Blacksburg, Virginia. There is no volcano activity in the state, and it is located centrally on the North American Plate—where the Earth's crust is thicker than at the edges—which leads to fewer strong earthquakes.

History Indigenous Americans At the time of the English colonization of Virginia, Native American (US) people living in what now is Virginia includes tribes known as the Cherokee, Chesepian, Chickahominy (tribe), Chiskiack, Mattaponi, Meherrin, Monacan, Moobs, Nansemond, Nottoway, Pamunkey, Povic, Powhatan, Occoneechees, Rappahannock tribe, Saponites and others. The natives are often divided into three groups, based to a large extent upon language differences. The largest group are known as the Algonquian who numbered over 10,000, most of whom were united in the Powhatan Confederacy led by Chief Powhatan. The other groups are the Iroquoian (numbering 2,500) and the Siouan.

Spanish failure A Spanish exploration party had come to the lower Chesapeake Bay region of Virginia 1565 and met the Native Americans of the United States living on the Virginia Peninsula. A 17-year old teenage Powhatan boy from the village of Chiskiack (located on the lands of the present-day U.S. Naval Weapons Station Yorktown), who was the son of a chief, agreed to leave with them. He was baptized and renamed Don Luis, in honor of his sponsor, Luis de Velasco. Don Luis was educated in Mexico and Madrid.

In the autumn of 1570, the native-convert Don Luis returned to Virginia to help as a guide and translator in the establishment of the Jesuit's planned Ajacan Mission to be named for St. Mary on the lower peninsula. Shortly after they were dropped off by a Spanish ship, Don Luis abandoned the group, returning to his people, where he became a Weroance. The following February, Don Luis and a group of Powhatans returned and killed the 8 Jesuit missionaries, stealing their clothes and possessions, sparing only the life of a Spanish servant boy named Alonzo. This young boy escaped and made his way to a rival tribe, where he stayed until later rescued by another Spanish ship bringing supplies. Price, 11

When told of the events by young Alonzo, in the early part of 1572, the Spanish Governor of Florida, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, returned to Virginia to retaliate. The Spanish ultimately captured and hanged some of the Indians believed responsible for the massacre, but they were unable to locate Don Luis. While this marked the end of Spanish efforts to colonize the area which became Virginia, some historians believe that Don Luis and Opechancanough, who was later Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy, may have been the same individual. Boyer, 39, 41 The name Opechancanough meant "He whose Soul is White" in the Algonquin language used by the Powhatan people.

Virginia colony: 1607–1776 c.1608

At the end of the 16th century, when England began to colonize North America, Queen regnant Elizabeth I of England (who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married) gave the name "Virginia" to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America. The name eventually applied to the whole coast from South Carolina to Maine. The London Virginia Company became incorporated as a joint stock company by a proprietary charter drawn up on April 10, 1606. The charter granted Land rightss stretching from approximately the 34th parallel (North Carolina) north to approximately the 45th parallel (U.S.-Canada border) and from the Atlantic Ocean westward. It swiftly financed the first permanent England settlement in the New World, which was at Jamestown Settlement, named in honor of James I of England, in the Virginia Colony, in 1607. The settlement was founded by Captain Christopher Newport and John Smith of Jamestown. Its Second Charter was officially ratified on May 23, 1609. Many of the colonists died during the Starving Time (Jamestown). A dispute over how to deal with the Indians led to Bacon's Rebellion.The Virginia Company was also left in control of Bermuda from 1609, when its flagship was wrecked there en route to Jamestown. Its Royal Charter was extended to include the Islands of Bermuda, alias The Somers Isles (sometimes known as Virgineola), in 1612. Bermuda remained part of Virginia until 1614, when its administration was handed to the Crown (although a spin-off of the Virginia Company, the Somers Isles Company, would oversee it from 1615 to 1684). Bermuda and Virginia maintained close links for generations, with many Bermudians, wealthy and poor, settling in Virginia, and Bermudian merchant families establishing trading branches throughout the southern Atlantic Seaboard .

Jamestown was the original capital of the Virginia Colony, and remained so until the State House burned (for the fourth time) in 1698. After the fire, the colonial capital was moved to nearby Middle Plantation, which was renamed Williamsburg, Virginia in honor of William of Orange, William III of England. Virginia was given the title, "Dominion", by King Charles II of England at the time of The Restoration, because it had remained loyal to the crown during the English Civil War. The present moniker, "Old Dominion" is a reference to that title.

To try to attract more settlers, Virginia used the headright system, in which each family of settlers got 50 acres per person.

Independent commonwealth 's speech on the Virginia Resolves.Virginia sent delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, beginning in 1774. On June 12, 1776, the Virginia Convention adopted the Virginia Declaration of Rights written by George Mason, a document that influenced the United States Bill of Rights added later to the United States Constitution. Then on June 29, 1776, the convention adopted a constitution that established Virginia as a commonwealth independent of the British Empire.

Patrick Henry, of Charlotte County, Virginia, served as the first Governor of Virginia of the new commonwealth from 1776 to 1779, and again from 1784 to 1786. In 1780, the capital was moved to Richmond at the urging of then-Governor Thomas Jefferson, who was afraid that Williamsburg's location made it vulnerable to a Kingdom of Great Britain attack during the American Revolutionary War.

In the autumn of 1781, the combined action of Continental Army and French land and naval forces trapped the British on the Yorktown peninsula. Troops under George Washington and French Comte de Rochambeau defeated British General Cornwallis in the crucial Battle of Yorktown (1781). The British surrender on October 19, 1781 ended the major hostilities and secured the independence of the former colonies, though sporadic fighting continued for another two years.

In 1790, both Virginia and Maryland ceded territory to form the new District of Columbia, but in an Act of the Congress of the United States dated July 9, 1846, the area south of the Potomac that had been ceded by Virginia History of Washington, DC effective 1847, and is now Arlington County, Virginia and part of the Alexandria, Virginia.

American Civil War Virginia secession from the Union (on April 17, 1861) in response to Abraham Lincoln call for volunteers to attack the Confederate States of America after its attack on Fort Sumter. Virginia briefly operated as an independent state until it joined the Confederacy. It turned over its military on June 8 and ratified the Constitution of the Confederate States on June 19. Upon its admission, the CSA moved its capitol from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond. In 1863, during the Civil War, 48 counties remaining loyal to the Union in the northwest of the state separated from Virginia to form the State of West Virginia, an act which was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1870. More battles were fought on Virginia soil than anywhere else in America during the Civil War including the First Battle of Manassas, Second Battle of Manassas, the Seven Days Battles, the Battle of Fredricksburg and the Battle of Chancellorsville. Virginia formally rejoined the union on January 26, 1870, after Reconstruction.

