Virginia

People. Population (2003 est.): 7,386,330; rank: 12; net change (2002-2003): 1.4%. Pop. density: 186.6 per sq mi. Racial distribution (2000): 72.3% white; 19.5% black: 3.7% Asian; 0.3% Native American/Nat. AK; 0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; 2.0% other race; 2 or more races, 2.0%. Hispanic pop. (any race): 4.7%.

Geography. Total area: 42,774 sq mi; rank: 35. Land area: 39,594 sq mi; rank: 37. Acres forested: 16.1 mil. Location: South Atlantic state bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the E and surrounded by North Carolina, Tennessee. Kentucky, West Virginia, and Maryland. Climate: mild and equable. Topography: mountain and valley region in the W, including the

Blue Ridge Mts.; rolling piedmont plateau; tidewater. or coastal plain, including the eastern shore. Capital: Richmond.

Economy. Chief industries: services, trade. govemment, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture. Chief manuf. goods: food processing, transportation equipment, printing, textiles, electronic & electrical equipment, industrial machinery & equipment, lumber & wood products, chemicals, rubber & plastics, furniture. Chief crops: tobacco, grain corn, soybeans, winter wheat, peanuts, lint & seed cotton. Livestock (Jan. 2004) 1.54 mil. cattle/calves; 55,000 sheep/lambs; (Jan. 2003): 370,000 hogs/pigs; (Dec. 2003): 4.5 mil. chickens (excl. broilers); 265.1 mil. broilers. Timber/lumber (est. 2002): 1.5 bil bd. ft.; pine and hardwoods. Nonfuel minerals (est. 2003): $727 mil.; stone {crushed). cement (portland), sand and gravel (construction), lime, clays (fuIler‘s earth). Commercial fishing (2002): $123.3 mil. Chief ports: Hampton Roads. Richmond, Alexandria. Principal internat. airports at: Arlington, Norfolk, Loudon, Richmond, Newport News. New private housing (2003): 56,951 units/$6.9 bil. Gross state product (2001); $273.1 bil. Employment distrib. (May 2004): 18.1% govt.; 18.1% trade/trans./util.; 8.3% mfg.; 10.5%.ed./health serv.; 16% prof./bus serv.; 8.9% leisure/hosp.; 5.3% finance; 6.5% constr.; 2.8% info. Per cap. pers. income (2003): $33.571. Sales tax (2004): 4.5%. Unemployment (2003): 4.1%. Tourism expends. (2002): $13.7 bil. Lottery (2003); total sales: $1.1 bil; net income: 75.2 mil.

Finance. FDlC-insured commercial banks (2003):125. Deposits: $72.5 bil. FDIC-insured savings institutions (2003): 16. Assets: $74 bil.

Federal govt. Fed. civ. employees (Mar. 2003): 116,012. Avg. salary: $63,523. Notable fed. facilities: Pentagon; Norfolk Naval Sta., Shipyard; Marine Corps Base; Langley AFB; NASA Langley Res. Ctr.; CIA George Bush Ctr. for Intelligence, Langley; Quantico USMC Base; FBI Academy (Quantico); Dahlgren Nav. Surface Warfare Ctr. & Lab: USDA food and Nutrition Serv., U.S. Geological Survey Natl. Ctr.

Energy. Electricity production (est. 2003, kWh by source); Coal: 29.6 bil; Petroleum; 5.0 bil; Gas: 2.3 bil; Hydroelectric: 212 mil; Nuclear: 24.8 bil.

State data. Motto: Sic Semper Tyrannis (Thus always to tyrants). Flower: Dogwood. Bird: Cardinal.Tree:Dogwood. Song Emeritus: Carry Me Back to Old Virginia. Tenth of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution,  June 25, 1788. State fair at Richmond; late Sept.-early Oct.

History. Living in the area at the time of European contact were the Cherokee and Susquehanna and the Algonquians of the Powhatan Confederacy. English settlers founded Jamestown, 1607. Virginians took over much of the government from royal governor Dunmore, 1775, forcing him to flee. Virginians under George Rogers Clark freed the Ohio-Indiana-Illinois area of British forces. Benedict Arnold burned Richmond and Petersburg for the British, 1781. That same year, Britains Cornwallis was trapped at Yorktown and surrendered, ending the American Revolution. Virginia seceded from the Union, 1861, and Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy. Hampton Roads, off the Virginia coast, was the site of the famous naval battle of the US Monitor and CSS Verginia (Merrimac), 1862. Virginia was readmitted, 1870.