Virginia

Virginia
State
Commonwealth of Virginia
Flag Seal
Nicknames: Old Dominion, Mother of Presidents
Motto(s): Sic semper tyrannis (English: Thus Always to Tyrants) [1]
Anthem:"Our Great Virginia"
Map of the United States with Virginia highlighted
Country	United States
Before statehood	Colony of Virginia
Admitted to the Union	June 25, 1788 (10th)
Capital	Richmond
Largest city	Virginia Beach
Largest metroandurbanareas	Washington(metro and urban)
Government
•Governor	Glenn Youngkin(R)
•Lieutenant Governor	Winsome Sears(R)
Legislature	General Assembly
•Upper house	Senate
•Lower house	House of Delegates
Judiciary	Supreme Court of Virginia
U.S. senators	Mark Warner(D) Tim Kaine(D)
U.S. House delegation	6 Democrats 5 Republicans (list)
Area
• Total	42,774.2 sq mi (110,785.67 km2)
• Rank	35th
Dimensions
• Length	430 mi (690 km)
• Width	200 mi (320 km)
Elevation	950 ft (290 m)
Highest elevation ( Mount Rogers [2])	5,729 ft (1,746 m)
Lowest elevation ( Atlantic Ocean)	0 ft (0 m)
Population (2023)
• Total	8,715,698[3]
• Rank	12th
• Density	219.3/sq mi (84.7/km2)
• Rank	14th
•Median household income	$80,615
• Income rank	10th
Demonym	Virginian
Language
•Official language	English
•Spoken language	English 86% Spanish 6% Other 8%
Time zone	UTC-05:00(Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-04:00(EDT)
USPS abbreviation	VA
ISO 3166 code	US-VA
Traditional abbreviation	Va.
Latitude	36° 32′ N to 39° 28′ N
Longitude	75° 15′ W to 83° 41′ W
Website	virginia.gov

Virginia, officially theCommonwealth of Virginia,^[a]is astatein theSoutheasternandMid-Atlanticregions of theUnited Statesbetween theAtlantic Coastand theAppalachian Mountains. The state'scapitalisRichmondand its most populous city isVirginia Beach. Its most populous subdivision isFairfax County, part ofNorthern Virginia, where slightly over a third of Virginia's population of 8.7million live.

Eastern Virginia is part of theAtlantic Plain, and theMiddle Peninsulaforms the mouth of theChesapeake Bay. Central Virginia lies predominantly in thePiedmont, the foothill region of theBlue Ridge Mountains, which cross the western and southwestern parts of the state. The fertileShenandoah Valleyfosters the state's most productive agricultural counties, while the economy in Northern Virginia is driven bytechnology companiesandU.S. federal governmentagencies, including theU.S. Department of DefenseandCentral Intelligence Agency.Hampton Roadsis also the site of theregion's main seaportandNaval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval base.

Virginia's history begins withseveral Indigenous groups, including thePowhatan. In 1607, theLondon Companyestablished theColony of Virginiaas the first permanentEnglish colonyin theNew World, leading to Virginia's nickname asthe Old Dominion. Slaves from Africa and land from displaced native tribes fueled the growing plantation economy, but also fueled conflicts both inside and outside the colony. Virginiansfought for the independenceof theThirteen Coloniesin theAmerican Revolution, and helped establish the new national government. During theAmerican Civil War, the state government in Richmond joined theConfederacy, while many northwestern counties remained loyal to theUnion, which led to the separation ofWest Virginiain 1863.

Although the state was underone-party rulefor nearly a century following theReconstruction era, both major political parties have been competitive in Virginia since the repeal ofJim Crow lawsin the 1970s. Virginia's state legislature is theVirginia General Assembly, which was established in July 1619, making it the oldest current law-making body inNorth America. Unlike other states, cities and counties in Virginia function as equals, but the state government manages most local roads inside each. It is also the only state where governors are prohibited from serving consecutive terms.

Nomadic hunters areestimated to have arrivedin Virginia around 17,000 years ago. Evidence fromDaugherty's CaveinRussell Countyshows it was regularly used as arock shelterby 9,800 years ago.^[5]During the lateWoodland period(500–1000CE), tribes coalesced, and farming, first of corn and squash, began, with beans and tobacco arriving fromthe southwestand Mexico by the end of the period.Palisadedtowns began to be built around 1200, and the native population in the current boundaries of Virginia reached around 50,000 in the 1500s.^[6]Large groups in the area at that time included theAlgonquianin theTidewater region, which they referred to asTsenacommacah, theIroquoian-speakingNottowayandMeherrinto the north and south, and theTutelo, who spokeSiouan, to the west.^[7]

In response to threats from these other groups to their trade network, thirty or soVirginia Algonquian-speaking tribes consolidated during the 1570s under Wahunsenacawh, known in English asChief Powhatan.^[7]Powhatan controlled more than 150 settlements that had total population of around 15,000 in 1607.^[8]Three-fourths of the native population in Virginia, however, died fromsmallpoxand otherOld World diseasesduring that century,^[9]disrupting theiroral traditionsand complicating research into earlier periods.^[10]Additionally, many primary sources, including those that mention Powhatan's daughter,Pocahontas, were created by Europeans, who may have held biases or misunderstood native social structures and customs.^[4][11]

Several European expeditions, including agroup of Spanish Jesuits, explored theChesapeake Bayduring the 16th century.^[12]To help counterSpain's colonies in the Caribbean, QueenElizabeth I of EnglandsupportedWalter Raleigh's April 1584 expedition to theAtlantic coast of North America.^[13][14]The name "Virginia" was used by CaptainArthur Barlowein the expedition's report, and may have been suggested that year by Raleigh or Elizabeth, perhaps noting her status as the "Virgin Queen" or that they viewed the land as being untouched, and may also be related to an Algonquin phrase,WingandacoaorWindgancon, or leader's name,Wingina, as heard by the expedition.^[15][16]The name initially applied to the entire coastal region fromSouth Carolinain the south toMainein the north, along with the island ofBermuda.^[17]Raleigh's colonyfailed, but the potential financial and strategic gains still captivated many English policymakers, and in 1606,King James Iissued acharter for a new colonyto theLondon Company. The group financed an expedition underChristopher Newportthat crossed the Atlantic and established a settlement namedJamestownin May 1607.^[18]

Though more settlers soon joined, many were ill-prepared for the dangers of the new settlement. As the colony's president,John Smithsecured food for the colonists from nearby tribes, but after he left in 1609, this trade stopped and aseries of ambush-style killingsbetween colonists and natives underChief Powhatanandhis brotherbegan, resulting inmass starvation in the colonythat winter.^[19]By the end of the colony's first fourteen years, over eighty percent of the roughly eight thousand settlers transported there had died.^[20]Demand for exported tobacco, however, fueled the need for more workers.^[21]Starting in 1618, theheadrightsystem tried to solve this by granting colonists farmland for their help attractingindentured servants.^[22]Enslaved Africanswere first sold in Virginiain 1619. Though other Africans arrived under the rules of indentured servitude, and could be freed after four to seven years, the basis forlifelong slaverywas developed in legal cases like those ofJohn Punchin 1640 andJohn Casorin 1655.^[23]Laws passed in Jamestown defined slavery asrace-basedin 1661, asinherited maternallyin 1662, and as enforceable by death in 1669.^[24]

From the colony's start, residents agitated for greater local control, and in 1619, certain male colonists began electing representatives to an assembly, later called theHouse of Burgesses, that negotiated issues with thegoverning councilappointed by the London Company.^[26]Unhappy with this arrangement, the monarchy revoked the company's charter and began directly naminggovernorsand Council members in 1624. In 1635, colonists arresteda governor who ignored the assemblyand sent him back to England against his will.^[27]William Berkeleywas named governor in 1642, just as the turmoil of theEnglish Civil WarandInterregnumpermitted the colony greater autonomy.^[28]As a supporter of the king, Berkeley welcomed other so-calledCavalierswho fled to Virginia. He surrendered toParliamentariansin 1652, but after the 1660Restorationmade him governor again, he blocked assembly elections and exacerbated theclass divideby disenfranchising and restricting the movement of indentured servants, who made up around eighty percent of the colony's workforce.^[29]On the colony's frontier,Piedmonttribeslike theTuteloandDoegwere being squeezed bySenecaraiders from the north, leading to more confrontations with colonists. In 1676, several hundred working-class followers ofNathaniel Bacon, upset by Berkeley's refusal to retaliate against the tribes, marched to Jamestown and burned it.^[30]

Bacon's Rebellionforced the signing ofBacon's Laws, which restored some of the colony's rights and sanctioned both attacks on native tribes and the enslavement of their men and women.^[31]TheTreaty of 1677furtherreduced the independenceof the tribes that signed it, and aided the colony's assimilation of their land in the years that followed.^[32][33]Colonists in the 1700s were pushing westward into this area held by the Seneca and their largerIroquois Nation, and in 1748, a group of wealthy speculators, backed by the British monarchy, formed theOhio Companyto start English settlement and trade in theOhio Countrywest of theAppalachian Mountains.^[34]TheKingdom of France, which claimed this area as part of their colony ofNew France, viewed this as a threat, and in 1754 theFrench and Indian Warengulfed England, France, the Iroquois, and other allied tribes on both sides. A militia from several British colonies, called theVirginia Regiment, was led by 21-year-old MajorGeorge Washington, himself one of the investors in the Ohio Company.^[35]

In the decade following theFrench and Indian War, theBritish Parliamentunder prime ministersGrenville,Chatham, andNorthpassed new taxes on various colonial activities. These were deeply unpopular in the colonies, and in theHouse of Burgesses, opposition totaxation without representationwas led byPatrick HenryandRichard Henry Lee, among others.^[36]Virginians began tocoordinate their actionswith other colonies in 1773 and sent delegates to theContinental Congressthe following year.^[37]After the House of Burgesses was dissolved in 1774 bythe royal governor, Virginia's revolutionary leaders continued to govern via theVirginia Conventions. On May 15, 1776, the Convention declared Virginia's independence from the British Empire and adoptedGeorge Mason'sVirginia Declaration of Rights, which was then included in a new constitution that designated Virginia as a commonwealth, using a translation of the Latin termres publica.^[38]Another Virginian,Thomas Jefferson, drew upon Mason's work in drafting the nationalDeclaration of Independence.^[39]

After theAmerican Revolutionary Warbegan,George Washingtonwas selected by theSecond Continental CongressinPhiladelphiato head theContinental Army, and manyVirginians joined the armyand other revolutionary militias. Virginia was the first colony to ratify theArticles of Confederationin December 1777.^[40]In April 1780, the capital was moved toRichmondat the urging of Governor Thomas Jefferson, who feared that Williamsburg's coastal location would make it vulnerable to British attack.^[41]British forces indeed landed aroundPortsmouthin October 1780, and soldiers underBenedict Arnoldmanaged toraid Richmondin January 1781.^[42]The British army had over seven thousand soldiers and twenty-five warships stationed in Virginia at the beginning of 1781, butGeneral Charles Cornwallisand his superiors were indecisive, and maneuvers by the three thousand soldiers under theMarquis de Lafayetteand twenty-nine allied French warships together managed toconfine the Britishto a swampy area of theVirginia Peninsulain September. Around sixteen thousand soldiers under George Washington andComte de Rochambeauquickly converged thereand defeated Cornwallis in thesiege of Yorktown.^[43]His surrender on October 19, 1781, led topeace negotiations in Parisand secured the independence of the colonies.^[44]

