VIRGINIA, the largest and most central of the eastern states in the North American Union lies between 36° 30' and 40° 38' N. Lat.; 75° 10' and 83° 25' W. Long., having Maryland on the E., Ohio and Kentucky on the W., Maryland and Pennsylvania on the N., and Tennessee and North Carolina on the S. Its general breadth from north to south is 210 miles, its length in the southern part is about 425 miles, but in the north only about 350. Its area is about 61,352 square miles, being considerably more than that of England.

With the exception of Pennsylvania, Virginia is the only state that extends quite across the great Appalachian chain, and it is traversed from north to south by several well-defined mountain-ranges. The Blue Ridge, although pierced by the Potomac, James, and Staunton rivers, constitutes a well-marked and continuous chain of 260 miles in length. In general it forms rounded, swelling masses, about 2000 feet above the level of the sea, or about 1500 feet above the valleys at its eastern base; but the Peaks of Otter shoot up in projecting summits to the height of 4260 feet. The prolongation of the Kittatinny mountain of Pennsylvania, enters the state in Morgan county, under the name of the Great Ridge, or North Mountain, and passes into North Carolina under the name of the Iron Mountain. Its height is generally from 2100 to 2500 feet, but the White Top peak reaches the height of 6000 feet.

The Great valley, which lies between these two ridges, sometimes called the German valley, is a continuation of the Cumberland and Tulpehocken valleys of Pennsylvania. From this valley the New River passes westward, and the James and Potomac eastward. West of it are numerous mountain-masses, which are probably prolongations of those which traverse central Pennsylvania. The state is usually divided into four parts, which form political as well as natural divisions. The first of these is the Tide Water district, lying east of the lower falls of the rivers, and consisting for the most part of a flat country, nowhere more than 60 feet above the sea. Further west is the Piedmont district, extending as far as the Blue Ridge. This is more elevated and diversified in its surface than the former, as it is traversed by a chain of hills parallel to the Blue Ridge, and about 30 miles distant from it. The Valley district extends from the Blue Ridge to the most westerly ridge of the Alleghany range; and it is occupied by the various chains of these mountains, and the fertile valleys that lie among them. The extreme west of the state is occupied by the Trans-Alleghany district, which slopes westward, and is broken by various branches and offsets of mountains.

The coasts of Virginia, where they border on the Atlantic, are for the most part low and sandy. The chief arm of the sea here is Chesapeake Bay, of which the entrance and both sides of the lower part as far north as the mouth of the Potomac belong to Virginia; but all the rest, more than half of its whole extent, to Maryland. A small portion of Virginia, lying to the east of it, is by this bay entirely separated from the rest. The west shore of Chesapeake Bay is here indented by many bays and inlets; the most considerable of which are the estuaries of rivers.

Every portion of Virginia is traversed by fine rivers and streams, useful either as channels of navigation or for manufacturing purposes. The chief of these is the main trunk of the Potomac, which has already been described under the article MARYLAND. Its principal tributaries are from this state. The Rappahannock rises on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, and is navigable for small vessels to Fredericksburg, 110 miles above its mouth in Chesapeake Bay. James River is by far the largest and most important of the streams which have their whole course in Virginia, and is not inferior to the Potomac and the Kanawha in utility and the varied beauties of its scenery. Rising in the Alleghany mountain, it first bears the name of Jackson's River, and after having received the Cow Pasture River, a considerable stream, it takes the name of King James, passes through the Kittatinny, and several other mountain-chains, enters the Great Valley, and gathering the waters of that fruitful region, emerges from the Blue Ridge over the Irish Falls. Above Richmond it descends by a fall of seventy feet, in the distance of 8 miles, into the low country. Below Richmond it gradually becomes wider and deeper, and in the lower part of its course expands into a long, spacious bay, with sufficient depth for the largest ships. Vessels of 600 tons ascend to City Point, 75 miles from the bay, although there are some bars and shoals which obstruct the navigation; and vessels drawing 15 feet of water proceed 50 miles higher, to Warwick, which is within 5 miles of Richmond, the capital of the state. The York River, formed by the confluence of the Mattapony and Pamunkey, each about 100 miles long, flows south-east into Chesapeake Bay; and is navigable up to Yorktown, about 40 miles above its mouth. The Blackwater, Nottoway, and Meherrin, unite in North Carolina to form the Chowan, which enters Albemarle sound. They are all navigable for small coasting-vessels. The Ohio, which divides Virginia from the state of that name, receiver from the left the Great Kanawha, rising in the valley be- Virginia, between the Blue and the Iron Mountains, and also the Monongahela, Little Kanawha, Guyandot, and Big Sandy rivers.