Demographics {{USCensusPop|1790 = 691737|1800 = 807557|1810 = 877683|1820 = 938261|1830 = 1044054|1840 = 1025227|1850 = 1119348|1860 = 1219630|1870 = 1225163|1880 = 1512565|1890 = 1655980|1900 = 1854184|1910 = 2061612|1920 = 2309187|1930 = 2421851|1940 = 2677773|1950 = 3318680|1960 = 3966949|1970 = 4648494|1980 = 5346818|1990 = 6187358|2000 = 7078515-->

The center of population of Virginia is located in Goochland County, Virginia .

As of 2006, Virginia had an estimated population of 7,642,884, which is an increase of 78,557, or 1.0%, from the prior year and an increase of 563,854, or 8.0%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 276,039 people (that is 633,794 births minus 357,755 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 276,292 people into the commonwealth. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 151,748 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 124,544 people. The commonwealth has 940,899 residents who were born outside the United States (8.14% of the population), while 99,104 were born in a different state.

Also in 2006, 6.58% of Virginia's population were reported as under 5 years old, 24.6% under 18, and 11.2% were senior citizens-65+. Females made up over half of the population.

Ethnicity The five largest reported ancestry groups in Virginia are: African (19.6%), German-American (11.7%), unspecified American ancestry (11.2%), English American (11.1%), Irish American (9.8%).

Historically, as the largest and wealthiest colony and state and the birthplace of Southern and American culture, a large proportion (about half) of Virginia's population was made up of black slaves who worked its tobacco, cotton, and hemp plantations. Initially, these slaves came from west central Africa, primarily Angola. During the eighteenth century, however, about half of them derived from various ethnicities located in the Niger Delta region of modern day Nigeria. The twentieth century Great Migration (African American) of blacks from the rural South to the urban North reduced Virginia's black population to about 20%. When Douglas Wilder became governor of Virginia on January 13, 1990, he became the first African-American to serve as governor of a U.S. state since Reconstruction.Today, African-Americans are concentrated in the eastern and southern Tidewater and Piedmont regions where plantation agriculture was the most dominant. The western mountains are populated primarily by people of British ancestry, mostly Scots-Irish. People of German descent are present in sizable numbers in the northwestern mountains and Shenandoah Valley. Because of recent immigration, there is a rapidly growing population of Hispanics (particularly Central Americans) and Asians in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. In addition, the Hampton Roads area, in particular, has a large Filipino people population. Northern Virginia has the largest Vietnamese population on the east coast, with slightly over 99,000 Vietnamese migrants.

Religion The religious affiliations of the people of Virginia are: Virginia is prominently Protestant; Baptists account as the largest single group with 32.1% of the population being members. Roman Catholics, are the second-largest group, and also the third fastest growing. Islam, the second fastest growing group, accounts for 0.99% of the population. Buddhism and Hinduism combined form the fastest group, and largest of the "Other Religions" shown above, accounting for 1.00% of the population. About 50.0% of those practicing non-Christian faiths come from India, 5.50% from China, 3.70% from the Middle East, 2.20% from Guyana, 0.1% from Sri Lanka, and 37.9% from other nations.

Economy According to the 2004 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, Virginia’s gross state product was $326.6 billion. The per capita personal income was $35,477 in 2004.

In 2006 and 2007, Forbes Magazine voted Virginia as having the best climate for business in the United States citing economic growth, business costs/incentives and quality of life. CNBC ranked Virginia as the top state for business in 2007 as well.

Virginia's economy is well balanced with diverse sources of income. From the Hampton Roads area to Richmond and down to Lee County in the southwest includes military installations, cattle, tobacco and peanut farming in Southside Virginia. Tomatoes recently surpassed soy as the most profitable crop in Virginia. Tobacco, peanuts and hay are also important agricultural products from the commonwealth.{{cite web |url=http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=134817&ran=181320 |title=2006 Report on Agricultural Production |publisher=The Virginian Pilot |accessdate=2007-10-18 --> Wineries and vineyards in the Northern Neck and along the Blue Ridge Mountains also have become increasingly popular. Northern Virginia (once considered the state's dairy capital) hosts software, communications, consulting, defense contracting, diplomats, and considerable components of the professional government sector. As of the 2000 census, Virginia had the highest number of counties and independent cities (15) in the top 100 wealthiest jurisdictions in the United States based upon median income, in addition, Virginia tied with Colorado as having the most counties (10) in the top 100 based on per capita income. Loudoun County, Virginia and Fairfax County, Virginia counties in Northern Virginia have the highest and second highest median household income, respectively, of all counties in the United States as of 2006.

Richmond is one of 12 cities in the country having a Federal Reserve System bank. It, along with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Federal Reserve banks are the only ones that cover a non-U.S. state (Washington, D.C.).

There are seven Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Northern Virginia, and nine in the Richmond-Petersburg (most of which are within the city itself.) Only five metro areas in the country have more Fortune 500 companies than the Richmond area.

Virginia, arguably the wealthiest southern state before the Civil War, recovered from the Civil War and the Great Depression much faster than the rest of the South. Today, Virginia is still one of the wealthiest states in the South.

Federal Government , headquarters of the United States Department of Defense in Arlington County, Virginia.Well-known government agencies headquartered in the state include the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States Department of Defense, as well as the National Science Foundation, the United States Geological Survey and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Northern Virginia is a bastion of federal spending, particularly with regards to defense contracting. The Hampton Roads area has the largest concentration of military bases and facilities of any metropolitan area in the world, the largest of these being Naval Station Norfolk. The Hampton Roads area also is home to United States Air Force and NASA facilities.