Virginians were instrumental in the new country's early years and in writing theUnited States Constitution.James Madisondrafted theVirginia Planin 1787 and theBill of Rightsin 1789.^[39]Virginia ratifiedthe Constitution on June 25, 1788. Thethree-fifths compromiseensured that Virginia, with its large number of slaves, initially had the largest bloc in theHouse of Representatives. Together with theVirginia dynastyof presidents, this gave the Commonwealth national importance. In 1790, Virginia and Maryland ceded territory to form the new national capital, which moved fromPhiladelphiato theDistrict of Columbiaa decade later, in 1800. In 1846, the Virginian area of the new capital wasretroceded.^[45]Virginia is called the "Mother of States" because of its role in being carved into states such asKentucky, which became the fifteenth state in 1792, and for the numbers ofAmerican pioneersborn in Virginia.^[46]

Between 1790 and 1860, the number ofslaves in Virginiarose from around 290 thousand to over 490 thousand, roughly one-third of the state population during that time, and the number of slave owners rose to over 50 thousand. Both of these numbers represented the most in the U.S.^[48][49]The boom incotton productionacross the Southusingcotton ginsincreased the amount of labor needed for harvesting rawcotton, butnew federal lawsprohibited the importation of additional slaves from abroad. Decades ofmonoculturetobacco farming had alsodegradedVirginia'sagricultural productivity.^[50]To capitalize on this situation, Virginia plantations increasingly turned toexporting slaves, which broke up countless families and made thebreeding of slaves, often through rape, a profitable business for their owners.^[51][52]Slaves in theRichmondarea were also forced into industrial jobs, including mining and shipbuilding.^[53]The failed slave uprisings ofGabriel Prosserin 1800,George Boxleyin 1815, andNat Turnerin 1831, however, marked the growing resistance to the system of slavery. Afraid of further uprisings, Virginia's government in the 1830s encouraged free Blacks to migrate toLiberia.^[50]

On October 16, 1859, abolitionistJohn Brownled araid on an armoryinHarpers Ferry, Virginia, in an attempt to start a slave revolt across the southern states. The polarized national response to his raid, capture, trial, and execution inCharles Townthat December marked a tipping point for many who believed the end of slavery would need to be achieved by force.^[54]Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election further convinced many southern supporters of slavery that his opposition to its expansion would ultimately mean the end of slavery across the country. In South Carolina, the first state tosecede to preserve the institution of slavery, a regiment loyal to the newly formedConfederate States of Americaseized Fort Sumteron April 14, 1861, prompting President Lincoln to call for afederal armyof75,000 men from state militiasthe next day.^[55]

In Virginia,a special conventioncalled by the legislaturevoted on April 17 to secedeon the condition it was approved in a referendum the next month. The convention then voted to join the Confederacy, which namedRichmondits capital on May 20.^[46]During the May 23 referendum, armed pro-Confederate groups prevented the casting and counting of votes from areas that opposed secession. Representatives from 27 of these northwestern counties instead began theWheeling Conventionthat month, which organized a government loyal to theUnionand led to the separation ofWest Virginiaas a new state.^[56]

The armies of the Union and Confederacy first met on July 21, 1861, inBattle of Bull RunnearManassas, Virginia, where a bloody Confederate victory established that the war would not be easily decided. Union GeneralGeorge B. McClellanorganized theArmy of the Potomac, whichlanded on the Virginia Peninsulain March 1862 and reached the outskirts of Richmond that June. With Confederate GeneralJoseph E. Johnstonwounded in fighting outside the city, command of hisArmy of Northern Virginiafell toRobert E. Lee. Over the next month, Leedrove the Union army back, and starting that September ledthe first of several invasionsinto Union territory. During the next three years of war, more battles were fought in Virginia than anywhere else, including the battles ofFredericksburg,Chancellorsville,Spotsylvania, and the concludingBattle of Appomattox Court House, where Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865.^[57]After thecapture of Richmondthat month, state leaders loyal to the Confederacy relocated toLynchburg,^[58]while the Confederate leadership fled toDanville.^[59]32,751 Virginians died in theCivil War.^[60]

Virginia was formally restored to the United States in 1870, due to the work of theCommittee of Nine.^[62]During the post-warReconstruction era, African Americans were able to unite in communities, particularly aroundRichmond,Danville, and theTidewater region, and take a greater role in Virginia society, as many achieved some land ownership during the 1870s.^[63][64]Virginiaadopted a constitution in 1868which guaranteed political, civil, andvoting rights, and provided for free public schools.^[65]However, with many railroad lines and other infrastructure investments destroyed during the Civil War, the Commonwealth was deeply in debt, and in the late 1870s redirected money from public schools to pay bondholders. TheReadjuster Partyformed in 1877 and won legislative power in 1879 by uniting Black and white Virginians behind a shared opposition to debt payments and the perceivedplantation elites.^[66]

The Readjusters focused on building up schools, likeVirginia TechandVirginia State, and successfully forcedWest Virginiato share in the pre-war debt.^[67]But in 1883, they were divided by a proposed repeal ofanti-miscegenation laws, and days before that year's election, ariot in Danville, involving armed policemen, left four Black men and one white man dead.^[68]These events motivated a push by white supremacists to seize political power throughvoter suppression, and segregationists in theDemocratic Partywon the legislature that year andmaintained controlfor decades.^[69]They passedJim Crow lawsthat established aracially segregated society, and in 1902 rewrote thestate constitutionto include apoll taxand other voter registration measures that effectivelydisenfranchisedmost African Americans and many poor whites.^[70]

New economic forces would meanwhile industrialize the Commonwealth. VirginianJames Albert Bonsackinvented the tobacco cigarette rolling machine in 1880 leading to new large-scale production centered around Richmond. Railroad magnateCollis Potter HuntingtonfoundedNewport News Shipbuildingin 1886, which was responsible for building sixdreadnoughts, seven battleships, and 25 destroyers for theU.S. Navybetween 1907 and 1923.^[71]DuringWorld War I,Germansubmarines likeU-151attacked ships outside the port,^[72]which was a major site for transportation of both soldiers and supplies.^[61]After the war, a homecoming parade to honor African-American troops returning from service wasattacked in July 1919by the city's police as part of a renewed white-supremacy movement that was known asRed Summer.^[73]The shipyard continued building cruisers and aircraft carriers inWorld War II, and quadrupled its pre-war labor force to 70,000 by 1943. TheRadford ArsenaloutsideBlacksburgalso employed 22,000 workers making explosives,^[74]while theTorpedo FactoryinAlexandriahad over 5,050,^[75]many of whom were African American, asPresident Roosevelthadordered the desegregation of defense industriesin 1941.^[76]

16-year-oldBarbara Rose Johnsstarted a strike in 1951 against underfunded segregated schools inPrince Edward County. The protests led Richmond nativesSpottswood RobinsonandOliver Hillto filea lawsuit against the county. Their case joinedBrown v. Board of Educationat the Supreme Court, which rejected the doctrine of "separate but equal" in 1954. The segregationist establishment, led by SenatorHarry F. Byrdand hisByrd Organization, reacted with a strategy called "massive resistance", and the General Assembly passeda package of lawsin 1956 that cut off funding to local schools thatdesegregated. This caused schools to begin closing in September 1958. State and district courts then ruled the strategy unconstitutional, and on February 2, 1959, Black studentsintegratedschools inArlingtonandNorfolk, where they were known as theNorfolk 17.^[77]County leaders in Prince Edward, however, still refused to comply, and instead shut their school system in June 1959. It remained closed for the next five years, untillitigation against themreached the Supreme Court, where the county was ordered to reopen and integrate their public schools, which finally happened in September 1964.^[78][79]

Federal passage of theCivil Rights Actin June 1964 andVoting Rights Actin August 1965, and their later enforcement by theJustice Department, helped end racial segregation in Virginia and overturnJim Crow era state laws.^[80]In June 1967, the Supreme Court also struck down the state's ban oninterracial marriagewithLoving v. Virginia. In 1968, GovernorMills Godwincalled a commission to rewrite the state constitution. The new constitution, which banned discrimination and removed articles that now violated federal law,passed in a referendumwith 71.8% support and went into effect in June 1971.^[81]In 1977, Black members became the majority of Richmond's city council; in 1989,Douglas Wilderbecame the first African American elected as governor in the United States; and in 1992,Bobby Scottbecame the first Black congressman from Virginia since 1888.^[82][83]

The expansion of federal government offices into Northern Virginia's suburbs during theCold Warboosted the region's population and economy.^[84]TheCentral Intelligence Agencyoutgrew their offices inFoggy Bottomduring theKorean War, and moved toLangleyin 1961, in part due to a decision by theNational Security Councilthat the agency relocate outside the District of Columbia.^[85]The agency was involved in variousCold War events, and its headquarters was a target ofSoviet espionage activities.The Pentagon, built inArlingtonduringWorld War IIas the headquarters of the Department of Defense, was one of the targets of theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks; 189 people died at the site when a jet passenger plane was flown into the building.^[86]Mass shootings atVirginia Tech in 2007and inVirginia Beach in 2019led to passage of gun control measures in 2020.^[87]Racial injustice and the presence ofConfederate monuments in Virginiahave also led to large demonstrations, including in August 2017, when a white supremacistdrove his car into protesters, killing one, and in June 2020, when protests that were part of the largerBlack Lives Mattermovement brought about theremoval of statuesonMonument Avenuein Richmond and elsewhere.^[88]

Virginia is located in theMid-AtlanticandSoutheasternregions of the United States.^[89][90]Virginia has a total area of 42,774.2 square miles (110,784.7 km²), including 3,180.13 square miles (8,236.5 km²) of water, making it the 35th-largest stateby area.^[91]The Commonwealth is bordered byMarylandandWashington, D.C.to the north and east; by theAtlantic Oceanto the east; byNorth Carolinato the south; byTennesseeto the southwest; byKentuckyto the west; and byWest Virginiato the north and west. Virginia's boundary with Maryland and Washington, D.C. extends to the low-water mark of the south shore of thePotomac River.^[92]

Virginia's southern borderwas defined in 1665as36°30' north latitude. Surveyors marking the border with North Carolina in the 18th century however started their work about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to the north and drifted an additional 3.5 miles bythe border's westernmost point, likely due to equipment issues and instructions to use natural landmarks when possible.^[93]AfterTennesseejoined the U.S. in 1796, new surveyors worked in 1802 and 1803 to reset their border with Virginia as a line from the summit ofWhite Top Mountainto the top ofTri-State Peakin theCumberland Mountains. However, deviations in that border were identified when it was re-marked in 1856, and the Virginia General Assembly proposed a new surveying commission in 1871. Representatives from Tennessee preferred to keep the less-straight 1803 line, and in 1893, theU.S. Supreme Courtruled for themagainst Virginia.^[94][95]One result is how the city ofBristolis divided in two between the states.^[96]

TheChesapeake Bayseparates the contiguous portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginia'sEastern Shore. The bay was formed from thedrowned river valleyof the ancientSusquehanna River.^[98]Many ofVirginia's riversflow into the Chesapeake Bay, including thePotomac,Rappahannock,York, andJames, which create three peninsulas in the bay, traditionally referred to as "necks" namedNorthern Neck,Middle Peninsula, and theVirginia Peninsulafrom north to south.^[99]Sea level risehas eroded the land on Virginia's islands, which includeTangier Islandin the bay andChincoteague, one of23 barrier islandson the Atlantic coast.^[100][101]

