Official name: State of West Virginia (WV)
Capital: Charleston
Largest city: Charleston

Other major cities: Charleston, Huntington, Parkersburg, Wheeling, Morgantown

State nicknames: Mountain State

State motto: The mountains are always free

State formation date: 1863 (35th in order)

The name of the state of West Virginia, as well as the state of Virginia, of which West Virginia was previously a part, was given in honor of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland. It was during the reign of Elizabeth I, who never married and was therefore called the "Virgin Queen" ( The Virgin Queen), the first English settlement in America was founded, from which the province of Virginia, the states of Virginia and West Virginia later grew.
“The mountains are always free,” says the motto of this American state. It simultaneously emphasizes both the features of the relief and the love of freedom of the inhabitants - they once achieved independence from neighboring Virginia. The state's nickname matches its motto, The Mountain State. West Virginia is called "the southernmost state in the North, the northernmost state in the South, the easternmost state in the West, and the westernmost state in the East."
West Virginia is a state in the southeastern United States, one of the so-called South Atlantic states (the only state in this group that does not have access to the Atlantic Ocean). More than 60 percent of the state is occupied by the Apalachee Mountains. In the north, West Virginia has a border with Pennsylvania, in the east the state borders with Maryland and Virginia, in the west it borders with the states of Kentucky and Ohio. The climate in the state is continental, moderately humid, and floods are common.
The main sector of the state's economy remains the mining industry. Coal is not the only mineral that can be mined in West Virginia. So, in 1928, a diamond weighing 34.48 carats was discovered here, which received its own name “The Jones Diamond”. It was the largest diamond discovered in sand deposits in the United States. But this was an isolated incident, and the “diamond rush” never began in the state.

State Population

The state's population in 2003 was 1.810 million people (in 2011 it was 1,855,364 - 37th in the USA). The average population density in the state is about 30 people per km 2 (twenty-ninth in the USA). West Virginia's largest city is its capital, Charleston, which is home to more than 50,000 people.
Among West Virginians, only about 1.1% are not native to the United States, the lowest percentage of any U.S. state. The state also has the fewest people whose first language is not English, at just 2.7%.

Racial composition of the state of West Virginia

• White - 93.9%
• Black - 3.4%
• Asians - 0.7%
• Native Americans (Indians or Alaskan Eskimos) - 0.2%
• Native Hawaiian or Oceanian - less than 0.1%
• Other races - 0.3%
• Two or more races - 1.5%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) - 1.2%

Largest Ethnic (National) Groups Among the Population of West Virginia

• English - 35.2%
• Germans - 17.2%
• Irish - 8%
• Scots - Irish (Ulster Scots) - 5%
• Italians - 4.8%

History of the State of West Virginia

The territory of the modern state was inhabited by Indians belonging to the Mound Builder culture. Their main occupation was agriculture, they grew corn, sunflowers, beans, pumpkins and raised turkeys. By the time the first Europeans appeared on the lands of West Virginia, Indians of the Kanova, Shawnee, Susquehannock and others peoples lived here.

The first European settler in the state was in 1726 British Colonel Morgan Morgan, a Welshman by birth, who founded a colony on the Mill Creek River. A year later, a group of German settlers created the settlement of New Mecklenburg (now the city of Shepherdstown) on the right bank of the Potomac. Among the Europeans who settled here in the middle of the 18th century, immigrants from Scotland, Ireland and various German principalities predominated.
Between 1748 and 1751 This area was explored by George Washington, then a junior Virginia militia officer, who noted in his notes that there were already many immigrant farms of predominantly German origin in the upper Potomac River. That is why on the map of modern West Virginia there are many names of German origin: Parkersburg, Petersburg, Clarksburg Although local Indians resisted the invasion of white settlers from the east, the flow of immigrants grew.
The indigenous inhabitants of these places, the Indians, resisted the invaders. The Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774, when the Virginia governor's troops crossed the mountains and, with the support of local white settlers, defeated an army of Shawnee warriors, occupies an important place in the history of the state. The Indians failed to unite into an alliance, were quickly defeated and later expelled to reservations or assimilated. Now their number in the state is insignificant.
Initially, West Virginia was closely associated with neighboring Virginia, of which it was part for some time. But already in 1776, the settlers of western Virginia petitioned Congress to allow them to create their own government bodies. If the residents of eastern Virginia gravitated more towards the American South, then the West Virginians felt their community with the northern states.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War between North and South of 1861-65, disagreements between the two parts of Virginia escalated to the point that West Virginians held a referendum, adopted their own constitution, and on June 20, 1863, West Virginia officially became part of the United States under its current name, becoming 35th state.