In addition to the The Pentagon, US military bases at Arlington, Blackstone, Dahlgren, Fort Belvoir, Fort A.P. Hill, Hampton Roads, Petersburg, and Marine Corps Base Quantico make Virginia the home of more active duty military personnel than any other state. At $30B in 2001, Virginia received more defense spending than any other state except for California ($31.3B), and more than Texas ($18.1B) and Florida ($13.7B). The state is second to Alaska and ahead of North Dakota and New Mexico in per capita defense spending.{] (AFOSR)| Ballston, Virginia|-| Army National Guard Readiness Center|-| [Bureau of Diplomatic Security|-| [Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)]|-| Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)]|-| Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)]|-| Department of Defense (DOD)]|-| Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation|-| [Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS)]|-| Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)]

|-| National Foreign Affairs Training Center|-| [National Guard Bureau|-| [National Science Foundation (NSF)]|-| Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board|-| [Office of the Inspector General|-| [Office of Naval Research (ONR)]|-| Transportation Security Administration (TSA)]|-| US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)]|-| U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|-| [US Marshals Service|-| [US Trade & Development Agency|}

{| class=wikitable!colspan=2|Federal Agencies outside of Arlington|-!Agency!Location|-|[Defense Contract Audit Agency|-|[Defense Logistics Agency|-|[Defense Technical Information Center|-|[United States Geological Survey (USGS)]|-|United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)]|}

Technology According to the American Electronics Association, Virginia has the highest concentration of technology workers of any state. Computer chips became the state's highest-grossing export in 2006, surpassing its traditional top exports of coal and tobacco, combined. The Dulles Technology Corridor centered on the border of Fairfax County and Loudoun County near Dulles International Airport has a high concentration of Internet, communication technology and software engineering firms.

The state's biotechnology industry is not centralized, but growing, highlighted by the building of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park biotech Business incubator in Richmond and the opening of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus in Northern Virginia.

Virginia's nanotechnology industry, centered in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, accounted for $1 billion in manufactured goods in 2006. Researchers in Hampton Roads, many of whom hold patents in the field, feel the region has an advantage in the commercialization of nanotechnology due to the amount of research going on in the region, spearheaded by NASA's Langley Research Center.

Taxation Virginia collects personal income tax in five income brackets, ranging from 3.0% to 5.75%. The Sales tax and use tax rate is 4%. The tax rate on food is 1.5%. There is an additional 1% local tax, for a total of a 5% combined sales tax on most Virginia purchases and a combined tax rate of 2.5% on food.{{cite web |url=http://www.taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/sales.html |title=State Sales Tax Rates |publisher=Federation of Tax Administrators |accessdate=2007-09-24 -->Virginia's property tax is set and collected at the local government level and varies throughout the commonwealth. Real estate is taxed at the local level based on 100% of fair market value. Effective true tax rates on real estate vary and are set by locality. Tangible personal property also is taxed at the local level and is based on a percentage or percentages of original cost. Tangible personal property includes, but is not limited to, machinery and equipment, furniture, fixtures, and trucks and automobiles. The Virginia General Assembly exempted intangible personal property from taxation in 1984 by making the tax rate zero. Virginia does not collect inheritance taxes; however, its estate tax is decoupled from the federal estate tax laws, and therefore the Commonwealth imposes its own estate tax.

Transportation where Suffolk, Virginia and Gates County, North Carolina meet. railroads such as the Buckingham Branch Railroad.

Virginia has five major airports: Washington Dulles International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Richmond International Airport, Norfolk International Airport and Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.

Virginia is served by a network of Interstate Highway System, arterial road, several limited-access road toll road, Rail transport, ferry, rapid transit, bridges, tunnels and even bridge-tunnels.

In the Hampton Roads area, there are three bridge-tunnel complexes known as the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Two tunnels and numerous bridges span portions of the Elizabeth River (Virginia). The James River Bridge, opened in 1928, and rebuilt in the 1970s, spans the James River (Virginia) near its mouth and north of the Battle of Hampton Roads Memorial Bridge-Tunnel.

Interstate 95 in Virginia and Interstate 81 are the two major north-south highways through Virginia. Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway), which allows through traffic to avoid passing through Washington, DC crosses the Potomac River in Alexandria and McLean, Virginia. The Springfield Interchange at the junction of I95, Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia), and the Capital Beltway (I495) in Springfield, Virginia, south of Washington, D.C. has recently been reconstructed to improve traffic flow; widening of Woodrow Wilson Bridge will finish in mid-2008. Interstate 66, another heavily traveled route into Washington, DC, connects the Capital Beltway to I81 at Front Royal, Virginia. Interstate 64 runs east-west through the state, from the terminus in Virginia's southeast in Chesapeake running northwest into Richmond, then west through Charlottesville and into West Virginia and beyond, to just over the Mississippi River into St. Louis.

Virginia has Amtrak passenger rail service along several corridors, and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) maintains two commuter lines into Washington, D.C. from Fredericksburg and Manassas. The Washington Metro rapid transit system serves Northern Virginia as far west as Fairfax County.

The Virginia Department of Transportation operates several free ferries throughout Virginia, the most notable being the Jamestown-Scotland ferry which crosses the James River between historic Jamestown and the community of Scotland in Surry County, Virginia.

Law and government The current List of Virginia Governors of Virginia is Tim Kaine. The Virginia State Capitol building in Richmond was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and the cornerstone was laid by Governor Patrick Henry in 1785.

Historic government In colonial Virginia, the lower house of the legislature was called the House of Burgesses. Together with the Governor's Council, the House of Burgesses made up the "General Assembly". The Governor's Council was composed of 12 men appointed by the British Monarch to advise the Governor. The Council also served as the "General Court" of the colony, a colonial equivalent of a Supreme court. Members of the House of Burgesses were chosen by all those who could vote in the colony. Each county chose two people or burgesses to represent it, while the College of William and Mary and the cities of Norfolk, Virginia, Williamsburg, and Jamestown each chose one burgess. The Burgesses met to make laws for the colony and set the direction for its future growth; the Council would then review the laws and either approve or disapprove them. The approval of the Burgesses, the Council, and the governor was needed to pass a law. The idea of electing burgesses was important and new. It gave Virginians a chance to control their own government for the first time. At first, the burgesses were elected by all free men in the colony. Women, indentured servants, and Native Americans in the United Statess could not vote. Later the rules for voting changed, making it necessary for men to own at least fifty acres (200,000 m²) of land in order to vote. Founded in 1619, the Virginia General Assembly is still in existence as the oldest legislature in the New World.

Like many other states, by the 1850s Virginia featured a State legislature (United States), several executive officers, and an independent judiciary. By the time of the Constitution of 1901, which lasted longer than any other state constitution, the General Assembly continued as the legislature, the Supreme Court of Appeals acted as the judiciary, and the eight executive officers were elected; the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration. The Constitution of 1901 was amended many times, notably in the 1930s and 1950s, before it was abandoned in favor of more modern government, with fewer elected officials, reformed local governments and a more streamlined judiciary.

