Virginia, formally the Republic of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States in between the Atlantic Shore and the Appalachian Mountains. The state's capital is Richmond and its most heavily populated city is Virginia Beach. Its most populous subdivision is Fairfax Region, component of Northern Virginia, where a little over a 3rd of Virginia's populace of greater than 8. 8 million live. Eastern Virginia becomes part of the Atlantic Plain, and the Center Peninsula forms the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Central Virginia lies mostly in the Piedmont, the foothill area of heaven Ridge Hills, which go across the western and southwestern parts of the state. The productive Shenandoah Valley promotes the state's most effective farming areas, while the economy in Northern Virginia is driven by technology firms and U. S. federal government companies. Hampton Roadways is likewise the site of the region's major port and Naval Station Norfolk, the globe's biggest naval base. Virginian history starts with numerous Native teams, including the Powhatan. In 1607, the London Firm developed the Colony of Virginia as the very first permanent English swarm in the New World, bring about Virginia's nickname as the Old Dominance. Slaves from Africa and land from displaced indigenous tribes sustained the expanding plantation economic climate, however additionally sustained conflicts both inside and outside the nest. Virginians defended the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in the American Transformation, and assisted establish the new nationwide federal government. During the American Civil War, the state government in Richmond signed up with the Confederacy, while several northwestern regions remained devoted to the Union, which resulted in the splitting up of West Virginia in 1863. Although the state was under one-party Democratic rule for nearly a century following the Repair period, both significant political parties have been affordable in Virginia given that the abolition of racial partition legislations in the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia's state legislature is the Virginia General Assembly, which was developed in July 1619, making it the earliest current law-making body in The United States and Canada. Unlike various other states, cities and areas in Virginia feature as equates to, however the state federal government manages most neighborhood roads. It is additionally the only state where guvs are restricted from serving successive terms.
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