TheTidewateris acoastal plainbetween the Atlantic coast and thefall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and majorestuariesof Chesapeake Bay. The Piedmont is a series ofsedimentaryandigneous rock-basedfoothillseast of the mountains which were formed in theMesozoicera.^[102]The region, known for its heavy clay soil, includes theSouthwest MountainsaroundCharlottesville.^[103]TheBlue Ridge Mountainsare aphysiographic provinceof theAppalachian Mountainswith the highest points in the Commonwealth, the tallest beingMount Rogersat 5,729 feet (1,746 m).^[2]TheRidge-and-Valley regionis west of the mountains,carbonate rockbased, and includes theMassanutten Mountainridge and theGreat Appalachian Valley, which is called theShenandoah Valleyin Virginia, named after theriver of the same namethat flows through it.^[104]TheCumberland PlateauandCumberland Mountainsare in the southwest corner of Virginia, south of theAllegheny Plateau. In this region, rivers flow northwest, with adendritic drainage system, into theOhio Riverbasin.^[105]

TheVirginia Seismic Zonehas not had a history of regularearthquakeactivity. Earthquakes are rarely above 4.5 inmagnitude, because Virginia is located away from the edges of theNorth American Plate. The Commonwealth's largest earthquake in at least a century, at a magnitude of 5.8,struck central Virginia on August 23, 2011, nearMineral.^[106]Due to the area's geologic properties, this earthquake was felt fromNorthern FloridatoSouthern Ontario.^[107]35million years ago, abolideimpacted what is now eastern Virginia. The resultingChesapeake Bay impact cratermay explain whatearthquakesandsubsidencethe region does experience.^[108]A meteor impact is also theorized as the source ofLake Drummond, the largest of the two naturallakes in the state.^[109]

The Commonwealth's carbonate rock is filled with more than 4,000limestone caves, ten of which are open for tourism, including the popularLuray CavernsandSkyline Caverns.^[110]Virginia's iconicNatural Bridgeis also the remaining roof of a collapsed limestone cave.^[111]Coal miningtakes place in the three mountainous regions at 45 distinct coal beds near Mesozoic basins.^[112]More than 72million tons of other non-fuel resources, such asslate,kyanite, sand, or gravel, were also mined in Virginia in 2020^[update].^[113]The largest known deposits ofuraniumin the U.S. are underColes Hill, Virginia. Despitea challenge that reached the U.S. Supreme Court twice, the state has banned its mining since 1982 due to environmental and public health concerns.^[114]

Virginia state-wide averages 1895–2023
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D 3.3 45 25 3.1 48 26 3.7 56 34 3.4 67 42 4 76 51 4.1 82 60 4.6 86 64 4.3 84 63 3.7 79 56 3.2 68 45 2.9 57 35 3.3 47 27 █Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █Precipitation totals in inches Source:U.S. Climate Divisional Dataset
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D 84 7 −4 79 9 −3 94 14 1 86 19 6 102 24 11 104 28 15 117 30 18 109 29 17 94 26 14 81 20 7 74 14 1 84 8 −3 █Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █Precipitation totals in mm

Virginia has ahumid subtropical climatethat transitions tohumid continentalwest of theBlue Ridge Mountains.^[115]Seasonal extremes vary from average lows of 25 °F (−4 °C) in January to average highs of 86 °F (30 °C) in July.^[116]The Atlantic Ocean andGulf Streamhave a strong effect on eastern and southeastern coastal areas of the Commonwealth, making the climate there warmer but also more constant. Most of Virginia's recorded extremes in temperature and precipitation have occurred in the Blue Ridge Mountains and areas west.^[117]Virginia receives an average of 43.47 inches (110 cm) of precipitation annually,^[116]with theShenandoah Valleybeing the state's driest region due to the mountains on either side.^[117]

Virginia has around 35–45 days with thunderstorms annually, and storms are common in the late afternoon and evenings between April and September.^[118]These months are also the most common fortornadoes,^[119]eight of which touched down in the Commonwealth in 2023.^[120]Hurricanesand tropical storms can occur from August to October, and though they typically impact coastal regions, the deadliest natural disaster in Virginia wasHurricane Camille, which killed over 150 people mainly in inlandNelson Countyin 1969.^[117][121]Between December and March,cold-air dammingcaused by the Appalachian Mountains can lead to significant snowfalls across the state, such as theJanuary 2016 blizzard, which created the state's highest recorded one-day snowfall of 36.6 inches (93 cm) nearBluemont.^[122][123]On average, cities in Virginia can receive between 5.8–12.3 inches (15–31 cm) of snow annually, but recent winters have seen below-average snowfalls, and much of Virginia failed to register any measurable snow during 2022–2023 winter season.^[124][125]

Part of this is due toclimate change in Virginia, which is leading to higher temperatures year-round as well as more heavy rain and flooding events.^[126]Urban heat islandscan be found in many Virginia cities and suburbs, particularly in neighborhoods linked to historicredlining.^[127][128]The air in Virginia has statistically improved since 1998, when haze in Blue Ridge Mountains peaked,^[129]as did the number of code orange days for highozonepollution inFairfax County, with 64.8. In 2023, Fairfax, like neighboringArlingtonandLoudouncounties, recorded just three code orange days.^[130]The closure and conversion ofcoal power plantsin Virginia and the Ohio Valley region has helped cut the amount ofparticulate matterin Virginia's air in half, from 13.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2003, when coal provided 49.3% ofVirginia's electricity, to 6.6 in 2023,^[131]when coal provided just 1.5%, behind renewables likesolar powerandhydroelectricity.^[132][133]Current plans call for 30% of the Commonwealth's electricity to be renewable by 2030 and for all to be carbon-free by 2050.^[134]

Forests cover 62% of Virginia as of 2021^[update], of which 80% is consideredhardwoodforest, meaning that trees in Virginia are primarilydeciduousandbroad-leaved. The other 20% is pine, withloblollyandshortleaf pinedominating much of central and eastern Virginia.^[136]In the western and mountainous parts of the Commonwealth, oak and hickory are most common, while lower altitudes are more likely to have small but dense stands of moisture-loving hemlocks and mosses in abundance.^[117]Spongy moth infestationsin oak trees and theblight in chestnut treeshave decreased both of their numbers, leaving more room for hickory and the invasivetree of heaven.^[137][117]In the lowland tidewater andPiedmont, yellow pines tend to dominate, with bald cypress wetland forests in the Great Dismal and Nottoway swamps.^[136]Other common trees include red spruce,Atlantic white cedar,tulip-poplar, and theflowering dogwood, thestate tree and flower, as well as willows, ashes, and laurels.^[138]Plants likemilkweed, dandelions, daisies, ferns, andVirginia creeper, which is featured on thestate flag, are also common.^[139]TheThompson Wildlife AreainFauquieris known for having one of the largest populations oftrillium wildflowersin all of North America.^[117]

White-tailed deer, one of 75 mammal species found in Virginia, rebounded from an estimated population of as few as 25,000 in the 1930s to over one million by the 2010s.^[140][141]Nativecarnivoransincludeblack bears, who have a population of around five to six thousand in the state,^[142]as well asbobcats,coyotes, bothgrayandred foxes,raccoons,weaselsandskunks. Rodents includegroundhogs,nutria,beavers, bothgray squirrelsandfox squirrels, chipmunks, andAllegheny woodrats, while the seventeen bat species include brown bats and theVirginia big-eared bat, thestate mammal.^[143][141]TheVirginia opossumis also the onlymarsupialnative to the United States and Canada,^[144]and the nativeAppalachian cottontailwas recognized in 1992 as a distinct species of rabbit, one of three found in the state.^[145]Whales, dolphins, and porpoises have also been recorded in Virginia's coastal waters, withbottlenose dolphinsbeing the most frequentaquatic mammals.^[141]

Virginia's bird faunaconsists of 422 counted species, of which 359 are regularly occurring and 214 have bred in Virginia, while the rest are mostlywinter residents or transients.^[146]Water birdsinclude sandpipers, wood ducks, andVirginia rail, while common inland examples include warblers, woodpeckers, and cardinals, thestate bird. Birds of prey include osprey,broad-winged hawks, andbarred owls.^[147]There are no species of birdendemicto the Commonwealth.^[146]Audubonrecognizes 21Important Bird Areasin the state.^[148]Peregrine falcons, whose numbers dramatically declined due toDDTpesticide poisoningin the middle of the 20th century, are the focus of conservation efforts in the state and a reintroduction program inShenandoah National Park.^[149]

Virginia has 226 species offreshwater fishfrom 25 families, a diversity attributable to the area's varied and humid climate, topography, interconnected river system, and lack ofPleistocene glaciers. Common examples on theCumberland Plateauand higher-elevation regions includeEastern blacknose dace,sculpin,smallmouth bass,redhorse sucker,Kanawha darter, andbrook trout, thestate fish. Downhill in the Piedmont,stripeback darterandRoanoke bassbecome common, as doswampfish,bluespotted sunfish, andpirate perchin theTidewater.^[150]TheChesapeake Bayis host to clams, oysters, and 350 species ofsaltwaterandestuarine fish, including the bay's most abundant finfish, theBay anchovy, as well as the invasiveblue catfish.^[151][152]An estimated 317 millionChesapeake blue crabslive in the bay as of 2024^[update].^[153]There are 34 native species of crayfish, like theBig Sandy, which often inhabit rocky bottomed streambeds.^[154][117]Amphibians found in Virginia include theCumberland Plateau salamanderandEastern hellbender,^[155]while thenorthern watersnakeis the most common of the 32 snake species.^[156]

As of 2019^[update], roughly 16.2% of land in the Commonwealth is protected by federal, state, and local governments and non-profits.^[158]Federal lands account for the majority, with thirtyNational Park Serviceunits in the state, such asGreat Falls Parkand theAppalachian Trail, and one national park,Shenandoah.^[159]Shenandoah was established in 1935 and encompasses the scenicSkyline Drive. Almost forty percent of the park's total 199,173 acres (806 km²) area has been designated as wilderness under theNational Wilderness Preservation System.^[160]TheU.S. Forest Serviceadministers theGeorge Washington and Jefferson National Forests, which cover more than 1.6 million acres (6,500 km²) within Virginia's mountains, and continue intoWest VirginiaandKentucky.^[161]TheGreat Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refugealso extends into North Carolina, as does theBack Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which marks the beginning of theOuter Banks.^[162]

State agencies control about one-third of protected land in the state,^[158]and theVirginia Department of Conservation and Recreationmanages over 75,900 acres (307.2 km²) in fortyVirginia state parksand 59,222 acres (239.7 km²) in 65Natural Area Preserves, plus three undeveloped parks.^[163][164]Breaks Interstate Parkcrosses the Kentucky border and is one of only two inter-state parks in the United States.^[165]Sustainable logging is allowed in 26state forestsmanaged by theVirginia Department of Forestrytotaling 71,972 acres (291.3 km²),^[166]as is hunting in 44Wildlife Management Areasrun by theVirginia Department of Wildlife Resourcescovering over 205,000 acres (829.6 km²).^[167]TheChesapeake Bayis not a national park, but is protected by both state and federal legislation and the inter-stateChesapeake Bay Program, which conducts restoration on the bay and its watershed.^[168]

Virginia is divided into 95countiesand 38independent cities, which theU.S. Census Bureaudescribes ascounty-equivalents.^[169]This general method of treating cities and counties on par with each other is unique to Virginia and stretches back to the influence the cities ofWilliamsburgandNorfolkhad in the colonial period.^[170]Only three otherindependent citiesexist elsewhere in the United States, each in a different state.^[171]The differences between counties and cities in Virginia are small and have to do with how each assess new taxes, whether a referendum is necessary to issue bonds, and with the application ofDillon's Rule, which limits the authority of cities and counties to countermand acts expressly allowed by theGeneral Assembly.^[172][173]Counties can also haveincorporated towns, and while there are no furtheradministrative subdivisions, such as villages or townships, the Census Bureau recognizes several hundredunincorporated communities.