Current government Virginia currently functions under the 1971 Constitution of Virginia. It is the Commonwealth's seventh constitution. Under the Constitution, the government is composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Virginia is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd numbered years (The others are Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey). Virginia holds elections for these offices every 4 years in the years following Presidential election years. Thus, the last year when Virginia elected a Governor was 2005; the next gubernatorial election will occur in 2009, with future gubernatorial elections to take place in 2013, 2017, 2021, etc. Since 1977, Virginia has elected a Governor of the opposite political party compared to the current President of the United States of the time.

The legislative branch or state legislature is the General Assembly, a bicameral body whose 140 members make all laws of the Commonwealth. Members of the Virginia House of Delegates serve two-year terms, while members of the Virginia Senate serve four-year terms. The General Assembly also selects the Commonwealth's Auditor of Public Accounts. The statutory law enacted by the General Assembly is codified in the Code of Virginia.

The most powerful officials of the executive branch are the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and the Attorney General of Virginia. They are the only three officials elected statewide. All three officers are separately elected to four-year terms in years following Presidential elections (1997, 2001, 2005, etc) and take office in January of the following year.

The Governor serves as chief executive officer of the Commonwealth and as commander-in-chief of its militia. The Constitution does not allow a governor to succeed himself in office (though a governor is allowed to serve multiple non-consecutive terms). The Lieutenant Governor, who is not elected on the same ticket as the governor, serves as president of the Senate of Virginia and is first in the line of succession to the governor. The Attorney General is chief legal advisor to the governor and the General Assembly, chief lawyer of the Commonwealth and the head of the Department of Law. The attorney general is second in the line of succession to the governor. Whenever there is a vacancy in all three executive offices of governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, then the Speaker of the House of the Virginia House of Delegates becomes governor.

The Office of the Governor's Secretaries helps manage the Governor's Cabinet, comprised of the following individuals, all appointed by the governor:

Many executive branch agencies have the authority to promulgate regulations. Proposals to create or amend state regulations are often subject to review by the executive branch.

The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Virginia Court of Appeals, the General District Courts and the Circuit Courts. The Virginia Supreme Court, composed of the chief justice and six other judges is the highest court in the Commonwealth (although, as with all the states, the U.S. Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over decisions by the Virginia Supreme Court involving substantial questions of U.S. Constitution law or constitutional rights). The Chief Justice and the Virginia Supreme Court also serve as the administrative body for the entire Virginia court system.

The 95 counties and the 39 independent cities all have their own governments, usually a county board of supervisors or city council which choose a city manager or county administrator to serve as a professional, non-political chief administrator under the council-manager form of government. There are exceptions, notably Richmond, which has a popularly-elected mayor who serves as chief executive separate from the city council.

Virginia is an alcoholic beverage control state. Distilled spirits, plus wine greater than 14% alcohol by volume, are available for off-premises sale solely i {{US state|Name = Virginia|Fullname = Commonwealth of Virginia|Located = East United States|Flag = Flag of Virginia.svg|Flaglink = Flag of Virginia|Capital = [Richmond, Virginia|First Capital = Jamestown, Virginia|LargestCity = Virginia Beach, Virginia|Governor = Tim Kaine (D)] (R)
Jim Webb (D)]|AreaRank = 35th|TotalAreaUS = 42,774|TotalArea = 110,785|LandAreaUS = 39,594|LandArea = 102,548|WaterAreaUS = 3,180|WaterArea = 8,236|PCWater = 7.4|PopRank = 12th|2000Pop = 7,078,515|DensityRank = 14th|2000DensityUS = 178.8|2000Density = 69.03|MedianHouseholdIncome = $53,275|IncomeRank = 7th|AdmittanceOrder = 10th|AdmittanceDate = June 25, 1788: [UTC-5/Daylight saving time|Latitude = 36° 32′ N to 39° 28′ N|Longitude = 75° 15′ W to 83° 41′ W|WidthUS = 200|Width = 320|LengthUS = 430|Length = 690|HighestPoint = Mount Rogers{{cite web] 2005|LowestElevUS = 0|LowestElev = 0|ISOCode = US-VA|Website = www.virginia.gov-->The Commonwealth of Virginia ([IPA: /IPA chart for English/) is a Southeastern United States U.S. state historically considered part of the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is named after Elizabeth I of England of England, who was known as the Virgin Queen because she never married.

The Virginia Colony was the first part of the Americas to be continuously inhabited by English (following the 1707 Acts of Union 1707, British) colonists from its founding as a European colony up to the American Revolution. It included area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America, and at one time it also included Bermuda (or Virgineola). The Virginia Company of London became incorporated as a joint stock company by a proprietary charter drawn up on April 10, 1606. The charter granted lands stretching from approximately the 34th parallel (North Carolina) north to approximately the 45th parallel (New York) and from the Atlantic Ocean westward. The Third Charter of 1612 extended its boundaries far enough across the Atlantic to incorporate Bermuda, which the company had possessed since 1609. The Commonwealth (United States) was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British Empire rule in the American Revolution to form the United States of America.

Virginia is known as the "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of eight President of the United States (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson), more than any other state. Most of the United States' early presidents were from the state. Virginia has also been known as the "Mother of States" (sometimes "Mother of States and Statesmen") because portions of the original Colony subsequently became Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, as well as some portions of Ohio. Additionally, most of what is now Wisconsin and Michigan was also briefly claimed by Virginia during the Revolutionary War. As a result of the American Civil War (1861-1865), many western counties formed a separate state which was admitted to the Union as West Virginia.

The capital is Richmond, Virginia and the most populous city is Virginia Beach. Due to the nature of independent cities in Virginia, the most populous local jurisdiction is Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. Independent cities and counties function in the same manner; according to the US Census Bureau independent cities are considered county-equivalent. The largest city in land area is Suffolk, Virginia, which includes a large portion of the Great Dismal Swamp.

Virginia has a diverse economy, with many federal and military employees in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, which have the world's largest office building and the world's largest naval base respectively. In modern times, the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia area includes Jamestown, Virginia, Yorktown, Virginia and the restored area and living museum of Colonial Williamsburg. Linked by the Colonial Parkway, they combine to form one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Geography

Virginia is bordered by West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (across the Potomac River) to the north; by Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south; and by Kentucky and West Virginia to the west. Due to a peculiarity of Virginia's original charter, its northern boundary with Maryland does not extend past the Potomac River#Legal issues of the Potomac River, meaning Maryland possesses the whole width of the river rather than it being split between them. Virginia has an area of 42,774 square miles (110,785 km²) making it the 35th largest state.