The geological strata that occupy Virginia lie in the same general direction as the mountain-ranges. In the south-east of the state there is a tract of tertiary formation; which is succeeded by a broad belt of primary rocks, interrupted at two places by old red sandstone, and extending as far as the Blue Mountains. This again is succeeded by a tract occupied by various kinds of limestone and sandstone, occupying the whole of the Valley district; while beyond the mountains lie the great coal-fields of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The mineral wealth of Virginia is almost boundless; gold, copper, lead, iron, coal, salt, limestone, marls, gypsum, slate, porcelain clay, excellent marbles, granites, soapstones, freestones, &c., are among its subterranean treasures. The first coalfield is that of the primary region, the extent of which has not been determined, but coal has been worked along the James and Appomattox rivers in the neighbourhood of Richmond. The thickness of the coal-seams is very variable, ranging from 4 or 5 to 30, 40, and even 60 feet; the coal is bituminous, and of an excellent quality. On the north branch of the Potomac there is a remarkable bituminous coalfield, along with strata of valuable iron ore; and, west of the Alleghany, there are some of the most extensive and valuable deposits of coal in the world. At Wheeling, on the Ohio, and for 14 miles down the river, the bank presents an uninterrupted bed of highly bituminous coal, upwards of 16 feet thick. Salt-springs occur in various places. But the most important works are on the Great and Little Kanawha. Virginia has many thermal and other medicinal springs, which are much resorted to by invalids. Gold is one of the most important of the metallic minerals of Virginia. It occurs throughout a belt on the western side of the primary district, stretching from beyond the Rappahannock to the Appomattox; and it has been profitably worked to a large extent. Iron will probably at some future day prove to be a more precious deposit; but, although the ore of several varieties is found in profusion in different sections of the state, it is at present but little worked. Copper ores are found among the altered rocks east of the Blue Ridge; and numerous openings have been made in Orange, Amherst, Campbell, and Buckingham counties, for procuring the cuprous rock, which at an early period was ground on the spot, and sent to England to be smelted. Lead occurs in the south-western part of the state, in the forms of the sulphuret (galena) and carbonate, both of which are wrought, yielding a large per centage of valuable metal.

The climate of Virginia, like the character of the country, is very various in different parts. In the low country along the coast, it is hot and not very healthy in summer, but mild in winter. The central regions enjoy a colder and more salubrious climate; and in the extreme west, both the heat in summer and the cold in winter are more intense. But on the whole the climate is well suited for agriculture, for which also much of the soil is well adapted. On the mountain-valleys and along the great rivers there are rich alluvial tracts, while the loftier regions have pasture-land sufficient for vast numbers of cattle and sheep. Agriculture is the chief branch of industry, but the immense resources of the country have as yet been but partially developed. On both sides of the Blue Ridge, maize, wheat, rye, oats, and buckwheat, are the principal grain crops. Tobacco is the principal staple of most of eastern Virginia, but in the valley it is cultivated only in the southern portion, and not at all beyond the Alleghany. In the eastern and southern counties cotton is planted to a considerable extent. On the shores of the Chesapeake, barley and the castor oil plant are cultivated; and on some of the best lands above tide-water, hemp is raised to advantage. The Trans-Alleghany county, being exceedingly mountainous and remote from market, is chiefly devoted to raising live stock. According to the census of 1850, Virginia contained 10,360,135 acres of cultivated land, and produced 11,232,616 bushels wheat, 458,930 rye, 35,254,319 maize, 521,581 pease and beans, 3,130,604 potatoes, 294,818 buckwheat, 53,155 grass seed, 52,318 flax seed; 56,803,218 lb. tobacco, 2,860,765 wool, 11,089,359 butter, 436,298 cheese, 999,450 flax, 1,227,665 maple sugar, 880,767 honey and wax; and 369,098 tons hay. Of live stock, there were in the same year, 272,403 horses; 21,480 asses and mules; 1,076,369 head of cattle; 1,310,004 sheep; and 1,830,743 swine.

Manufactures do not engage so much of the industry of Virginia as agriculture, but they are making rapid progress, and the natural resources of the country are sufficient, if commerce is fully developed, to raise it to a high place as a manufacturing country. In 1850, the entire number of establishments producing each L100 worth of goods annually, was 4,433. Among these were 27 cotton factories, employing 1,275 men and 768 women, and producing goods to the value of L309,660; 121 woollen factories, employing 478 men and 190 women, and producing goods to the value of L175,209; 122 furnaces, forges, &c., employing 3,220 men, and producing castings, pig iron, &c., valued at L510,692; a large number of breweries and distilleries, employing 123 men, and producing 5,500 barrels of beer, ale, &c., and 879,440 gallons of whisky, brandy, &c.; and 341 tanneries, producing leather to the value of L186,429. The direct foreign trade of Virginia is much less than what it might be from the productions of the country, and the number of rivers and harbours it possesses. And it is also much less than it formerly was; for at one time Virginia was the most commercial of all the United States; and its mercantile navy held the position now occupied by that of New York. There is a very large coasting trade; the productions of the country being generally conveyed to the northern ports for exportation; and the imports from foreign lands brought in the same way. Tobacco, maize, wheat, flour, timber, coal, and oysters, are the most important articles exported from Virginia. The total value of the exports for the year ending 30th June 1858 was L1,515,917; and that of the imports, L224,801. In the same year there entered at the various ports of the state 259 vessels, tonnage 92,332; and there cleared 317, tonnage 88,644. The total number of vessels built in Virginia in the same year was 25, tonnage 2605; and of these 11 were steamers. Much has been done here for facilitating internal intercourse and commerce by means of railways and canals, though Virginia is still, in these improvements, behind some of the other states. The great southern line has about 150 miles of its length in this state, and numerous other railways and branches intersect the country; the whole length of the lines in operation in January 1859 being 1230 miles. There are also several canals in Virginia. Of these, the most important are the James river and Kanawha canal, extending from Richmond westwards across the Blue Mountains, and intended to be continued to open up a communication with the Ohio; and the Dismal Swamp canal, connecting Albemarle Sound with Chesapeake Bay, and lying only partly in this state.