Over three million people, 35% of Virginians, live in the twenty jurisdictions collectively defined asNorthern Virginia, which is part of the largerWashington metropolitan areaand theNortheast megalopolis.^[174][175]Fairfax County, with more than 1.1million residents, is Virginia's most populous jurisdiction,^[176]and has a major urban business and shopping center inTysons, Virginia's largest office market.^[177]NeighboringPrince William County, with over 450,000 residents, is Virginia's second-most populous county and home toMarine Corps Base Quantico, theFBI Academy, andManassas National Battlefield Park.Arlington Countyis the smallest self-governing county in the U.S. by land area,^[178]and local politicians have proposed reorganizing it as an independent city due to its high density.^[172]Loudoun County, with its county seat atLeesburg, is the fastest-growing county in the state.^[176][179]In western Virginia,Roanokecity andMontgomery County, part of theBlacksburg–Christiansburg metropolitan area, both have surpassed a population of over 100,000 since 2018.^[180]

Richmondis the capital of Virginia, and its city proper has a population of over 230,000, while its metropolitan area has over 1.3million.^[174]Virginia Beachis the most populous independent city in the Commonwealth, withChesapeakeandNorfolksecond and third, respectively.^[181]The three are part of the largerHampton Roadsmetropolitan area, which has a population over 1.7million people and is the site of the world's largest naval base,Naval Station Norfolk.^[174][182]Suffolk, which includes a portion of theGreat Dismal Swamp, is the largest city by area at 429.1 square miles (1,111 km²).^[183]The concentration of independent cities in this region is, in part, a reaction by the jurisdictions that neighbor Norfolk andPortsmouthto annexations of their suburban areas in the 1950s, since cities were allowed to annex land from counties until a moratorium in 1987.^[184]Others, likePoquoson, became cities to try to preserveracial segregationin their schools and neighborhoods during the desegregation era of the 1970s.^[185]

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	691,737		—
1800	807,557		16.7%
1810	877,683		8.7%
1820	938,261		6.9%
1830	1,044,054		11.3%
1840	1,025,227		−1.8%
1850	1,119,348		9.2%
1860	1,219,630		9.0%
1870	1,225,163		0.5%
1880	1,512,565		23.5%
1890	1,655,980		9.5%
1900	1,854,184		12.0%
1910	2,061,612		11.2%
1920	2,309,187		12.0%
1930	2,421,851		4.9%
1940	2,677,773		10.6%
1950	3,318,680		23.9%
1960	3,966,949		19.5%
1970	4,648,494		17.2%
1980	5,346,818		15.0%
1990	6,187,358		15.7%
2000	7,078,515		14.4%
2010	8,001,024		13.0%
2020	8,631,393		7.9%
2023 (est.)	8,715,698		1.0%
1790–2020,[186][187]2023[3]

TheU.S. Census Bureaufound the state resident population was 8,631,393 on April 1, 2020, a 7.9% increase since the2010 census. Another 23,149 Virginians live overseas, giving the state a total population of 8,654,542. Virginia has the fourth-largest overseas population of U.S. states due to its federal employees and military personnel.^[188]Thefertility ratein Virginia as of 2020^[update]was 55.8 per 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 44,^[189]and themedian ageas of 2021^[update]was the same as the national average of 38.8 years old, with the oldest city by median age beingJames Cityand the youngest beingLynchburg, home to several universities.^[181]The geographiccenter of populationis located northwest ofRichmondinHanover County, as of 2020^[update].^[190]

Though still growing naturally as births outnumber deaths, Virginia has had a negativenet migration ratesince 2013, with 8,995 more people leaving the state than moving to it in 2021. This is largely credited to high home prices inNorthern Virginia,^[191]which are driving residents there to relocate south, and althoughRaleighis their top destination, in-state migration from Northern Virginia toRichmondincreased by 36% in 2020 and 2021 compared to the annual average over the previous decade.^[192][193]Aside from Virginia, the top birth state for Virginians isNew York, having overtakenNorth Carolinain the 1990s, with theNortheastaccounting for the largest number of domestic migrants into the state by region.^[194]About twelve percent of residents were born outside the United States as of 2020^[update].El Salvadoris the most common foreign country of birth, withIndia,Mexico,South Korea, thePhilippines, andVietnamas other common birthplaces.^[195]

The state's most populous racial group,non-Hispanic whites, has declined as a proportion of the population from 76% in 1990 to 58.6% in 2020, as other ethnicities have increased.^[196][197]Immigrants from the islands of Britain and Ireland settled throughout the Commonwealth during the colonial period,^[198]a time when roughly three-fourths of immigrants came asindentured servants.^[199]Those who identify on the census as having "American ethnicity" are predominantly of English descent, but have ancestors who have been in North America for so long they choose to identify simply as American.^[200][201]The Appalachian mountains andShenandoah Valleyhave many settlements that were populated byGermanandScotch-Irish immigrantsin the 18th and 19th centuries, often following theGreat Wagon Road.^[202][203]Over ten percent of Virginians have German ancestry as of 2020^[update].^[204]

The largest minority group in Virginia are Blacks and African Americans, who include about one-fifth of the population.^[197]Virginia was a major destination of theAtlantic slave trade, and the first generations of enslaved men, women, and children were brought primarily fromAngolaand theBight of Biafra. TheIgboethnic group of what is now southernNigeriawere the largest African group among slaves in Virginia.^[205]Blacks in Virginia also have more European ancestry than those in other southern states, and DNA analysis shows many have asymmetrical male and female ancestry contributions from before the Civil War, evidence of European fathers and African or Native American mothers during the time of slavery.^[206][207]Though the Black population was reduced by theGreat Migrationto northern industrial cities in the first half of the 20th century, since 1965 there has been a reverse migration of Blacksreturning south.^[208]The Commonwealth has the highest number of Black-whiteinterracial marriages in the United States,^[209]and 8.2% of Virginians describe themselves asmultiracial.^[3]

More recent immigration in the late 20th century and early 21st century has resulted in new communities of Hispanics and Asians. As of 2020^[update], 10.5% of Virginia's total population describe themselves asHispanic or Latino, and 8.8% asAsian.^[3]The state's Hispanic population rose by 92% from 2000 to 2010, with two-thirds of Hispanics in the state living inNorthern Virginia.^[210]Northern Virginia also has a significant population ofVietnamese Americans, whose major wave of immigration followed theVietnam War.^[211]Korean Americanshave migrated there more recently, attracted by the quality school system,^[212]while about 45,000Filipino Americanshave settled in the Hampton Roads area, with many having ties to theU.S. Navyand armed forces.^[213]

Tribal membership in Virginiais complicated by the legacy of the state's "pencil genocide" of intentionally categorizing Native Americans and Blacks together, and many tribal members do have African or European ancestry, or both.^[215]In 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau found that only 0.5% of Virginians were exclusivelyAmerican IndianorAlaska Native, though 2.1% were in some combination with other ethnicities.^[197]The state government hasextended recognitionto eleven tribes in Virginia. Seven tribes also have federal recognition, including six that were recognized in 2018 after passage of bill named for activistThomasina Jordan.^[216][217]ThePamunkeyandMattaponihave reservations on tributaries of theYork Riverin theTidewater region.^[218]

Largest race by county or city	Race and ethnicity (2020)	Alone	Total
Legend Non-Hispanic White 30–39% 40–49% 50–59% 60–69% 70–79% 80–89% 90–99% Black or African American 40–49% 50–59% 60–69% 70–79% Hispanic or Latino 40–49%	Non-Hispanic White	58.6%	62.8%
	Black or African American	18.3%	20.1%
	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)		10.5%
	Asian	7.1%	8.6%
	American Indian and Alaska Native	0.2%	1.5%
	Other	0.6%	1.5%
Largest ancestry by county or city	Ancestry (2020 est.)	Total
American Community Surveyfive-year estimate	Irish or Scotch-Irish	10.4%
	German	10.3%
	English	9.8%
	American	9.4%
	Subsaharan African	2.3%

According to U.S. Census data as of 2022^[update]on Virginia residents aged five and older, 83% (6,805,548) speakEnglishat home as afirst language, while 17% (1,396,389) speak something other than English.Spanishis the next most commonly spoken language, with 7.5% (611,831) of Virginia households, though age is a factor, and 8.7% (120,560) of Virginians under age eighteen speak Spanish. Of Spanish speakers, 60.6% reported speaking English "very well", but again, of those under age eighteen, 78.7% speak English "very well".Arabicwas the third most commonly spoken language with around 0.8% of residents, followed byChinese languages(includingStandard MandarinandCantonese) andVietnameseeach with over 0.7%, and thenKoreanandTagalog, just under 0.7% and 0.6% respectively.^[219]

English was passed as the Commonwealth's official language by statutes in 1981 and again in 1996, though the status is not mandated by theConstitution of Virginia.^[220]While a more homogenizedAmerican Englishis found in urban areas, and the use of Southern accents in general has been on the decline in speakers born since the 1960s,^[221]various accents are still used around the commonwealth.^[222]ThePiedmontregion is known for its non-rhotic dialect's strong influence onSouthern American English, and aBBC Americastudy in 2014 ranked it as one of the most identifiable accents in American English.^[223]TheTidewater accent, sometimes described as a subset of the Old Virginia accent, evolved from the language that upper-class English typically spoke in the early Colonial period, while theAppalachian accenthas much more influence from the English spoken by Scottish and Irish immigrants from that time.^[222][224]The outwardstereotypes of Appalachianshas, however, lead to some from the regioncode-switchingto a less distinct English accent.^[225]The English spoken onTangier Islandin theChesapeake Bay, preserved by the island's isolation, contains many phrases and euphemisms not found anywhere else and retains elements ofEarly Modern English.^[226][227]

Virginia enshrinedreligious freedomin 1786, ina statutewritten byThomas Jefferson. Though the state is historically part of America'sBible Belt, the 2023Public Religion Research Institute(PRRI) survey estimated that 55% of Virginians either seldom or never attend religious services, ahead of the national average of 53.2%, and that the percent of Virginians unaffiliated with any particular religious body had increased from 21% in 2013 to 29% in 2023.^[228]The 2020 U.S. Religion Census conduced by theAssociation of Religion Data Archives(ARDA) similarly found that 55% of Virginians attend none of the state's 10,477 congregations.^[229]Overallbelief in Godhas also declined inthe South region, of which Virginia is a part, from 93% of respondents inGallupsurveys from 2013 to 2017, to 86% in 2022.^[230]