West Virginia Landmarks

The eastern counties of West Virginia, known as the Potomac Highlands, are one of the most scenic regions of the Central Appalachians. The highlands got their name from the Potomac River, the headwaters of which are located here.

Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area (high rock that attracts climbers),

Those wishing to have a good and carefree holiday with children are invited to the Timberline resort,

WEST VIRGINIA (Canova River)

Blackwater Falls in West Virginia

Watermill at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

In the mountains of West Virginia is the Golden Palace, built for the Hare Krishna teacher Prabhupada.

Huntington Township, West Virginia. Population 50,000.


State capital city of Charleston


View of the Capitol from the river in the state capital.

• Charleston is one of the quietest cities in the United States, where life moves at a leisurely pace and the citizens are welcoming and friendly. Nevertheless, the Americans themselves consider the residents of Charleston to be the unluckiest in the United States (they consider the residents of the crime-ridden city of San Diego to be the happiest).
• In West Virginia, students cannot attend school if they smell like onions. There is a certain type of wild onion that grows in the state and has an extremely strong odor that can be detected even days after eating it.
• West Virginia is the only state to gain official statehood during the Civil War of 1861-1865.
• Despite the mountainous terrain, snowfalls are infrequent in West Virginia, fog accumulates only in some places in the valleys, and tornadoes bypass these places to hit neighboring states with all their might.
• The resort town of White Sulfur Springs, founded in 1750, was home to the first golf club in the United States.
• The Green6Ryer Hotel bunker, or "Capitol Reserve", is located in the hotel's basement, which was built in the 1950s. This is where the US Senate would sit in the event of a nuclear war. For 30 years, the bunker was kept in constant combat readiness, designed for one thousand one hundred people, has a 25-ton gate, one and a half meter concrete walls, and more than 150 rooms. Despite this, it would not have withstood a direct bomb hit.
• New River Gorge Bridge is the third largest single arch bridge in the world, 924 m long and 267 m high.

Funny and Ridiculous West Virginia Laws

• A child cannot attend school if his breath smells like onions.
• If a railroad passes within one mile of a community of 100 or more inhabitants, a station must be built in that community and the train must stop there to pick up passengers.
• A man is not prohibited from having sex with an animal as long as the animal weighs less than 40 pounds.
• It is prohibited to sleep on the train.
• Doctors and dentists can only give a woman general anesthesia in the presence of a third person.
• According to the State Constitution, anyone is prohibited from displaying a red or black flag.
• It is prohibited to wear a hat in the theater. For violation there is a fine.
• An animal hit on the road can be eaten for dinner.
• It is prohibited to whistle underwater.
• You cannot walk a lion, tiger or leopard, even on a leash.
• Priests are prohibited from telling jokes or funny stories during services.
• Firefighters are prohibited from whistling or harassing women passing by the fire station.
• It is legal to beat your wife on Sunday on the steps of the courthouse.

After another viewing of “Wrong Turn,” the ominous credits “...the forests of West Virginia” ignited a search itch on the topic: why do Americans dislike the eastern lands of their rather large country so much? Why did they decide to slander such a wonderful state and present it in a negative way in mainstream cinema?

Let's try to analyze it? Let's go...Turn There!

cities: Thurmond

In the late 1800s, Thurmond was a thriving coal mining town of several hundred residents, of whom only five remained by 2010. The cause of the death of the city was the advent of diesel. In the 40s and 50s, as trains switched from coal to the more convenient diesel fuel, Thurmond lost his main customer. Trains previously stopped at Thurmond Station to replenish coal supplies. The last steam locomotive passed here in 1958. The remaining residents, six out of seven people in 2005, held municipal positions.