The Chesapeake Bay divides the commonwealth, with Virginia's Eastern Shore of Virginia, a part of the Delmarva Peninsula, completely separate (an exclave) from the rest of the Commonwealth. Geographically, Virginia is divided into the following six regions:

Virginia's long east-west axis means that metropolitan northern Virginia lies as close to New York City and New England as to its own rural western panhandle. Lee County, Virginia, at the tip of the panhandle, is closer to eight other List of capitals in the United States than it is to Richmond, Virginia, Virginia's own capital.

Virginia has many National Park Service units, including one national park, the Shenandoah National Park. For a list of all areas managed by the National Park Service within Virginia, see: List of areas in the National Park System of the United States in Virginia.

For Virginia state parks, see: List of Virginia state parks.

Climate The climate is considered mild compared to other areas of the United States. Most of the state east of the Blue Ridge, plus the southern part of the Shenandoah Valley, has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen climate classification Cfa). In the mountainous areas west of the Blue Ridge, the climate becomes humid continental climate (Koppen Dfa).

Many variations occur because of the state's significant relief. Elevations in Virginia vary from sea level to Mount Rogers at 5,729 ft (1,746 m) above sea level, with major gradations occurring at the edges of the Atlantic Ocean, the end of the Piedmont (United States), and the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains chains of the Appalachian Mountains. The usually moderating influence of the ocean from the east, powered by the Gulf Stream, is interspersed with brief moments of danger due to the potential for tropical cyclone near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. On the other hand, cold air masses arrive over the mountains, especially in winter, leading to significant snowfalls. However, in something of an anomaly, much of the state south of Northern Virginia has not had over one foot of snow in a single storm since the Blizzard of 1996. The interaction of these elements with the state's topography create micro-climates in the Shenandoah Valley, the mountainous southwest, and the coastal plains that are slightly but noticeably distinct from each other. An additional element in recent years is the expansion of the southern suburbs of Washington, D.C. into northern Virginia, creating an urban heat island due to the increased energy output of the city. However, aside from the urban stations, no global warming effects have been noted by Virginia weather stations by 2001.

Severe weather is a concern in Virginia. Hurricanes make the coastal area of Virginia vulnerable. It is fairly rare for a major hurricane to threaten the Virginia coast as hurricanes this far north tend to become somewhat weakened, but it happens (see Hurricane Gaston). Virginia is often struck with the remnants of systems which hit further south bringing torrential rain to the state. Thunderstorms are an occasional concern with the state averaging anywhere from 30-50 days of thunderstorm activity annually, with the highest area of occurrence going towards the west. Eastern Virginia has a lower rate of tornadoes, and the state averages around 2 tornadoes per year. The last tornado that Virginia experienced was around November 2006.

{| class="wikitable" "text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|| colspan="13" style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;background:#E8EAFA;"|Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Virginia Cities|-! style="background: #E5AFAA; color: #000000" height="17" | City! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Jan! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Feb! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Mar! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Apr! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | May! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Jun! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Jul! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Aug! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Sep! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Oct! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Nov! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Dec|-! style="background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Lynchburg| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 37/22| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 42/27| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 56/30| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 68/43| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 76/51| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 82/60| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 86/64| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 85/62| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 78/56| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 68/44| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 58/35| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 44/28|-! style="background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Norfolk| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 48/32| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 50/34| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 58/40| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 67/48| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 75/58| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 83/66| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 87/71| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 85/70| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 79/65| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 69/53| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 61/44| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 52/36|-! style="background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Richmond| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 45/28| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 49/30| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 58/37| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 69/45| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 76/55| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 84/63| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 88/68| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 86/67| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 80/60| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 69/47| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 60/38| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 50/31|-! style="background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Roanoke| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 39/25| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 43/27| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 58/32| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 68/44| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 76/52| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 83/60| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 88/65| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 86/63| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 79/57| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 69/45| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 58/37| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 45/29|-| colspan="13" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;background:#E8EAFA;"||}

Faults and quakes Virginia has not had a history of major seismic activity: the earthquakes are rarely above 4.5 on the Richter magnitude scale. The largest, at 6.0 magnitude, came in 1897 in Blacksburg, Virginia. There is no volcano activity in the state, and it is located centrally on the North American Plate—where the Earth's crust is thicker than at the edges—which leads to fewer strong earthquakes.

History Indigenous Americans At the time of the English colonization of Virginia, Native American (US) people living in what now is Virginia includes tribes known as the Cherokee, Chesepian, Chickahominy (tribe), Chiskiack, Mattaponi, Meherrin, Monacan, Moobs, Nansemond, Nottoway, Pamunkey, Povic, Powhatan, Occoneechees, Rappahannock tribe, Saponites and others. The natives are often divided into three groups, based to a large extent upon language differences. The largest group are known as the Algonquian who numbered over 10,000, most of whom were united in the Powhatan Confederacy led by Chief Powhatan. The other groups are the Iroquoian (numbering 2,500) and the Siouan.

Spanish failure A Spanish exploration party had come to the lower Chesapeake Bay region of Virginia 1565 and met the Native Americans of the United States living on the Virginia Peninsula. A 17-year old teenage Powhatan boy from the village of Chiskiack (located on the lands of the present-day U.S. Naval Weapons Station Yorktown), who was the son of a chief, agreed to leave with them. He was baptized and renamed Don Luis, in honor of his sponsor, Luis de Velasco. Don Luis was educated in Mexico and Madrid.

In the autumn of 1570, the native-convert Don Luis returned to Virginia to help as a guide and translator in the establishment of the Jesuit's planned Ajacan Mission to be named for St. Mary on the lower peninsula. Shortly after they were dropped off by a Spanish ship, Don Luis abandoned the group, returning to his people, where he became a Weroance. The following February, Don Luis and a group of Powhatans returned and killed the 8 Jesuit missionaries, stealing their clothes and possessions, sparing only the life of a Spanish servant boy named Alonzo. This young boy escaped and made his way to a rival tribe, where he stayed until later rescued by another Spanish ship bringing supplies. Price, 11

When told of the events by young Alonzo, in the early part of 1572, the Spanish Governor of Florida, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, returned to Virginia to retaliate. The Spanish ultimately captured and hanged some of the Indians believed responsible for the massacre, but they were unable to locate Don Luis. While this marked the end of Spanish efforts to colonize the area which became Virginia, some historians believe that Don Luis and Opechancanough, who was later Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy, may have been the same individual. Boyer, 39, 41 The name Opechancanough meant "He whose Soul is White" in the Algonquin language used by the Powhatan people.