Of the 45% of Virginians who were associated with religious bodies in the 2020 ARDA census,Evangelical Protestantsmade up the largest overall grouping, with 20.3% of the state's population, while 8.1% and 2% weremainlineandBlack protestantrespectively.Baptists, 84% of which are counted as Evangelical, included 9.4% of Virginians in that census.^[231]Their major division is between theBaptist General Association of Virginia, which formed in 1823, and theSouthern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, which split off in 1996. Other Protestant branches with over one percent of Virginians includedPentecostalism(1.8%),Presbyterianism(1.3%),Anglicanism(1.2%), andAdventism(1%).^[231]The 2023 PRRI survey estimated that 46% of Virginians were Protestants, with 14% each as White Evangelical, White Mainline, and Black, though these numbers include individuals who also report not attending services.^[228]

Catholicsaccounted for 10.3% in the 2020 ARDA census,^[231]and 16% in the 2023 PRRI survey, which divided them into 9% White Catholic, 6% Hispanic Catholic, and 1% other.^[228]TheRoman Catholic Diocese of Arlingtonincludes most of Northern Virginia's Catholic churches, while theDiocese of Richmondcovers the rest of the state. TheEpiscopal Diocese of Virginia,Southern Virginia, andSouthwestern Virginiasupport the variousEpiscopal churches, while theLutheran Churchorganizes under theVirginia Synod. Adherents ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsconstitute just over one percent of the population, with 210congregations in Virginiaas of 2024^[update].^[233]While the state's Jewish population is small, organized Jewish sites date to 1789 withCongregation Beth Ahabah.^[234]

Fairfax Countyis the state's most religiously diverse jurisdiction.^[229]Fairfax Stationis the site of theEkoji Buddhist Temple, of theJōdo Shinshūschool, and the HinduDurga Temple of Virginia. TheAll Dulles Area Muslim Society, on the county's border inSterling, considers its eleven branches the country's second-largestMuslimmosque community.^[235]McLean Bible Church, with around 16,500 weekly visitors, is among the top 25 largestmegachurchesin the U.S. and 8.4% of Virginians attendnondenomination Christianchurches like it, according to the 2020 ARDA census.^[236][231]LynchburgandRoanokeranked in that census as the two metropolitan areas with the highest rates of religious adherence, while the state-college-dominatedBlacksburg–ChristiansburgandCharlottesvillewere the lowest.^[231]Two major Christian universities,Liberty Universityand theUniversity of Lynchburg, are based in Lynchburg, whileRegent Universityis inVirginia Beach.

Virginia's economy has diverse sources of income, including local and federal government, military, farming and high-tech. The state'saverage per capita incomein 2022 was $68,211,^[237]and thegross domestic product(GDP) was $654.5billion, both ranking as 13th-highest among U.S. states.^[238]TheCOVID-19 recessioncaused jobless claims due to soar over 10% in early April 2020,^[239]before leaving off around 5% in November 2020 and returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2023.^[240]In June 2024, the unemployment rate was 2.7%, which was the 6th-lowest nationwide.^[241]

Virginia had amedian household incomeof $80,615 in 2021, 11th-highest nationwide, and a poverty rate of 10.2%,10th-lowest nationwide.^[3]Montgomery CountyoutsideBlacksburghas the highest poverty rate in the state, with 28.5% falling below theU.S. Census poverty thresholds.^[242]TheHampton Roadsregion has the state's highest per capita number of homeless individuals, with 11 per 10,000, as of 2020^[update].^[243]Loudoun Countymeanwhile has the highest median household income in the nation, and the widerNorthern Virginiaregion is among the highest-income regions nationwide.^[242]As of 2022^[update], seven of the twenty-fivehighest-income counties in the United States, including the two highest, are located in Northern Virginia.^[244]Though theGini indexshows Virginia has lessincome inequalitythan the national average,^[245]the state's middle class is also smaller than the majority of states.^[246]

Virginia's business environment has been ranked highly by various publications.CNBCranked Virginia as their 2024Top State for Business, with its deductions being mainly for the high cost of business and living,^[247]whileForbesmagazine ranked it as the sixteenth best to start a business in.^[248]Additionally, in 2014 a survey of 12,000 small business owners found Virginia to be one of the most friendly states for small businesses.^[249]Oxfam Americahowever ranked Virginia in 2023^[update]as only the 28th-best state to work in, with pluses for worker protections from sexual harassment andpregnancy discrimination, but negatives for laws on organized labor and the low tipped employeeminimum wageof $2.13.^[250]Virginia has been anemployment-at-willstate since 1906 and a "right to work" state since 1947,^[251][252]and though state minimum wage increased to $12 in 2023, farm and tipped workers are specifically excluded.^[253][250]

Government agencies directly employ around 714,100 Virginians as of 2022^[update], almost 17% of all employees in the state.^[254]Approximately 12% of allU.S. federal procurementmoney is spent in Virginia, the second-highest amount afterCalifornia.^[255][256]As of 2020^[update], 125,648 active-duty personnel, 25,404 reservists, and 99,832 civilians work directly for theU.S. Department of Defenseatthe Pentagonor one of 27 military bases in the state, representing all major branches and covering 270,009 acres (1,092.69 km²).^[257]Another 139,000 Virginians work fordefense contractingfirms,^[258]which received $44.8 billion worth of contracts in the 2020 fiscal year.^[257]Virginia has the second highest concentration of veterans of any state with 9.7% of the population, as many stay in the state and theHampton Roadsarea in particular, which is home to world's largest navy base and onlyNATOstation on U.S. soil.^[259][257]

Other largefederal agencies in Northern Virginiainclude theCentral Intelligence AgencyinLangley, theNational Science FoundationandU.S. Patent and Trademark OfficeinAlexandria, theU.S. Geological SurveyinReston, and theU.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceinBailey's Crossroads. Virginia's state government employs over 106,000 public employees, who combined have a median income of $52,401 as of 2018^[update],^[260]with theDepartments of Transportationand ofEducationthe two largest state departments by expenditure.^[261]K–12 teachers in Virginia make an annual average of $59,970, which is thirteen-lowest in the U.S. when adjusted for the state'scost of livingas of the 2021–22 school year.^[262]

Based on data as of 2020^[update], Virginia is home to 204,131 separate employers plus 644,341sole proprietorships. Of the 144,431 registered non-farm businesses in 2017^[update], 59.4% are majority male-owned, 22% are majority female-owned, 19.6% are majority minority-owned, and 8.9% are veteran-owned.^[3]Twenty-fourFortune 500companies are headquartered in Virginia as of 2024^[update], with the largest companies by revenue beingFreddie Mac,Boeing,RTX Corporation,Performance Food Group, andCapital One.^[263]The two largest by number of employees areDollar TreeinChesapeakeandHilton Worldwide HoldingsinMcLean.^[264]

Virginia has the third highest concentration of technology workers and the fifth highest overall number among U.S. states as of 2020^[update], with the 451,268 tech jobs accounting for 11.1% of all jobs in the state and earning a median salary of $98,292.^[265]Many of these jobs are inNorthern Virginia, which hosts a large number of software, communications, and cybersecurity companies, particularly in theDulles Technology CorridorandTysonsareas.Amazonadditionally selectedCrystal Cityforits HQ2in 2018, whileGoogleexpanded theirRestonoffices in 2019.

Northern Virginia became the world's largestdata centermarket in 2016, with over 47.7 million square feet (4.43 km²) as of 2023^[update],^[266]much of it inLoudoun County, which has branded itself "Data Center Alley".^[267][268]Data centers in Virginia handled around one-third of all internet traffic and directly employed 13,500 Virginians in 2023 and supported 45,000 total jobs.^[269]With 505.6 Mbit/s, Virginia boasted the second fastest average internet speed among U.S. states that year and ninth highest percent of households with broadband access, at 93.6%.^[270][271]Computer chipsfirst became the state's highest-grossing export in 2006,^[272]and had an estimated export value of $740million in 2022.^[273]Though in the top quartile for diversity based on theSimpson index, only 26% of tech employees in Virginia are women, and only 13% are Black or African American.^[265]

Tourists spent a record $33.3billion in Virginia in 2023, an increase of 10% from the previous year, supporting an estimated 224,000 jobs, a increase of 13,000.^[274]The state ranked as the eighth most visited based on data from 2022.^[275]That year saw 745,000 international visitors, with 41% of those coming fromCanada.^[276]

As of 2021^[update], agriculture occupies 30% of the land in Virginia with 7.7million acres (12,031 sq mi; 31,161 km²) of farmland. Nearly 54,000 Virginians work on the state's 41,500 farms, which average 186 acres (0.29 sq mi; 0.75 km²). Though agriculture has declined significantly since 1960 when there were twice as many farms, it remains the largest industry in Virginia, providing for over 490,000 jobs.^[278]Soybeans were the most profitable single crop in Virginia in 2022,^[279]although the ongoingtrade war with Chinahas led many Virginia farmers to plant cotton instead of soybeans.^[280]Other leading agricultural products include corn, cut flower and tobacco, where the state ranks third nationally in theproduction of the crop.^[278][279]

Virginia is the country's third-largest producer of seafood as of 2021^[update], withsea scallops, oysters,Chesapeake blue crabs,menhaden, and hardshell clams as the largest seafood harvests by value, andFrance,Canada,New Zealand, andHong Kongas the top export destinations.^[281]Commercial fishing supports 18,220 jobs as of 2020^[update], while recreation fishing supports another 5,893.^[282]The population ofeastern oysterscollapsed in the 1980s due to pollution and overharvesting, but has slowly rebounded, and the 2022–2023 season saw the largest harvest in 35 years with around 700,000 US bushels (25,000 kL).^[283]A warm winter and a dry summer made the 2023 wine harvest one of the best for vineyards in theNorthern Neckand along theBlue Ridge Mountains, which also attract 2.6million tourists annually.^[284][285]Virginia has the seventh-highest number of wineries in the nation, with 388 producing 1.1 million cases a year as of 2024^[update].^[286]Cabernet FrancandChardonnayare the most grown varieties.^[287]Breweries in Virginiaalso produced 460,315 barrels (54,017 kl) of craft beer in 2022, the 15th-most nationally.^[288]

State income taxis collected from those with incomes above afiling threshold. There are five income brackets, with rates ranging from 2.0% to 5.75% of taxable income.^[289][290]Thestate salesanduse taxrate is 4.3%, though there is an additional 1% local tax, for a total of a 5.3% combinedsales taxon most purchases. Three regions then have a higher sales tax: 6% in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and 7% in theHistoric Triangle.^[291]Unlike the majority of states, Virginia does have a 1% sales tax on groceries.^[292]This was lowered from 2.5% in January 2023, when the items covered by this lower rate were also extended to include essential personal hygiene goods.^[291][293]

Virginia'sproperty taxis set and collected at the local government level and varies throughout the Commonwealth. Real estate is also taxed at the local level based on one hundred percent of fair market value.^[294]As of 2021^[update], the overall median real estate tax rate per $100 of assessed taxable value was $0.96, though for 72 of the 95 counties this number was under $0.80 per $100. Northern Virginia has the highest property taxes in the state, withManassas Parkpaying the highest effective tax rate at $1.31 per $100, whilePowhatanandLunenburgcounties were tied for the lowest, at $0.30.^[295]Of local government tax revenue, about 61% is generated from real property taxes while 24% is from tangible personal property, sales and use, and business license tax. The remaining 15% come fromtaxes on hotels, restaurant meals, public service corporation property, and consumer utilities.^[294]

Modern Virginian culture has many sources and is part of theculture of the Southern United States.^[296]TheSmithsonian Institutiondivides Virginia into nine cultural regions, and in 2007 used their annualFolklife Festivalto recognize the substantial contributions ofEnglandandSenegalon Virginian culture.^[297]Virginia's culture was popularized and spread across America and theSouthby figures such asGeorge Washington,Thomas Jefferson, andRobert E. Lee. Their homes in Virginia represent the birthplace of America and the South.^[298]