Filmmakers love to throw mud at one of the most naturally beautiful states in America. Here are the most famous, good and not so good film stories that feature the forests of “West Virginia”

(Worm-assed aliens against the backdrop of winter forests W/E. The most controversial film from the “Virginophobes” collection. “Homophobic message” by Stephen King - protect your Ass from alien elements!!!)

New Vrindavan

New Vrindaban is an eco-community of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in West Virginia, USA. It has the status of an unincorporated city.

For some, the style of the complex, which combines architectural elements of the East and West, is in tune, for others it is pretentious, intricate and overloaded. But this collective creation cannot help but admire, if only because it was created on sheer enthusiasm and the belief that people who are far from construction and architecture, who have not received a cent for their work, are doing a good deed.

the whole story of the origin of the myth of the mothman, seen in West Virginia: http://americanlegends.livejournal.com/8858.html

with illustrations, videos and lots of links.

The world's largest telescope in West Virginia:

The most extensive cave system in West Virginia, the Seneca Caverns, is hidden in the mountains, almost a kilometer above sea level, at a depth of up to 55 m. It is characterized by its own special style, something like the scenery for a thriller. The flows form soft sculptural forms, giving full scope for the most irrepressible imagination. They are either red-black, beige-gold, or white-silver with sparkles. Monumental volumes and forms are replaced by a continuous sparkling brush in which the vaults are dressed, or, as in a toy store, by miniature palaces, temples and forts with turrets and fortress walls, with tiny lakes. In the dark corners of the huge halls hide narrow corridors, cramped chambers bristling with pikes, spears, clubs... In a word, a world of fantasy and the slow life of the Earth’s womb, inaccessible to our understanding, creating all this breathtaking splendor drop by drop over millions of years.

The largest single-arch bridge in the world is in Western Virginia:

New River Gorge Bridge

Well, the essence of the topic is the sociocultural context. And it consists of the following:

Appalachia is a historical and cultural region of the United States of America, geographically associated with the Appalachian mountain range, and received its name from the Appalachian Indian tribe, which, in fact, lived somewhat to the south, in Florida and Louisiana. The Appalachian Mountains cover the western portions of all states on the east coast, the eastern portions of several states beyond the coast, most of Pellsylvania, and the entire state of West Virginia. Actually, West Virginia is the fucking heart of Appalachia, despite the fact that it is quite far north for the heart of a region that is traditionally considered southern.

The initial image of the Appalachians was formed based on the fact that for the first settlers they were a frontier - and therefore, in our opinion, a wild steppe where only real men ventured. It’s funny that the frontier went west back in the eighteenth century, but the image of the territory being “developed” remained with the Appalachians almost until the mid-twentieth. In addition, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mineral resources were actively developed here, which attracted a huge number of adventurers and simply unemployed people from all over America. But already in the first half of the twentieth century, production began to deplete, and the introduction of mechanization left most of the newcomers without work, penniless and without any prospects.

As a result, over the time since the beginning of the development of Appalachia, a unique mythology has formed around the inhabitants of the region, which is characterized by several things.

Firstly, Appalachia is the poorest and most sparsely populated (after deserts) region of the United States. There are no large cities here, and in the forests you have to drive (or walk, because there are not always roads in the mountains) several kilometers to see another hut - a trailer, or a crumbling hundred-year-old log house, where some dying old man and his drunken son live.

Secondly, the main population of Appalachia are rednecks - the kind of real, 100% rednecks that you won’t find on the coast. In fact, I now associate the word “redneck” with the Appalachians.

And thirdly, these rednecks differ from the rest of the US population in that they are on their own. At least that's what the rest of the US population thinks. They (the residents of Appalachia) speak their own dialect, which is a mixture of southern dialect and Indian dialects, do not work anywhere and do not like visitors. From time to time, all of America goes crazy after another sensation about the “clan war” (this really takes place between families of Appalachian rednecks) or the sale of “moonshine” (this is a specific local moonshine that Appalachian rednecks drink instead of bourbon, which is traditional for the rest of the United States; There are many names for this moonshine, one of which is “White Lightnin'”, which coincides with the title of the film). It is clear that Appalachian rednecks are considered extremely dangerous people, and very... "blood simple", in the words of the American classic.