The government of Virginia is republican. The elective franchise is vested in all male citizens, who have been resident two years in the state, and one in the district or town for which they vote. The executive power is in the hands of a governor, elected by the people directly every four years, assisted by a lieutenant-governor, likewise popularly elected for the same period. The legislative body appoint the secretary, treasurer, two auditors of public accounts, the registrar of the land-office, and the superintendent of the penitentiary, each for two years. There is a senate of 50 members, elected from districts in the propor- Virginia. tion of the property and taxation combined, holding office for four years, one-half retiring biennially; and a house of delegates of 152 members, elected biennially from districts in proportion to the white population. The judiciary consists of a supreme court of appeals of five judges; besides district, county, and circuit courts. The judges are all popularly elected in the supreme court for twelve, and in the subordinate courts for eight years. The total public receipts for the year ending 30th September 1859, were L.901,360; the public expenditure, L.879,692; and the public debt, L.6,063,882.

In 1850 there were in the state 2336 places of worship, with 834,691 sittings. Of the former, 1002 belonged to the Methodists; 639 to various sects of Baptists; 236 to the Presbyterians; 167 to the Episcopalians; and the rest to minor sects. There is no general system of education in the state, but much is done for its encouragement. A sum of money is allotted from the public finances for the gratuitous education of the poor. The recent returns on this subject are imperfect, but the amount expended in this manner in 125 out of the 140 counties, and in three towns for the year ending 30th September 1857, was L.28,452; and the number of poor children educated in 128 counties and one town was 49,547. Support is also given to the primary schools, and an annual grant is made to the university of Virginia. The literary fund, by the proceeds of which the primary schools are supported, was created in 1809; and amounted, 1st October 1857, to L.349,507. According to the census of 1850, Virginia contained 2654 public schools, and 579 academies. It has, besides, ten universities and colleges. Of these, the most celebrated are:—William and Mary College at Williamsburg, which, having been founded in 1692, is next to Harvard University, the oldest college in the United States, and has educated a large number of eminent men; Hampden-Sidney College; and the University of Virginia, founded in 1819, under the auspices of Jefferson, on a plan in some respects different from that of the other American colleges. There are also in the state theological seminaries for Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Baptists; two law, and two medical schools. The benevolent institutions supported by the state are two lunatic asylums at Williamsburg and at Staunton, and a deaf and dumb institution at the latter place. There is also a state penitentiary at Richmond.

The first white settlers in Virginia were English; and the emigration from England continued to be pretty active during a great part of the seventeenth century, particularly from the time of the civil wars to the Restoration in 1660, and toward the close of the century, both before and after the Revolution. Many victims of the political disturbances of those periods were banished to Virginia or sold into servitude in the colony. In the following century, many German emigrants, chiefly from Maryland and Pennsylvania, occupied the valley in the rear of the Blue Ridge, which thence received the name of the German Valley; and in the more western part of the state, great numbers of Irish settlers fixed themselves. Negroes and mulattoes constitute a large proportion of the population of Virginia, and these are mostly held in slavery. The first negroes were brought into the harbours of the Chesapeake by a Dutch ship in 1620, when twenty were sold to the colonists; but the importation was for a long time so inconsiderable, that at the end of fifty years their number was only 2000. The inhabitants indeed endeavoured to discourage the traffic, and the Assembly made repeated attempts to prevent the further introduction of negroes, but failed in obtaining the requisite sanction of the crown; and up to the time of the revolutionary war, from 5000 to 6000 were annually brought into the province by the English slave-traders. It is one of the grievances recited in the constitution of 1776, and reaffirmed in the new instrument adopted in 1830, that George III. had prompted the rising in arms of "those very negroes whom, by an inhuman use of his negative, he had refused us permission to exclude by law;" and in 1778 the new state prohibited their importation under heavy penalties.

The following table gives the population of the State at different period:

| Year | Whites | Slaves | Free Blacks | Total Blacks | Total | |------|--------|--------|-------------|--------------|-------| | 1642 | ... | ... | ... | ... | 20,000 | | 1700 | 38,000 | 2,000 | ... | 2,000 | 40,000 | | 1750 | 442,115| 293,427| 12,796 | 306,193 | 748,308 | | 1800 | 561,534| 392,918| 30,570 | 423,088 | 974,622 | | 1850 | 694,300| 469,757| 47,948 | 517,165 | 1,211,405 |

The principal events in the history of Virginia are mentioned in the article UNITED STATES.