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|Former = Virginia |Capital = Charleston |LargestCity = capital |LargestMetro = Huntington Metropolitan Area |Governor = Earl Ray Tomblin (D) |Lieutenant Governor = Bill Cole (R) |Legislature = West Virginia Legislature |Upperhouse = Senate |Lowerhouse = House of Delegates |Senators = Joe Manchin (D) Shelley Moore Capito (R) |Representative = 1: David McKinley (R) 2: Alex Mooney (R) 3: Evan Jenkins (R) |PostalAbbreviation = WV |OfficialLang = De jure: none De facto: English |Demonym = West Virginian |AreaRank = 41st |TotalAreaUS = 24,230 |TotalArea = 62,755 |LandAreaUS = 24,078 |LandArea = 62,361 |WaterAreaUS = 152 |WaterArea = 394 |PCWater = 0.6 |PopRank = 38th |2010Pop = 1,850,326 (2014 est)〔 |DensityRank = 29th |2010DensityUS = 77.1 |2010Density = 29.8 |MedianHouseholdIncome = $38,029 |IncomeRank = 49th |AdmittanceOrder = 35th |AdmittanceDate = June 20, 1863 |TimeZone = Eastern: UTC -5/-4 |Latitude = 37° 12′ N to 40° 39′ N |Longitude = 77° 43′ W to 82° 39′ W |WidthUS = 130 |Width = 210 |LengthUS = 240 |Length = 385 |HighestPoint = Spruce Knob〔Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.〕 |HighestElevUS = 4863 |HighestElev = 1482 |MeanElevUS = 1,500 |MeanElev = 460 |LowestPoint = Potomac River at 〔〔 |LowestElevUS = 240 |LowestElev = 73 |ISOCode = US-WV |Website = wv.gov }} West Virginia is a state located in the Appalachian region of the Southern United States.〔(Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers )〕〔Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris, ''Encyclopedia of Southern Culture'', Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1990.〕〔(U.S. Census Bureau )〕〔Thomas R. Ford and Rupert Bayless Vance, ''The Southern Appalachian Region, A Survey'', Univ. of Kentucky Press, 1962〕〔() Geological Society of America〕 It is bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the north (and, slightly, east), and Maryland to the northeast. West Virginia is the 41st largest by area and the 38th most populous of the 50 United States. The capital and largest city is Charleston. West Virginia became a state following the Wheeling Conventions of 1861, in which delegates from some Unionist counties of northwestern counties of Virginia decided to break away from Virginia during the American Civil War, although they included many secessionist counties in the new state.〔Foner, Eric, ''Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877, Harper, 2002, pg. 39〕 West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key Civil War border state. West Virginia was the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state, the first to separate from any state since Maine separated from Massachusetts, and was one of two states formed during the American Civil War (the other being Nevada, which separated from Utah Territory). The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers〔 classify West Virginia as part of the South. The northern panhandle extends adjacent to Pennsylvania and Ohio, with the West Virginia cities of Wheeling and Weirton just across the border from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, while Bluefield is less than from North Carolina. Huntington in the southwest is close to the states of Ohio and Kentucky, while Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry in the Eastern Panhandle region are considered part of the Washington metropolitan area, in between the states of Maryland and Virginia. The unique position of West Virginia means that it is often included in several geographical regions, including the Mid-Atlantic, the Upland South, and the Southeastern United States. It is the only state that is entirely within the area served by the Appalachian Regional Commission; the area is commonly defined as "Appalachia".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Appalachian Region: Counties in Appalachia )〕 The state is noted for its mountains and rolling hills, its historically significant logging and coal mining industries, and its political and labor history. It is one of the most densely karstic areas in the world, making it a choice area for recreational caving and scientific research. The karst lands contribute to much of the state's cool trout waters. It is also known for a wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities, including skiing, whitewater rafting, fishing, hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, and hunting. ==History== (詳細はmound builder cultures survive, especially in the areas of Moundsville, South Charleston, and Romney. The artifacts uncovered in these give evidence of village societies. They had a tribal trade system culture that crafted cold worked copper pieces. The Iroquois drove out other American Indian tribes from the region to reserve the upper Ohio Valley as a hunting ground in the 1670s, during the Beaver Wars. Siouan language tribes such as the Moneton had also been recorded in the area previously. The area now occupied by West Virginia was contested territory among European Americans as well, with the colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia claiming territorial rights before the American Revolutionary War. Some speculative land companies, such as the Vandalia Company,〔Charles H. Ambler, "A History of West Virginia" pg. 104〕 and later the Ohio Company and Indiana Company, tried to legitimize their claims to land in parts of West Virginia and Kentucky, but failed. With the settlement of the Pennsylvania and Virginia border dispute, which resulted in the creation of Kentucky, Kentuckians "were satisfied (), and the inhabitants of a large part of West Virginia were grateful."〔Charles H. Ambler. ''A History of West Virginia'', pp. 132–138〕 West Virginia was originally part of the British Virginia Colony from 1607 to 1776 and the western part of the state of Virginia (which was commonly referred as ''Trans-Allegheny Virginia'' prior to the formation of West Virginia) from 1776 to 1863. Long discontented with electoral malapportionment and underrepresentation in the state legislature, its residents became sharply divided over the issue of secession from the Union during the Civil War. Residents of the western and northern counties set up a separate government under Francis Pierpont in 1861, which they called the "restored" government. Most voted to separate from Virginia and the new state was admitted to the Union in 1863. In 1864 a state constitutional convention drafted a constitution, which was ratified by the legislature without putting it to popular vote. West Virginia abolished slavery and temporarily disfranchised men who had held Confederate office or fought for the Confederacy. West Virginia's history has been profoundly affected by its mountainous terrain, numerous and vast river valleys, and rich natural resources. These were all factors driving its economy and the lifestyles of its residents, and remain so today. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「West Virginia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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