So: 1) Northerners, famous lovers of niggas and other tolerant things, laugh at the rednecks. As it was correctly said, Hollywood is making efforts to discriminate against them (the same Zadornov in relation to Russians is a mirror). But what’s strange is that the rednecks themselves don’t give a damn.

2) Another subspecies of rednecks is the Hillbilly - people inhabiting the rural mountainous regions of the eastern United States - the Appalachians and the Ozark plateau.

The stereotype of hillbillies is poor and ignorant mountain dwellers, wearing straw or felt hats and overalls for all occasions. Whatever they undertake, they do it through a stump. During the day they work on farms and in the fields, at night they make moonshine - moonshine. They drive beat-up tractors and antediluvian cars. Men wear beards, women smoke pipes, and metal teeth are always in fashion. On top of that, they are cunning, drink excessively and are aggressive (Viktor Rodionov)

3) Hollywood, as a machine for forming ideas and images in the minds of viewers, has seriously and long ago discredited the White American hinterland.

A positive image of the American White Village (rednecks) can be seen in the film “Next of Kin” with Patrick Swayze (released in 1989) http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=570280

Great movie. It shows the protagonist's relatives living in the village. I especially liked the moment when the brothers’ wives (and other female relatives) gathered their men on the road when they were going to the city to take revenge on the Italian mafia for their murdered brother. Women put food and clothes in bags without screaming or lamenting, knowing that their loved ones are going to die. Everything happens with the awareness of the necessity of such actions. Because they are the essence of their being. And no one racks their brains with questions. People do what they have to do, what is routine and what is part of their life and themselves.

4) Here is another small American film (documentary). The main storyline is about moonshine, but it is not so narrow and additionally reflects the inner world of the American outback, to some extent.

5) Specific humor of rednecks at the end.

State of West Virginia (West Virginia, WV, USA) - photo

West Virginia (West Virginia, WV, USA listen)) is a southeastern state of the United States of America that is bordered by Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The state capital is Charleston. The other big cities are Morgantown, Wheeling, and Huntington. Although the state does not have access to the Atlantic Ocean, it is part of the group of South Atlantic states.

West Virginia joined the United States in 1863 and became the 37th state.

More than half of the state's territory is mountainous, sloping toward the Ohio River in the west. The state's major rivers are the Kanova, Potomac, and Monongahela. The main part of the state is covered with forests, the climate here is quite humid. Summers here are hot and winters are not very harsh. There are floods in the state.

The state is home to almost 2 million residents. The largest ethnic group is the English. The majority of residents profess Christianity.

The state produces oil, gas, coal, building materials and salt. The coke-chemical, chemical, aluminum, silicate-ceramic industries, ferrous metallurgy, and the production of synthetic rubber and plastics are actively developing here. The state operates power plants that export electricity to other states. The state also has developed livestock and poultry farming. In the valleys they grow apples. Tourism is actively developing.

The state has vacation spots to suit every taste. West Virginia is rich in beautiful places and historical treasures. The most beautiful place in the Central Appalachians is the Potomac Highlands, which is located in the eastern region of the state.

Climbers love to visit and spend their time at the Seneca Rocks Recreation Area. There is also a place to relax with the family, this is the Timberline Resort. If you have the opportunity, you should definitely visit the historic town of Harpess Ferry, where John Bryan's Rebellion began, and there are museums dedicated to the history of the Civil War and slavery. There is a water mill in the city; it is an incredibly beautiful place.

High in the mountains you can visit the Golden Palace of the Hare Krishna teacher Prabhupada.

Capitol

Mill at Babcock Park

You can visit the ancient city of Louisbourg, look at the historical buildings and the Capitol. You can also go down the New River Gorge for an incredible rafting trip and visit the state's four national parks.

The state has the nickname Mountain State and the Heraldic motto - Mountaineers are always free. The state capital is the city of Charleston.