Virginia colony: 1607–1776 c.1608

At the end of the 16th century, when England began to colonize North America, Queen regnant Elizabeth I of England (who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married) gave the name "Virginia" to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America. The name eventually applied to the whole coast from South Carolina to Maine. The London Virginia Company became incorporated as a joint stock company by a proprietary charter drawn up on April 10, 1606. The charter granted Land rightss stretching from approximately the 34th parallel (North Carolina) north to approximately the 45th parallel (U.S.-Canada border) and from the Atlantic Ocean westward. It swiftly financed the first permanent England settlement in the New World, which was at Jamestown Settlement, named in honor of James I of England, in the Virginia Colony, in 1607. The settlement was founded by Captain Christopher Newport and John Smith of Jamestown. Its Second Charter was officially ratified on May 23, 1609. Many of the colonists died during the Starving Time (Jamestown). A dispute over how to deal with the Indians led to Bacon's Rebellion.The Virginia Company was also left in control of Bermuda from 1609, when its flagship was wrecked there en route to Jamestown. Its Royal Charter was extended to include the Islands of Bermuda, alias The Somers Isles (sometimes known as Virgineola), in 1612. Bermuda remained part of Virginia until 1614, when its administration was handed to the Crown (although a spin-off of the Virginia Company, the Somers Isles Company, would oversee it from 1615 to 1684). Bermuda and Virginia maintained close links for generations, with many Bermudians, wealthy and poor, settling in Virginia, and Bermudian merchant families establishing trading branches throughout the southern Atlantic Seaboard .

Jamestown was the original capital of the Virginia Colony, and remained so until the State House burned (for the fourth time) in 1698. After the fire, the colonial capital was moved to nearby Middle Plantation, which was renamed Williamsburg, Virginia in honor of William of Orange, William III of England. Virginia was given the title, "Dominion", by King Charles II of England at the time of The Restoration, because it had remained loyal to the crown during the English Civil War. The present moniker, "Old Dominion" is a reference to that title.

To try to attract more settlers, Virginia used the headright system, in which each family of settlers got 50 acres per person.

Independent commonwealth 's speech on the Virginia Resolves.Virginia sent delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, beginning in 1774. On June 12, 1776, the Virginia Convention adopted the Virginia Declaration of Rights written by George Mason, a document that influenced the United States Bill of Rights added later to the United States Constitution. Then on June 29, 1776, the convention adopted a constitution that established Virginia as a commonwealth independent of the British Empire.

Patrick Henry, of Charlotte County, Virginia, served as the first Governor of Virginia of the new commonwealth from 1776 to 1779, and again from 1784 to 1786. In 1780, the capital was moved to Richmond at the urging of then-Governor Thomas Jefferson, who was afraid that Williamsburg's location made it vulnerable to a Kingdom of Great Britain attack during the American Revolutionary War.

In the autumn of 1781, the combined action of Continental Army and French land and naval forces trapped the British on the Yorktown peninsula. Troops under George Washington and French Comte de Rochambeau defeated British General Cornwallis in the crucial Battle of Yorktown (1781). The British surrender on October 19, 1781 ended the major hostilities and secured the independence of the former colonies, though sporadic fighting continued for another two years.

In 1790, both Virginia and Maryland ceded territory to form the new District of Columbia, but in an Act of the Congress of the United States dated July 9, 1846, the area south of the Potomac that had been ceded by Virginia History of Washington, DC effective 1847, and is now Arlington County, Virginia and part of the Alexandria, Virginia.

American Civil War Virginia secession from the Union (on April 17, 1861) in response to Abraham Lincoln call for volunteers to attack the Confederate States of America after its attack on Fort Sumter. Virginia briefly operated as an independent state until it joined the Confederacy. It turned over its military on June 8 and ratified the Constitution of the Confederate States on June 19. Upon its admission, the CSA moved its capitol from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond. In 1863, during the Civil War, 48 counties remaining loyal to the Union in the northwest of the state separated from Virginia to form the State of West Virginia, an act which was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1870. More battles were fought on Virginia soil than anywhere else in America during the Civil War including the First Battle of Manassas, Second Battle of Manassas, the Seven Days Battles, the Battle of Fredricksburg and the Battle of Chancellorsville. Virginia formally rejoined the union on January 26, 1870, after Reconstruction.

Demographics {{USCensusPop|1790 = 691737|1800 = 807557|1810 = 877683|1820 = 938261|1830 = 1044054|1840 = 1025227|1850 = 1119348|1860 = 1219630|1870 = 1225163|1880 = 1512565|1890 = 1655980|1900 = 1854184|1910 = 2061612|1920 = 2309187|1930 = 2421851|1940 = 2677773|1950 = 3318680|1960 = 3966949|1970 = 4648494|1980 = 5346818|1990 = 6187358|2000 = 7078515-->

The center of population of Virginia is located in Goochland County, Virginia .

As of 2006, Virginia had an estimated population of 7,642,884, which is an increase of 78,557, or 1.0%, from the prior year and an increase of 563,854, or 8.0%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 276,039 people (that is 633,794 births minus 357,755 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 276,292 people into the commonwealth. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 151,748 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 124,544 people. The commonwealth has 940,899 residents who were born outside the United States (8.14% of the population), while 99,104 were born in a different state.

Also in 2006, 6.58% of Virginia's population were reported as under 5 years old, 24.6% under 18, and 11.2% were senior citizens-65+. Females made up over half of the population.

Ethnicity The five largest reported ancestry groups in Virginia are: African (19.6%), German-American (11.7%), unspecified American ancestry (11.2%), English American (11.1%), Irish American (9.8%).

Historically, as the largest and wealthiest colony and state and the birthplace of Southern and American culture, a large proportion (about half) of Virginia's population was made up of black slaves who worked its tobacco, cotton, and hemp plantations. Initially, these slaves came from west central Africa, primarily Angola. During the eighteenth century, however, about half of them derived from various ethnicities located in the Niger Delta region of modern day Nigeria. The twentieth century Great Migration (African American) of blacks from the rural South to the urban North reduced Virginia's black population to about 20%. When Douglas Wilder became governor of Virginia on January 13, 1990, he became the first African-American to serve as governor of a U.S. state since Reconstruction.Today, African-Americans are concentrated in the eastern and southern Tidewater and Piedmont regions where plantation agriculture was the most dominant. The western mountains are populated primarily by people of British ancestry, mostly Scots-Irish. People of German descent are present in sizable numbers in the northwestern mountains and Shenandoah Valley. Because of recent immigration, there is a rapidly growing population of Hispanics (particularly Central Americans) and Asians in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. In addition, the Hampton Roads area, in particular, has a large Filipino people population. Northern Virginia has the largest Vietnamese population on the east coast, with slightly over 99,000 Vietnamese migrants.

