Virginia
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Virginia is one of the original 13 states of the United States that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. Its official name is the Commonwealth of Virginia; it is one of four Commonwealths out of the fifty United States. 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 to the west. As of 2000, the population is 7,078,515. The capital is Richmond. Chesapeake Bay divides the state, with the eastern portion (called 'the Eastern Shore"), a part of the Delmarva Peninsula, completely separate from the rest of the state. State motto: "Sic semper tyrannis." State bird: Cardinal. State flower: Dogwood. State tree: Dogwood. State song: "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny."
History
At the end of the 16th century when England began to colonize North America, "Virginia" was the name Queen Elizabeth I of England gave to the whole area Sir Walter Raleigh's 1584 expedition explored, an ill-defined area including, at least, all or parts of the states of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. The first permanent English settlement in the New World was at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.
External links to The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
Virginia was given its nickname "The Old Dominion" by King Charles II of England at the time of the Restoration for remaining loyal to the crown during the English Civil War. Virginia is one of the states that seceded from the Union to become the Confederacy during the Civil War. When it did, some counties were separated as West Virginia, an act which was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 1870.
Counties and cities
Virginia has 95 counties (see list of Virginia counties).
Unlike any other state of the Union, under the laws in effect there, incorporated cities are independent of any county. Nearly half of the approximately 112 independent cities in the United States are in Virginia. A partial list of cities follows:
- Alexandria
- Charlottesville
- Chesapeake
- Danville
- Falls Church
- Lynchburg
- Martinsville
- Norfolk
- Richmond
- Roanoke
- South Boston
- Staunton
- Suffolk
- Virginia Beach
- Williamsburg
Colleges and Universities
- Averett College
- Bluefield College
- Bridgewater College
- Christendom College
- Christopher Newport University
- College of Health Sciences
- College of William and Mary
- Eastern Mennonite University
- Eastern Virginia Medical School
- Emory and Henry College
- Ferrum College
- George Mason University
- George Washington University Virginia Campus
- Hampden-Sydney College
- Hampton University
- Hollins University
- Institute of Textile Technology
- James Madison University
- Liberty University
- Longwood College
- Lynchburg College
- Marine Corps University
- Mary Baldwin College
- Marymount University
- Mary Washington College
- Norfolk State University
- Old Dominion University
- Radford University
- Randolph-Macon College
- Randolph-Macon Woman's College
- Regent University
- Roanoke College
- Saint Paul's College
- Shenandoah University
- Southern Virginia College
- Sweet Briar College
- University of Richmond
- University of Virginia
- University of Virginia's College at Wise
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Virginia Intermont College
- Virginia Military Institute
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Virginia State University
- Virginia Union University
- Virginia Wesleyan College
- Washington Bible Collegeand Capital Bible Seminary
- Washington and Lee University
Professional Sports Teams
There is also a place named Virginia in the State of Minnesota: see Virginia, Minnesota.