Location. Located in the eastern South Atlantic region, West Virginia's size is 41st among the 50 states. The total area of ​​West Virginia is 24,231 sq. miles (62,758 sq. km), including 24,119 sq. miles (62,468 sq. km) of land and 112 sq. km. miles (290 sq. km) of water. West Virginia borders Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky. The total length of West Virginia's borders is 1,180 miles (1,899 km). The state has no access to the ocean.

Topography. 80 percent of the state is mountainous. The state's average elevation is 1,500 feet (458 m), higher than any state east of the Mississippi River. Highest point, Mount Rogers, 4,861 feet (1,483 m) above sea level. It is noteworthy that the state of West Virginia does not have any natural lakes.

West Virginia has a humid continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. Annual temperatures in West Virginia range from 56°f (13°c) in the southwest to 48°f (9°c) in higher areas. The annual average temperature is 53°f (12°c). Prevailing winds are from the south and west, rarely reaching tornado or hurricane strength. In Charleston, annual precipitation is approximately 42.9 in (108 cm).

West Virginia State Symbols

Coat of Arms: Farmer positioned to the right and miner to the left of a huge ivy-draped rock bearing the date of West Virginia's entry into the United States. In front of the rock are the rifles of two hunters wearing a cap. The state heraldic motto is below and the words "State of West Virginia" above.

Flag: bounded by a white field with a blue stripe, with the coat of arms in the center, around which rhododendron branches curl; across the coat of arms are the words "State of West Virginia."

Official seal: same as coat of arms.

Population. West Virginia had the 37th largest population in the United States with an estimated total of 1,816,856 in 2005. The population is projected to decrease to 1.76 million by 2025. The population density in 2004 was 75.4 people per square meter. m.

US Census Bureau data shows West Virginia's population to be 1,850,326 as of July 1, 2014, showing a 0.14% decrease since the 2010 Census. West Virginia has the 37th largest population in the United States. The population is projected to decrease to 1.76 million by 2025. The population density in 2004 was 75.4 people per square meter. m.

The 2012 Nominal Well-Being Index ranked West Virginia as the unhappiest state in the United States.

Racial composition of the population in the state:

93.2% of the population are White
3.4% Black or African American
0.2% American Indians and Alaska Natives
0.7% Asian American.

Only 1.1% of the state's residents are foreign-born, ranking last among the 50 states for this indicator. West Virginia also has the lowest percentage of residents who speak a language other than English at home (2.7%).

22.3 percent of West Virginia's population is under 18 years of age and 15.3 percent are 65 or older. Women make up approximately 51.4% of the population.

The share of West Virginia adults with a bachelor's degree is the lowest in the United States at 17.3%.

The United Methodist Church has the largest following with 136,000 members in 1,200 congregations. The second largest is the American Baptist Church USA with 88,000 members and 381 congregations. The Southern Baptist Church has 44,000 members and 287 congregations. The Church of Christ has 22,000 members. Presbyterian Church 200 congregations and 20,000 members.

Flora and fauna. With diverse topography and climate, West Virginia provides natural habitat for more than 3,200 species of flora and fauna. Oak, maple, poplar, walnut, hickory, birch, as well as hemlock, pine, and spruce are common forest trees. Rhododendron, laurel, dogwood, willow, and more than 200 flowering trees and bushes. Rare varieties include blueberry and clover.

West Virginia's fauna includes 56 species of mammals and more than 300 species of birds. Deer and black bear (both federally protected); Raccoons, skunks, woodchucks, opossums, gray and red foxes, squirrels, and rabbits remain numerous.

Economy of West Virginia

West Virginia's economy is the 62nd largest globally, according to the World Bank, and the 64th largest, according to the International Monetary Fund. The state of West Virginia has a nominal state GDP of $63.34 billion. The state's real GDP growth is 7% and was the seventh best in the United States in 2009. West Virginia was one of ten US states that showed economic growth in 2009.

While per capita income fell 2.6% nationally in 2009, West Virginia posted a 1.8% increase. During the first half of 2010, exports from West Virginia exceeded $3 billion, an increase of 39.5% over the same period the previous year.