Besides the generalcuisine of the Southern United States, Virginians maintain their own particular traditions.Virginia wineis made in many parts of the Commonwealth.^[285]Smithfield ham, sometimes called "Virginia ham", is a type ofcountry hamwhich isprotected by state lawand can be produced only in the town ofSmithfield.^[299]Virginia furnitureand architecture are typical ofAmerican colonial architecture. Thomas Jefferson and many of the Commonwealth's early leaders favored theNeoclassical architecturestyle, leading to its use for important state buildings. ThePennsylvania Dutchand their style can also be found in parts of the Commonwealth.^[202]

Literature in Virginia often deals with the Commonwealth's extensive and sometimes troubled past. The works ofPulitzer PrizewinnerEllen Glasgowoften dealt with social inequalities and the role of women in her culture.^[300]Glasgow's peer and close friendJames Branch Cabellwrote extensively about the changing position of gentry in theReconstruction era, and challenged its moral code withJurgen, A Comedy of Justice.^[301]William Styronapproached history in works such asThe Confessions of Nat TurnerandSophie's Choice.^[302]Tom Wolfehas occasionally dealt with his southern heritage in bestsellers likeI Am Charlotte Simmons.^[303]Mount VernonnativeMatt Bondurantreceived critical acclaim for hishistoric novelThe Wettest County in the Worldabout moonshiners inFranklin Countyduringprohibition.^[304]Virginia also names astate Poet Laureate.^[305]

Virginia ranks near the middle of U.S. states in terms of public spending on the arts as of 2021^[update], at just over half of the national average.^[306]The state government does fund some institutions, including theVirginia Museum of Fine Artsand theScience Museum of Virginia. Other museums include the popularSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Centerof theNational Air and Space Museumand theChrysler Museum of Art.^[307]Besides these sites, many open-air museums are located in the Commonwealth, such asColonial Williamsburg, theFrontier Culture Museum, and various historic battlefields.^[308]TheVirginia Foundation for the Humanitiesworks to improve the Commonwealth's civic, cultural, and intellectual life.^[309]

Theaters and venues in Virginia are found both in the cities and in suburbs. TheHarrison Opera House, inNorfolk, is home of theVirginia Opera. TheVirginia Symphony Orchestraoperates in and aroundHampton Roads.^[310]Resident and touring theater troupes operate from theAmerican Shakespeare CenterinStaunton.^[311]TheBarter TheatreinAbingdon, designated the State Theatre of Virginia, won the firstRegional Theatre Tony Awardin 1948, while theSignature TheatreinArlingtonwon it in 2009. There is also a Children's Theater of Virginia,Theatre IV, which is the second-largest touring troupe in the nation.^[312]Notable music performance venues includeThe Birchmere, theLandmark Theater, andJiffy Lube Live.^[313]Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Artsis located inViennaand is the only national park intended for use as a performing arts center.^[314]

Virginia is known for its tradition in the music genres ofold-time stringandbluegrass, with groups such as theCarter FamilyandStanley Brothersachieving national prominence during the 1940s.^[315]The state's African tradition is found throughgospel,blues, andshout bands, with bothElla FitzgeraldandPearl Baileycoming fromNewport News.^[316]Contemporary Virginia is also known forfolk rockartists likeDave MatthewsandJason Mraz,hip hopstars likePharrell Williams,Missy ElliottandPusha T, as well asthrash metalgroups likeGWARandLamb of God.^[317]Several members ofcountry musicbandOld Dominiongrew up in theRoanokearea, and took their band name from Virginia's state nickname.^[318]

Many counties and localities hostcounty fairsand festivals. TheVirginia State Fairis held at theMeadow Event Parkevery September. Also in September is theNeptune FestivalinVirginia Beach, which celebrates the city, the waterfront, and regional artists.Norfolk's Harborfest, in June, features boat racing andair shows.^[320]Fairfax Countyalso sponsors Celebrate Fairfax! with popular and traditional music performances.^[321]The Virginia Lake Festival is held during the third weekend in July inClarksville.^[322]On theEastern Shoreisland ofChincoteaguethe annualPony PenningofferalChincoteague poniesat the end of July is a unique local tradition expanded into a week-long carnival.^[319]Every year onThanksgivinginRichmond, theMattaponiandPamunkeytribes present Virginia's governor with a tribute of deer in a celebration honoring colonial treaties that enshrined their hunting rights.^[214]

TheShenandoah Apple Blossom Festivalis a two-week festival held annually inWinchesterwhich includes parades andbluegrassconcerts. TheOld TimeFiddlers' Convention inGalax, begun in 1935, is one of the oldest and largest such events worldwide, and Wolf Trap hosts theWolf Trap Opera Company, which produces an opera festival every summer.^[314]The Blue Ridge Rock Festival has operated since 2017, and has brought as many as 33,000 concert-goers to the Blue Ridge Amphitheater inPittsylvania County.^[323]Two important film festivals, theVirginia Film Festivaland theVCU French Film Festival, are held annually inCharlottesvilleand Richmond, respectively.^[324]

In 1619, the firstVirginia General Assemblymet atJamestown Church, and included 22 locally elected representatives, making Virginia's legislature the oldest of its kind in North America.^[325]The elected members became theHouse of Burgessesin 1642, and governed with theGovernor's Council, which was appointed by theBritish monarchy, until Virginians declared their independence from Britain in 1776. Thecurrent General Assemblyis the 162nd since that year. The government today functions under the seventhConstitution of Virginia, which wasapproved by voters in 1970went into effect in July 1971.^[81]It is similar to thefederal structurein that it provides forthree branches: a strong legislature, an executive, and a unified judicial system.^[326]

Virginia's legislature isbicameral, with a 100-memberHouse of Delegatesand 40-memberSenate, who together write the laws for the Commonwealth. Delegates serve two-year terms, while senators serve four-year terms, withthe most recent electionsfor both taking place in November 2023. The executive department includes thegovernor,lieutenant governor, andattorney general, who are elected every four years in separate elections, with thenext taking place in November 2025. The governor must be at least thirty years old andincumbent governorscannot run for re-election, however the lieutenant governor and attorney general can, and governors can and have served non-consecutive terms.^[327]The lieutenant governor is the official head of the Senate and is responsible for breaking ties. The House elects aSpeaker of the Houseand the Senate elects aPresident pro tempore, who presides when the lieutenant governor is not present, and both houses elect a clerk and majority and minority leaders.^[328]The governor also nominates their sixteencabinet membersand others who head various state departments.^[329]

The legislature starts regular sessions on the second Wednesday of every year. They meet for up to 48 days in odd years or 60 days in even years, to allow more time for biennial state budgets, which governors propose.^[328][330]After regular sessions end, special sessions can be called either by the governor or with agreement of two-thirds of both houses, and twenty-one special sessions have been called since 2000, typically for legislation on preselected issues.^[331]Though not a full-time legislature, the Assembly is classified as a hybrid because special sessions are not limited by the state constitution and often last several months.^[332]A one-day "veto session" is also automatically triggered when a governor chooses to veto or return legislation to the Assembly with amendments. Vetoes can then be overturned with approval of two-thirds of both the House and Senate.^[333]A bill that passes with two-thirds approval can also become law without action from the governor,^[334]and Virginia has no "pocket veto", so bills become law if the governor chooses to neither approve nor veto them.^[335]

The judges and justices who make upVirginia's judicial system, also the oldest in America, are elected by a majority vote in both the House and Senate without input from the governor, one way Virginia's legislature is stronger than its executive. Thegovernorcan makerecess appointments, and when both branches are controlled by the same party, the assembly often confirms them. The judicial hierarchy starts with theGeneral District CourtsandJuvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts, with theCircuit Courtsabove them, then theCourt of Appeals of Virginia, and theSupreme Court of Virginiaon top.^[336]The Supreme Court has seven justices who serve twelve-year terms, with amandatory retirement ageof 73, and they select their own Chief Justice, who is informally limited to two four-year terms.^[337]Virginia was the last state to guarantee an automatic right ofappealfor all civil and criminal cases, and their Court of Appeals increased from eleven to seventeen judges in 2021.^[338][339]

TheCode of Virginiais the statutory law and consists of the codified legislation of the General Assembly. The largestlaw enforcement agency in Virginiais theVirginia State Police, with 3,035 sworn and civilian members as of 2019^[update].^[340]TheVirginia Marine Policepatrol coastal areas, and were founded as the "Oyster Navy" in 1864 in response tooyster bed poaching.^[341]TheVirginia Capitol Policeprotect the legislature and executive department, and are the oldest police department in the United States, dating to the guards who protected the colonial leadership.^[342]The governor can also call upon theVirginia National Guard, which consists of approximately7,200 army soldiers,1,200 airmen,300 Defense Force members, and 400 civilians.^[343]

Between 1608 and 2021, when thedeath penaltywas abolished, the state executed over 1,300 people, including113 following the resumption of capital punishmentin 1982.^[344]Virginia's prison system incarcerates 30,936 people as of 2018^[update], 53% of whom are Black,^[345]and the state has the sixteenth-highestrate of incarceration in the country, at 422 per 100,000 residents.^[346]Virginia state prisons make disproportionate use ofattack dogs, with 90% of recorded dog attacks in U.S. prisons between 2017 and 2022 occurring in Virginia.^[347]Prisonerparolewas ended in 1995,^[348]and Virginia's rate ofrecidivismof released felons who are re-convicted within three years and sentenced to a year or more is 23.1%, the lowest in the country as of 2019^[update].^[349][350]Virginia has the fourth lowest violent crime rate and thirteenth lowest property crime rate as of 2018^[update].^[351]Between 2008 and 2017, arrests for drug-related crimes rose 38%, with 71% of those related tomarijuana,^[352]which Virginiadecriminalizedin July 2020 andlegalizedin July 2021.^[353][354]

Over the past century, Virginia has shifted politically from being a largely rural, conservative,Southern blocmember to a state that is more urbanized, pluralistic, and politically moderate, as both greater enfranchisement and demographic shifts have changed the electorate. Up until the 1970s, Virginia was a racially divided one-party state dominated by theByrd Organization.^[356]They sought to stymie the political power of Northern Virginia, perpetuatesegregation, and successfully restricted voter registration such that between 1905 and 1948, roughly one-third of votes in the state were cast by state employees and officeholders themselves, andvoter turnoutwas regularly below ten percent.^[357][358]The organization usedmalapportionmentto manipulate what areas were over-represented in theGeneral Assemblyand the U.S. Congress until ordered to end the practice by the 1964U.S. Supreme Courtdecision inDavis v. Mannand the 1965Virginia Supreme Courtdecision inWilkins v. Davisrespectively.^[359]

Enforcement of federal civil rights legislation passed in the mid-1960s helped overturn the state'sJim Crow lawsthat effectivelydisfranchisedAfrican Americans.^[360]TheVoting Rights Act of 1965made Virginia one of nine states that were required to receive federal approval for changes to voting laws, until the system for including states wasstruck down in 2013.^[361]A strictphoto identification requirement, added under GovernorBob McDonnellin 2014, was repealed in 2020,^[362]and theVoting Rights Act of Virginiawas passed in 2021, requiring preclearance from thestate Attorney Generalfor local election changes that could result in disenfranchisement, including closing or moving polling sites.^[363]Though many Jim Crow provisions were removed in Virginia's 1971 constitution, a lifetimeban on voting for felony convictionswas unchanged, and by 2016, up to twenty percent of African Americans in Virginia were disenfranchised because of prior felonies.^[364]That year, GovernorTerry McAuliffeended the lifetime ban and individually restored voting rights to over 200,000 ex-felons.^[357]These changes moved Virginia from being ranked as the second most difficult state to vote in 2016, to the twelfth easiest in 2020.^[365]