Religion The religious affiliations of the people of Virginia are: Virginia is prominently Protestant; Baptists account as the largest single group with 32.1% of the population being members. Roman Catholics, are the second-largest group, and also the third fastest growing. Islam, the second fastest growing group, accounts for 0.99% of the population. Buddhism and Hinduism combined form the fastest group, and largest of the "Other Religions" shown above, accounting for 1.00% of the population. About 50.0% of those practicing non-Christian faiths come from India, 5.50% from China, 3.70% from the Middle East, 2.20% from Guyana, 0.1% from Sri Lanka, and 37.9% from other nations.

Economy According to the 2004 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, Virginia’s gross state product was $326.6 billion. The per capita personal income was $35,477 in 2004.

In 2006 and 2007, Forbes Magazine voted Virginia as having the best climate for business in the United States citing economic growth, business costs/incentives and quality of life. CNBC ranked Virginia as the top state for business in 2007 as well.

Virginia's economy is well balanced with diverse sources of income. From the Hampton Roads area to Richmond and down to Lee County in the southwest includes military installations, cattle, tobacco and peanut farming in Southside Virginia. Tomatoes recently surpassed soy as the most profitable crop in Virginia. Tobacco, peanuts and hay are also important agricultural products from the commonwealth.{{cite web |url=http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=134817&ran=181320 |title=2006 Report on Agricultural Production |publisher=The Virginian Pilot |accessdate=2007-10-18 --> Wineries and vineyards in the Northern Neck and along the Blue Ridge Mountains also have become increasingly popular. Northern Virginia (once considered the state's dairy capital) hosts software, communications, consulting, defense contracting, diplomats, and considerable components of the professional government sector. As of the 2000 census, Virginia had the highest number of counties and independent cities (15) in the top 100 wealthiest jurisdictions in the United States based upon median income, in addition, Virginia tied with Colorado as having the most counties (10) in the top 100 based on per capita income. Loudoun County, Virginia and Fairfax County, Virginia counties in Northern Virginia have the highest and second highest median household income, respectively, of all counties in the United States as of 2006.

Richmond is one of 12 cities in the country having a Federal Reserve System bank. It, along with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Federal Reserve banks are the only ones that cover a non-U.S. state (Washington, D.C.).

There are seven Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Northern Virginia, and nine in the Richmond-Petersburg (most of which are within the city itself.) Only five metro areas in the country have more Fortune 500 companies than the Richmond area.

Virginia, arguably the wealthiest southern state before the Civil War, recovered from the Civil War and the Great Depression much faster than the rest of the South. Today, Virginia is still one of the wealthiest states in the South.

Federal Government , headquarters of the United States Department of Defense in Arlington County, Virginia.Well-known government agencies headquartered in the state include the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States Department of Defense, as well as the National Science Foundation, the United States Geological Survey and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Northern Virginia is a bastion of federal spending, particularly with regards to defense contracting. The Hampton Roads area has the largest concentration of military bases and facilities of any metropolitan area in the world, the largest of these being Naval Station Norfolk. The Hampton Roads area also is home to United States Air Force and NASA facilities.

In addition to the The Pentagon, US military bases at Arlington, Blackstone, Dahlgren, Fort Belvoir, Fort A.P. Hill, Hampton Roads, Petersburg, and Marine Corps Base Quantico make Virginia the home of more active duty military personnel than any other state. At $30B in 2001, Virginia received more defense spending than any other state except for California ($31.3B), and more than Texas ($18.1B) and Florida ($13.7B). The state is second to Alaska and ahead of North Dakota and New Mexico in per capita defense spending.{] (AFOSR)| Ballston, Virginia|-| Army National Guard Readiness Center|-| [Bureau of Diplomatic Security|-| [Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)]|-| Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)]|-| Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)]|-| Department of Defense (DOD)]|-| Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation|-| [Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS)]|-| Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)]

|-| National Foreign Affairs Training Center|-| [National Guard Bureau|-| [National Science Foundation (NSF)]|-| Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board|-| [Office of the Inspector General|-| [Office of Naval Research (ONR)]|-| Transportation Security Administration (TSA)]|-| US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)]|-| U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|-| [US Marshals Service|-| [US Trade & Development Agency|}

{| class=wikitable!colspan=2|Federal Agencies outside of Arlington|-!Agency!Location|-|[Defense Contract Audit Agency|-|[Defense Logistics Agency|-|[Defense Technical Information Center|-|[United States Geological Survey (USGS)]|-|United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)]|}

Technology According to the American Electronics Association, Virginia has the highest concentration of technology workers of any state. Computer chips became the state's highest-grossing export in 2006, surpassing its traditional top exports of coal and tobacco, combined. The Dulles Technology Corridor centered on the border of Fairfax County and Loudoun County near Dulles International Airport has a high concentration of Internet, communication technology and software engineering firms.

The state's biotechnology industry is not centralized, but growing, highlighted by the building of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park biotech Business incubator in Richmond and the opening of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus in Northern Virginia.

Virginia's nanotechnology industry, centered in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, accounted for $1 billion in manufactured goods in 2006. Researchers in Hampton Roads, many of whom hold patents in the field, feel the region has an advantage in the commercialization of nanotechnology due to the amount of research going on in the region, spearheaded by NASA's Langley Research Center.

Taxation Virginia collects personal income tax in five income brackets, ranging from 3.0% to 5.75%. The Sales tax and use tax rate is 4%. The tax rate on food is 1.5%. There is an additional 1% local tax, for a total of a 5% combined sales tax on most Virginia purchases and a combined tax rate of 2.5% on food.{{cite web |url=http://www.taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/sales.html |title=State Sales Tax Rates |publisher=Federation of Tax Administrators |accessdate=2007-09-24 -->Virginia's property tax is set and collected at the local government level and varies throughout the commonwealth. Real estate is taxed at the local level based on 100% of fair market value. Effective true tax rates on real estate vary and are set by locality. Tangible personal property also is taxed at the local level and is based on a percentage or percentages of original cost. Tangible personal property includes, but is not limited to, machinery and equipment, furniture, fixtures, and trucks and automobiles. The Virginia General Assembly exempted intangible personal property from taxation in 1984 by making the tax rate zero. Virginia does not collect inheritance taxes; however, its estate tax is decoupled from the federal estate tax laws, and therefore the Commonwealth imposes its own estate tax.

Transportation where Suffolk, Virginia and Gates County, North Carolina meet. railroads such as the Buckingham Branch Railroad.