The city of Morgantown is ranked by Forbes as one of the best cities in the United States for business. The city of Morgantown is also home to West Virginia University, which is ranked in the top 95 public universities according to the 2011 U.S. News & World Report.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Statistics, West Virginia's economy grew twice as fast in 2014, ranking third alongside Wyoming and North Dakota and Texas.

West Virginia- a state in the southeastern United States, one of the so-called South Atlantic states (the only state in this group that does not have access to the Atlantic Ocean). The 2013 population was 1,854,304 (37th in the US). The capital and largest city is Charleston. Other major cities are Huntington, Wheeling and Morgantown.

The official nickname is "Mountain State". Montani's motto is Semper liberi (“Mountains are always free”).

The area of ​​the state is 62.8 thousand km (41st place among states). West Virginia is bordered in the north by Pennsylvania, in the east by Maryland and Virginia, and in the west by Kentucky and Ohio. The territory of West Virginia is located in the Appalachian system (the highest point is Mount Spruce Knob). The Appalachian Plateau covers about 60% of the state's area and is generally mountainous.

Flag	Coat of arms	Map

The largest rivers are Kanova, Potomac and Monongahela. About 80% of the state is covered by forests.

The climate is continental, moderately humid, and floods are common.

In ancient times, the Adena Indian culture was developed in West Virginia, from which ritual mounds remain in the north of the state. By the beginning of the 17th century, the Cherokee, Delaware, Shawnee and Susquehanna tribes lived here.

The first European settler in the state was in 1726 British Colonel Morgan Morgan, a Welshman who founded a colony on the Mill Creek River. A year later, a group of German settlers created the settlement of New Mecklenburg (now the city of Shepherdstown) on the right bank of the Potomac. Among the Europeans who settled here in the middle of the 18th century, immigrants from Scotland, Ireland and various German principalities predominated.

In 1769, the city of Wheeling appeared on the territory of the province, in 1774 - Point Pleasant, in 1785 - Parkersburg, in 1788 - Charleston.

Initially, West Virginia was closely associated with neighboring Virginia, of which it was part for some time. But already in 1776, the settlers of western Virginia petitioned Congress to allow them to create their own governments. If the residents of eastern Virginia gravitated more towards the American South, then the West Virginians felt their community with the northern states.

After the outbreak of the Civil War, a majority of state convention delegates voted in Richmond to secede from the Union. However, delegates from the northwest at a separate conference in June 1861 elected their own governor. In October 1862, West Virginians voted in a referendum to create their own state, called Canova, with Wheeling as its capital. On June 20, 1863, it officially became part of the United States under its current name, becoming the 35th state.

In the periods from 1862 to 1870, as well as from 1875 to 1885. Wheeling was the state capital; in 1870, this status passed to Charleston. The state's rapid industrial development began in the last decades of the 20th century, which was associated with the development of mineral deposits and the construction of railways. The leading sector of the economy has been and continues to be the mining industry. The most intensive periods of development of the coal industry occurred in the period 1910 - 1970. (West Virginia ranked first in the country in coal production).

The state has significant reserves of coal, natural gas, oil, salt and other minerals, which determine its development. The chemical industry is developed, based on the processing of minerals. Agriculture is well developed (livestock farming, poultry farming, growing apples, peaches, corn, tobacco). However, the number of farms has been declining recently. Tourism plays a significant role in the economy.

This state is very interesting not only for tourists, but also for the residents of the country themselves. On the way to West Virginia, you can pass through the amazing Willing - a city with a rich history, and then move high into the mountains to the Golden Palace and the Hare Krishna Temple. After a long climb, the golden domes of the palace will suddenly shine in the sky before your eyes. The amazing stained glass windows, the wealth and splendor of the Temple Palace and its amazing history will not leave anyone indifferent.

The most famous landmark of West Virginia - a masterpiece of world architecture - is the famous residential building of the outstanding architect Frank Lloyd Wright - the House over the Falls. You can look at albums with postcards or see a house in a movie, but you will never understand its amazing beauty - you need to see this building with your own eyes!

Articles from Wikipedia were used in preparing the material.