Regional differences also play a large part in Virginia politics. While urban and expanding suburban areas, including much ofNorthern Virginia, form the modernDemocratic Partybase, rural southern and western areas moved to support theRepublican Partyin response to its "southern strategy" starting around 1970.^[366][367]Rural Democratic support has nevertheless persisted in union-influencedRoanokeinSouthwest Virginia, college towns such asCharlottesvilleandBlacksburg, and the southeasternBlack Belt Region.^[368]African Americans are the most reliable bloc of Democratic voters,^[360]but educational attainment and gender have also become strong indicators of political alignment, with the majority of women in Virginia supporting Democratic presidential candidates since 1980.^[369]International immigration and domestic migration into Virginia have also increased the proportion of eligible voters born outside the state from 44% in 1980 to 55% in 2019.^[370]

Because Virginia enacted their post-Civil-Warconstitutionin 1870, state elections in Virginia occur in odd-numbered years, with executive department elections occurring in years following U.S. presidential elections andState Senateelections occurring in the years prior to presidential elections, as both have four-year terms.^[371]House of Delegateselections take place concurrent with each of those elections as delegates have two-year terms. National politics often play a role in state election outcomes, and Virginians have elected governors of the party opposite the U.S. president in eleven of the last twelve contests, with onlyTerry McAuliffebeating the trendin 2013.^[372][373]McAuliffe, a Democrat, was elected duringBarack Obama's second presidential term.^[374]Republicans at that time held asupermajorityof seats in the House of Delegates, which they had first gained inthe 2011 state elections,^[375]and a one-vote majority the state senate, both of which they maintainedin the 2015 elections.^[376]The 2011 and 2015 elections also had the lowestvoter turnoutin recent history, with just 28.6% and 29.1% of registered voters participating respectively.^[377]

The2017 state electionsresulted in Democrats holding the three executive offices, as lieutenant governorRalph Northamwonthe race for governor. In concurrentHouse of Delegates elections, Democrats flipped fifteen of the Republicans' previous sixteen-seat majority.^[378]Control of the House came down to a tied election in the94th district, which the Republican won by a drawing of lots, giving the party a slim 51–49 majority in the2018–19 legislative sessions.^[379]At this time, Virginia was ranked as having the mostgerrymanderedU.S. state legislature, as Republicans controlled the House with only 44.5% of the total vote.^[380]In 2019,federal courts foundthat eleven House district lines, including the 94th, were unconstitutionally drawn to discriminate against African Americans.^[381][382]Adjusted districts were used in the2019 elections, when Democrats won full control of the General Assembly, despitea political crisis earlier that year.^[383][384]Voters in 2020 thenpassed a referendumto givecontrol of drawingboth state and congressional districts to a commission of eight citizens and four legislators from each of the two major parties, rather than the legislature.^[385]

In 2021,Glenn Youngkinbecame the first Republican towin the governor's racesince 2009,^[386]with his party also winning the races forlieutenant governorandattorney generaland gainingseven seats in the House of Delegates.^[387][388]Two years later, new legislative maps drawn byspecial mastersappointed bythe state supreme courtled to nine retirements in the state senate and to twenty-five House delegates not seeking re-election. Inthose elections, Democrats claimed a slim majority of one seat in both the Senate and the House.^[389]

Though Virginia was considered a "swing state" in the2008 presidential election,^[390]Virginia's thirteenelectoral voteswere carried in that election and the three since by Democratic candidates, includingJoe Biden, who won by over ten percentin 2020, suggesting the state has shifted to being reliably Democratic in presidential elections. Virginia had previously voted for Republican presidential candidates in thirteen out of fourteenpresidential electionsfrom 1952 to 2004, including ten in a row from 1968 to 2004.^[391]Virginia currently holds its presidentialopen primaryelection onSuper Tuesday, the same day as fourteen other states, withthe most recentheld on March 5, 2024.^[392]

Virginia's two U.S. Senatorsare inclasses 1 and 2. In class 1, Republican incumbentGeorge Allenlost racesin 2006to Democratic newcomerJim Webb, and againin 2012to Webb's successor, former GovernorTim Kaine.^[393]In 2008, Democrats also won the class 2 seat when former GovernorMark Warnerwas elected to replace retiring RepublicanJohn Warner.^[394]Virginia has hadeleven U.S. House of Representatives seatssince 1993, and control of the majority has flipped four times since then, often as part of "wave elections". In the2010 mid-term elections, the first under President Obama, Republicans flipped the2ndand5th seatsfrom the Democrats, who had flipped both in the previous election, as well as the9th. In the2018 mid-terms, the first under President Trump, Democrats took back the 2nd, as well as the7thand10th.^[395]The 2nd flipped again, to Republican control,in 2022.^[396]Currently, Democrats hold six seats to Republicans' five.

Virginia's educational system consistently ranks in the top five states on theU.S. Department of Education'sNational Assessment of Educational Progress, with Virginia students outperforming the average in all subject areas and grade levels tested.^[397]The 2021Quality Countsreport ranked Virginia's K–12 education thirteenth in the country, with a letter grade of B−.^[398]Virginia's K–7 schools had astudent–teacher ratioof 12.15:1 as of the 2021–22 school year, and 12.52:1 for grades 8–12.^[399]All school divisions must adhere to educational standards set forth by theVirginia Department of Education, which maintains an assessment and accreditation regime known as theStandards of Learningto ensure accountability.^[400]

PublicK–12 schoolsin Virginia are generally operated by the counties and cities, and not by the state. As of the 2022–23 academic year,^[update]a total of 1,263,342 students were enrolled in 2,381 local and regional schools in the Commonwealth, including 57 career and technical schools and 411 alternative and special education centers across 126school divisions. Besides the generalpublic schoolsin Virginia, there areGovernor's Schoolsand selectivemagnet schools. The Governor's Schools are a collection of 52 regional high schools and summer programs intended for gifted students,^[401][402]and include theThomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, the top-rated high school in the country in 2022.^[403]The Virginia Council for Private Education oversees the regulation of 483 state accredited private schools.^[404]An additional 50,713 students receive homeschooling.^[405]

In 2022, 92.1% of high school students graduated on-time after four years,^[406]and 89.3% of adults over the age 25 had their high school diploma.^[3]Virginia has one of the smaller racial gaps in graduation rates among U.S. states,^[407]with 90.3% of Black students graduating on time, compared to 94.9% of white students and 98.3% of Asian students. Hispanic students had the highestdropout rate, at 13.95%, with high rates being correlated with students listed asEnglish learners.^[406]Despite endingschool segregationin the 1960s, seven percent of Virginia's public schools were rated as "intensely segregated" byThe Civil Rights Project at UCLAin 2019, and the number has risen since 1989, when only three percent were.^[408]Virginia has comparatively large public school districts, typically comprising entire counties or cities, and this helps mitigate funding gaps seen in other states such that non-white districts average slightly more funding, $255 per student as of 2019^[update], than majority white districts.^[409]Elementary schools, with Virginia's smallest districts, were found to be more segregated than state middle or high schools by a 2019 VCU study.^[410]

As of 2020^[update], Virginia has thesixth-highest percent of residentswith bachelor's degrees or higher, with 39.5%.^[3]TheDepartment of Educationrecognizes 163colleges and universities in Virginia.^[412]In the 2022U.S. News & World Reportranking of national public universities, theUniversity of Virginiais ranked 3rd, theCollege of William and Maryis 13th,Virginia Techis 23rd,George Mason Universityis 65th,James Madison Universityis 72nd, andVirginia Commonwealth Universityis 83rd.^[413]There are 119 private institutions in the state, includingWashington and Lee Universityand theUniversity of Richmond, which are ranked as the country's 11th and 18th best liberal arts colleges respectively.^[412][414]

Virginia Tech andVirginia State Universityare the state'sland-grant universities, and Virginia State is one of fivehistorically black colleges and universitiesin Virginia.^[415]TheVirginia Military Instituteis the oldest statemilitary college.^[416]Virginia also operates23 community collegeson 40 campuses which enrolled 199,926 degree-seeking students during the 2021–2022 school year.^[417]In 2021, the state made community college free for most low- and middle-income students.^[418]George Mason University had the largest on-campus enrollment at 40,390 students as of 2023^[update],^[419]though the privateLiberty Universityhad the largest total enrollment in the state, with 115,000 online and 15,800 on-campus students inLynchburgas of 2022^[update].^[420]

Virginia has a mixed health record. The state was ranked best for its physical environment in the 2023 United Health Foundation's Health Rankings, but 19th for its overall health outcomes and only 26th for residents healthy behaviors. Among U.S. states, Virginia has the 22nd lowest rate of premature deaths, with 8,709 per 100,000,^[131]and aninfant mortalityrate of 5.61 per 1,000 live births.^[422]The rate of uninsured Virginians dropped to 6.5% in 2023, following an expansion ofMedicarein 2019.^[131]Falls ChurchandLoudoun Countywere both ranked in the top ten healthiest communities in 2020 byU.S. News & World Report.^[423]

There are however racial and social health disparities. With high rates of heart disease and diabetes, African Americans in Virginia have an average life expectancy four years less than whites and twelve less than Asian Americans and Latinos,^[424]and were disproportionately affected byCOVID-19during thecoronavirus pandemic.^[425]African-American mothers are also three times more likely todie while giving birthin the state.^[426]Mortality rates among white middle-class Virginians have also been rising, with drug overdose, alcohol poisoning, and suicide as leading causes.^[427]Suicides in the state increased over 14% between 2009 and 2023, while deaths from drug overdoses more than doubled in that time.^[131]Virginia has a ratio of 221.5primary care physiciansper 10,000 residents, the fifteenth worst rate nationally, and only 250.3 mental health providers per that number, the fourteenth worst nationwide.^[131]A December 2023 report by theGeneral Assemblyfound that all nine public mental health care facilities were over 95% full, causing overcrowding and delays in admissions.^[428]

Weight is an issue for many Virginians, and 32.2% of adults and 14.9% of 10- to 17-year-olds are obese as of 2021^[update].^[429]Additionally, 35% of adults are overweight and 23.3% do not exercise regularly.^[430]Smoking in bars and restaurants was banned in January 2010,^[431]and the percent of tobacco smokers in the state has declined from 19% in that year to 12.1% in 2023, but an additional 7.7% usee-cigarettes. Virginia does have above average percentage of residents who receive annual immunizations, ranking twentieth for yearly flu vaccinations.^[131]In 2008, Virginia became the first U.S. state to mandate theHPV vaccinefor girls for school attendance,^[432]and 62.7% of adolescents have the vaccine as of 2023^[update].^[131]

TheVirginia Board of Healthregulates healthcare facilities, and there are 88hospitals in Virginiawith a combined 17,024 hospital beds as of 2023^[update]. The largest in both Virginia and theWashington metropolitan areaisInova Fairfax Hospital, which serves over 55,000 patients annually.^[433]VCU Medical Center, where a new 16-storychildren's hospitalwas opened in 2023, is highly ranked forpediatrics,^[434]whileUVA Medical Centeris highly ranked for its cancer care,^[435]and the state does number in the top ten for annualcancer screenings.^[131]Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, a teaching institution ofEastern Virginia Medical School, was the site of thefirst successfulU.S.in-vitro fertilizationprogram, and around 2.5% of births in the state are due to IVF.^[436]

TheHampton Roadsarea is the 44th-largestmedia marketin the United States as ranked byNielsen Media Research, while theRichmond-Petersburgarea is 56th andRoanoke-Lynchburgis 71st as of 2022^[update]. Northern Virginia is part of the much larger Washington, D.C. media market, which is the country's ninth-largest.^[437]

There are 36television stations in Virginia, representing each majorU.S. network, part of 42 stations which serve Virginia viewers including those broadcasting from neighboring jurisdictions.^[438]According to theFederal Communications Commission, 595FCC-licensed FMradio stations broadcast in Virginia, with 239 such AM stations as of 2020^[update].^[439][440]The nationally availablePublic Broadcasting Service(PBS) is headquartered inArlington. Independent PBS affiliates exist throughout Virginia, and the ArlingtonPBSmember stationWETA-TVproduces programs such as thePBS NewsHourandWashington Week.