Virginia has five major airports: Washington Dulles International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Richmond International Airport, Norfolk International Airport and Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.

Virginia is served by a network of Interstate Highway System, arterial road, several limited-access road toll road, Rail transport, ferry, rapid transit, bridges, tunnels and even bridge-tunnels.

In the Hampton Roads area, there are three bridge-tunnel complexes known as the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Two tunnels and numerous bridges span portions of the Elizabeth River (Virginia). The James River Bridge, opened in 1928, and rebuilt in the 1970s, spans the James River (Virginia) near its mouth and north of the Battle of Hampton Roads Memorial Bridge-Tunnel.

Interstate 95 in Virginia and Interstate 81 are the two major north-south highways through Virginia. Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway), which allows through traffic to avoid passing through Washington, DC crosses the Potomac River in Alexandria and McLean, Virginia. The Springfield Interchange at the junction of I95, Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia), and the Capital Beltway (I495) in Springfield, Virginia, south of Washington, D.C. has recently been reconstructed to improve traffic flow; widening of Woodrow Wilson Bridge will finish in mid-2008. Interstate 66, another heavily traveled route into Washington, DC, connects the Capital Beltway to I81 at Front Royal, Virginia. Interstate 64 runs east-west through the state, from the terminus in Virginia's southeast in Chesapeake running northwest into Richmond, then west through Charlottesville and into West Virginia and beyond, to just over the Mississippi River into St. Louis.

Virginia has Amtrak passenger rail service along several corridors, and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) maintains two commuter lines into Washington, D.C. from Fredericksburg and Manassas. The Washington Metro rapid transit system serves Northern Virginia as far west as Fairfax County.

The Virginia Department of Transportation operates several free ferries throughout Virginia, the most notable being the Jamestown-Scotland ferry which crosses the James River between historic Jamestown and the community of Scotland in Surry County, Virginia.

Law and government The current List of Virginia Governors of Virginia is Tim Kaine. The Virginia State Capitol building in Richmond was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and the cornerstone was laid by Governor Patrick Henry in 1785.

Historic government In colonial Virginia, the lower house of the legislature was called the House of Burgesses. Together with the Governor's Council, the House of Burgesses made up the "General Assembly". The Governor's Council was composed of 12 men appointed by the British Monarch to advise the Governor. The Council also served as the "General Court" of the colony, a colonial equivalent of a Supreme court. Members of the House of Burgesses were chosen by all those who could vote in the colony. Each county chose two people or burgesses to represent it, while the College of William and Mary and the cities of Norfolk, Virginia, Williamsburg, and Jamestown each chose one burgess. The Burgesses met to make laws for the colony and set the direction for its future growth; the Council would then review the laws and either approve or disapprove them. The approval of the Burgesses, the Council, and the governor was needed to pass a law. The idea of electing burgesses was important and new. It gave Virginians a chance to control their own government for the first time. At first, the burgesses were elected by all free men in the colony. Women, indentured servants, and Native Americans in the United Statess could not vote. Later the rules for voting changed, making it necessary for men to own at least fifty acres (200,000 m²) of land in order to vote. Founded in 1619, the Virginia General Assembly is still in existence as the oldest legislature in the New World.

Like many other states, by the 1850s Virginia featured a State legislature (United States), several executive officers, and an independent judiciary. By the time of the Constitution of 1901, which lasted longer than any other state constitution, the General Assembly continued as the legislature, the Supreme Court of Appeals acted as the judiciary, and the eight executive officers were elected; the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration. The Constitution of 1901 was amended many times, notably in the 1930s and 1950s, before it was abandoned in favor of more modern government, with fewer elected officials, reformed local governments and a more streamlined judiciary.

Current government Virginia currently functions under the 1971 Constitution of Virginia. It is the Commonwealth's seventh constitution. Under the Constitution, the government is composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Virginia is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd numbered years (The others are Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey). Virginia holds elections for these offices every 4 years in the years following Presidential election years. Thus, the last year when Virginia elected a Governor was 2005; the next gubernatorial election will occur in 2009, with future gubernatorial elections to take place in 2013, 2017, 2021, etc. Since 1977, Virginia has elected a Governor of the opposite political party compared to the current President of the United States of the time.

The legislative branch or state legislature is the General Assembly, a bicameral body whose 140 members make all laws of the Commonwealth. Members of the Virginia House of Delegates serve two-year terms, while members of the Virginia Senate serve four-year terms. The General Assembly also selects the Commonwealth's Auditor of Public Accounts. The statutory law enacted by the General Assembly is codified in the Code of Virginia.

The most powerful officials of the executive branch are the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and the Attorney General of Virginia. They are the only three officials elected statewide. All three officers are separately elected to four-year terms in years following Presidential elections (1997, 2001, 2005, etc) and take office in January of the following year.

The Governor serves as chief executive officer of the Commonwealth and as commander-in-chief of its militia. The Constitution does not allow a governor to succeed himself in office (though a governor is allowed to serve multiple non-consecutive terms). The Lieutenant Governor, who is not elected on the same ticket as the governor, serves as president of the Senate of Virginia and is first in the line of succession to the governor. The Attorney General is chief legal advisor to the governor and the General Assembly, chief lawyer of the Commonwealth and the head of the Department of Law. The attorney general is second in the line of succession to the governor. Whenever there is a vacancy in all three executive offices of governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, then the Speaker of the House of the Virginia House of Delegates becomes governor.

The Office of the Governor's Secretaries helps manage the Governor's Cabinet, comprised of the following individuals, all appointed by the governor:

Many executive branch agencies have the authority to promulgate regulations. Proposals to create or amend state regulations are often subject to review by the executive branch.

The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Virginia Court of Appeals, the General District Courts and the Circuit Courts. The Virginia Supreme Court, composed of the chief justice and six other judges is the highest court in the Commonwealth (although, as with all the states, the U.S. Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over decisions by the Virginia Supreme Court involving substantial questions of U.S. Constitution law or constitutional rights). The Chief Justice and the Virginia Supreme Court also serve as the administrative body for the entire Virginia court system.

The 95 counties and the 39 independent cities all have their own governments, usually a county board of supervisors or city council which choose a city manager or county administrator to serve as a professional, non-political chief administrator under the council-manager form of government. There are exceptions, notably Richmond, which has a popularly-elected mayor who serves as chief executive separate from the city council.

Virginia is an alcoholic beverage control state. Distilled spirits, plus wine greater than 14% alcohol by volume, are available for off-premises sale solely i

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