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The U.S. state of West Virginia has 55 counties. Fifty of them existed at the time of the Wheeling Convention in 1861, during the American Civil War, when those counties seceded from the Commonwealth of Virginia to form the new state of West Virginia. [1] West Virginia was admitted as a separate state of the United States on June 20, 1863. [2]
Geologic Map of West Virginia. West Virginia's geologic history stretches back into the Precambrian, and includes several periods of mountain building and erosion. At times, much of what is now West Virginia was covered by swamps, marshlands, and shallow seas, accounting for the wide variety of sedimentary rocks found in the state, as well as its wealth of coal and natural gas deposits.
The environment of West Virginia encompasses terrain and ecosystems ranging from plateaus to mountains. Most of West Virginia lies within the Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests ecoregion , while the higher elevations along the eastern border and in the panhandle lie within the Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests .
West Virginia is the 10th-smallest state by area and ranks as the 12th-least populous state, with a population of 1,769,979 residents. [5] The capital and most populous city is Charleston with a population of 49,055. West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key border state during the American Civil War.
A coal miners house and family, 1946. McDowell County is a county in the State of West Virginia.As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,111. [2] Its county seat is Welch. [3]
On July 21, 2023, the OMB delineated five combined statistical areas, 10 metropolitan statistical areas, and five micropolitan statistical areas in West Virginia. [1] As of 2023, the largest of these is the Charleston-Huntington-Ashland, WV-OH-KY CSA , which includes West Virginia's capital and largest city, Charleston .
2023 Rank City Type 2023 Estimate [1] 2020 Census Change County 1: Charleston †† City 46,838 48,864 −4.15%: Kanawha: 2: Huntington † City 45,325 46,842
BULLETIN 8* — Caves of the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, by Robert Gulden & Mark Johnson, 1985. 135 pages describing 89 caves in 3 counties. BULLETIN 9* — Caves of the Organ Cave Plateau, Greenbrier County, West Virginia, edited by Paul J. Stevens, 1988. Over 70 pages devoted to Organ Cave, the second longest in West Virginia, 37+ miles.