The most circulatednative newspapers in the CommonwealthareNorfolk'sThe Virginian-Pilotwith around 132,000 subscribers,^[441]theRichmond Times-Dispatchwith 86,219,^[442]andThe Roanoke Timesas of 2018^[update].^[443]USA Today, which is headquartered inMcLean, has seen its daily subscription number decline significantly from over 500,000 in 2019 to just over 180,000 in 2021, but is still the third-most circulated paper nationwide.^[444]USA Todayis the flagship publication ofGannett, Inc., which merged withGateHouse Mediain 2019, and operates over one hundred local newspapers nationwide.^[445]In Northern Virginia,The Washington Postis the dominant newspaper and provides local coverage for the region.^[446]PoliticoandAxios, which both cover national politics, each have their headquarters inArlington.^[447]

Because of the 1932Byrd Road Act, the state government controls most of Virginia's roads, instead of a local county authority as is usual in other states.^[448]As of 2018^[update], theVirginia Department of Transportation(VDOT) owns and operates 57,867 miles (93,128 km) of the total 70,105 miles (112,823 km) of roads in the state, making it the third-largest state highway system in the nation.^[449]

Traffic on Virginia's roads is among the worst in the nation according to the 2019 American Community Survey. The average commute time of 28.7 minutes is the eighth-longest among U.S. states, and the Washington Metropolitan Area, which includesNorthern Virginia, has the second-worst rate of traffic congestion among U.S. cities.^[450]About 67.9% of workers in Virginia reported driving alone to work in 2021, the foureenth lowest percent in the U.S.,^[131]while 8.5% reported carpooling,^[451]and Virginia hitpeak carusage before the year 2000, making it one of the first such states.^[452]

About 3.4% of Virginians commute on public transit,^[451]and there were over 171.9 million public transit trips in Virginia in 2019, over 62% of which were done on theWashington Metrotransit system, which servesArlingtonandAlexandria, and extends intoLoudounandFairfax Counties.^[453]Commuter buses include theFairfax Connector,FREDbuses in Fredericksburg, andOmniRideinPrince William County,^[454]while the state-run Virginia Breeze buses run four inter-city routes fromWashington, D.C.toBristol,Blacksburg,Martinsville, andDanville.^[455]VDOT operates several free ferries throughout Virginia, the most notable being theJamestown Ferrywhich connectsJamestowntoScotland Wharfacross theJames River.^[456]

Virginia hasAmtrakpassenger rail service along several corridors, andVirginia Railway Express(VRE) maintains two commuter lines into Washington, D.C. fromFredericksburgandManassas. VRE experienced a dramatic decline in ridership due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, with daily ridership dropping from over 18,000 in 2019 to 6,864 in February 2024.^[457][458]Amtrak routes in Virginia have however passed their pre-pandemic levels and served 123,658 passengers in March 2024.^[459]Norfolkoperates a light rail system calledThe Tide, servicing about 2,300 people per day.^[460]Major freight railroads in Virginia includeNorfolk SouthernandCSX Transportation, and in 2021 the state finalized a deal to purchase 223 miles (359 km) of track and over 350 miles (560 km) of right of way from CSX for future passenger rail service.^[461]

Virginia has five major airports:Dulles InternationalandReagan Washington NationalinNorthern Virginia, both of which handle over 20 million passengers a year,Richmond Internationalsoutheast of the state capital,Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, andNorfolk International. Several other airports offer limited commercial passenger service, and sixty-six public airports serve the state's aviation needs.^[462]TheVirginia Port Authority's main seaports are those in Hampton Roads, which carried 61,505,700short tons(55,797,000t) of total cargo in 2021^[update], the sixth most of United States ports.^[463]TheEastern Shore of Virginiais the site ofWallops Flight Facility, a rocket launch center owned byNASA, and theMid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, a commercial spaceport.^[464][465]Space tourismis also offered throughVienna-basedSpace Adventures.^[466]

Virginia is the most populous U.S. state without amajor professional sports leaguefranchise. The reasons for this include the lack of any dominant city or market within the state and the proximity ofteams in Washington, D.C.,Baltimore,Charlotte, andRaleigh, as well as a reluctance to publicly finance stadiums.^[468]A proposed$220 million NBA arenainVirginia Beachlost the support of the city council there in 2017,^[469]while a 2023 proposal to move the NBA'sWashington Wizardsand the NHL'sWashington Capitalsto a $2 billion arena inAlexandriawas cancelled after formidable opposition in theVirginia Senate.^[470]

Fiveminor league baseballand two mid-level hockey teams do play in Virginia. Norfolk is host to two: TheTriple-ANorfolk Tidesand theECHL'sNorfolk Admirals. TheDouble-ARichmond Flying Squirrelsbegan playing atThe Diamondin 2010,^[471]while theFredericksburg Nationals,Lynchburg Hillcats, andSalem Red Soxplay in theLow-A Eastleague.^[472]Loudoun United FC, the reserve team ofD.C. United, debuted in theUSL Championshipin 2019,^[473]while theRichmond Kickersof theUSL League Onehave operated since 1993 and are the only team in their league to win both the league championship and theU.S. Open Cupin the same year.^[474]The training facilities for both theWashington CommandersandWashington Spiritare inLoudoun County,^[475][476]while theWashington Capitalspractice atMedStar Capitals IceplexinBallston.^[477]

Among individual athletes,Hampton Roadshas produced several Olympic gold medalists, includingGabby Douglas, the first African American to wingymnastics individual all-aroundgold,^[478]andLaShawn Merritt,Francena McCorory, andMichael Cherry, who have all won gold in the4 × 400 meters relay.^[479]Noah Lyles, reigning "worlds fastest man" and winner of the100 meter dash at the 2024 Olympics, grew up inAlexandria.^[480]Major long-distance races in the state include theRichmond Marathon, theBlue Ridge Marathon on the Parkway, and theMonument Avenue 10K. Virginia's professional caliber golf courses includeKingsmill ResortoutsideWilliamsburg, which hostsan LPGA Tour tournamentin May, and theCountry Club of VirginiaoutsideRichmond, which hostsa charity classicon thePGA Tour Championsin October. Notable PGA Tour winners from Virginia includeSam SneadandCurtis Strange.NASCARcurrently schedulesCup Series raceson two tracks in Virginia:Martinsville SpeedwayandRichmond Raceway. Notable drivers from Virginia in the series have includedDenny HamlinandCurtis Turner.^[481]

In the absence of professional sports, several of Virginia's collegiate sports programs have attracted strong followings, with a 2015 poll showing that 34% of Virginians were fans of theVirginia Cavaliersand 28% were fans of therivalVirginia Tech Hokies, making both more popular than the surveyed regional professional teams.^[482]The men's and women'scollege basketballprograms of theCavaliers,VCU Rams, andOld Dominion Monarchshave combined for 66 regular season conference championships and 49 conference tournament championships between them as of 2023^[update]. TheHokiesfootball team sustained a 27-year bowl streak between 1993 and 2019;James Madison Dukesfootball wonFCSNCAA Championships in both 2004 and 2016.^[483]The overall UVA men's athletics programs won the nationalCapital One Cupinboth 2015 and 2019, and lead theAtlantic Coast ConferenceinNCAA championships.^[484][485]

Fourteen universitiesin total compete inNCAA Division I, with multiple programs each in the Atlantic Coast Conference,Atlantic 10 Conference,Big South Conference, andCoastal Athletic Association. Threehistorically Black schoolscompete in the Division IICentral Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and two others (HamptonandNorfolk State) compete in Division I. Several smaller schools compete in theOld Dominion Athletic Conferenceand theUSA South Athletic Conferenceof NCAA Division III. The NCAA currently holds itsDivision III championships in football, men's basketball, volleyball, and softball inSalem.^[486]State appropriated funds are not allowed to be used for either operational or capital expenses for intercollegiate athletics.^[487]

Virginia is also home to several of the nation's top high schoolbasketballprograms, includingPaul VI Catholic High SchoolandOak Hill Academy, the latter of which has won nine national championships.^[488]In the 2022–2023 school year, 176,623 high school students participated in fourteen girls sports and thirteen boys sports managed by theVirginia High School League, with the most popular sports beingfootball, outdoor track and cross country,soccer, basketball, baseball and softball, and volleyball.^[489]Outside of the high school system, 145 youth soccer clubs operate in the Virginia Youth Soccer Association, under theUSYSsystem, as of 2024^[update].^[490]

Virginia has several nicknames, the oldest of which is the "Old Dominion". KingCharles II of Englandis first referred to "our auntient Collonie of Virginia" one of "our own Dominions" in 1662 or 1663, perhaps choosing this language because Virginia was home to many of his supporters during theEnglish Civil War.^[492][493]These supporters were calledCavaliers, and the nickname "The Cavalier State" was popularized after theAmerican Civil War.^[494]Virginia has also been called the "Mother of Presidents", as eight Virginians have served asPresident of the United States, including four of the first five.^[495]

The state's motto,Sic Semper Tyrannis, translates fromLatinas "Thus Always to Tyrants", and is used on the state seal, which is then used on the flag.^[1]While the seal was designed in 1776, and the flag was first used in the 1830s, both were made official in 1930.^[496]The majority of the other symbols were made official in the late 20th century.^[497]In 1940, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" was named thestate song, but it was retired in 1997 due to its nostalgic references to slavery. In March 2015, Virginia's government named "Our Great Virginia", which uses the tune of "Oh Shenandoah", as the traditional state song and "Sweet Virginia Breeze" as the popular state song.^[498]

• Index of Virginia-related articles
• Outline of Virginia

• State Government website
• Virginia General Assembly
• Virginia's Judicial system

• Virginia Tourism Website
• Virginia State Parks
• Virginia Wildlife Management Areas

• Library of Virginia
• Virginia Museum of Culture and History
• Encyclopedia Virginia

• USGS geographic resources of Virginia
• Virginia State Climatology OfficeArchivedOctober 5, 2006, at theWayback Machine
• Virginia State Facts from USDA, Economic Research Service
• Geographic data related toVirginiaatOpenStreetMap

Preceded by New Hampshire

List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union RatifiedConstitutionon June 25, 1788 (10th)

Succeeded by New York

38°00′N79°00′W / 38.0°N 79.0°W /38.0; -79.0 (Commonwealth of Virginia)