The Ohio River is a 981-mile (1,579 km) long river in the United States. It is located in the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania south of Lake Erie to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinois. It is the third largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largest tributary by volume of the north-south flowing Mississippi River that divides the eastern from western United States. The river flows through or along the border of six states, and its drainage basin includes parts of 14 states. Through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes several states of the southeastern U.S. It is the source of drinking water for three million people.
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the northeast, Maryland to the east and northeast, Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. West Virginia is the 41st-largest state by area and ranks 38th in population, with around 1.792 million residents. The capital and largest city is Charleston.
Charleston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 51,400 at the 2010 census and an estimated population of 46,536 in 2019. The Charleston metropolitan area as a whole had an estimated 208,089 residents in 2019. Charleston is the center of government, commerce, and industry for Kanawha County, of which it is the county seat.
Morgantown is the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. West Virginia University is located in the city. The population was 29,660 at the 2010 Census Bureau, making Morgantown the largest city in North-Central West Virginia. The Morgantown metropolitan area has a population of 138,176.
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Wheeling was originally a settlement in the British colony of Virginia, and later the second largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Wheeling was where creation of West Virginia was planned, and it was the first capital of the new state. Due to its location along major transportation routes, including the Ohio River, National Road, and the B&O Railroad, Wheeling became a manufacturing center in the late nineteenth century. After experiencing the closing of factories and substantial population loss following World War II, Wheeling's major industries now include healthcare, education, law and legal services, entertainment and tourism, and energy.
West Virginia University (WVU) is a public, land-grant, research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser, and a second clinical campus for the university's medical and dental schools at Charleston Area Medical Center in Charleston. WVU Extension Service provides outreach with offices in all of West Virginia's 55 counties.
The Allegheny Mountain Range, informally the Alleghenies and also spelled Alleghany and Allegany, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less developed eras. The barrier range has a northeast–southwest orientation and runs for about 400 miles (640 km) from north-central Pennsylvania, through western Maryland and eastern West Virginia, to southwestern Virginia.
"Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Take Me Home" or "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver about West Virginia. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two on Billboard's US Hot 100 singles for the week ending August 28, 1971. The song was a success on its initial release and was certified Gold by the RIAA on August 18, 1971, and Platinum on April 10, 2017. The song became one of John Denver's most popular and beloved songs. It has continued to sell, with over 1.6 million digital copies sold in the United States.
Joseph Manchin III is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 34th governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th secretary of state of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005.
The West Virginia Senate is the upper house of the West Virginia Legislature. There are seventeen senatorial districts. Each district has two senators who serve staggered four-year terms. The Republicans gained three seats in the 2020 senate election, bringing their total number of seats to 23, while the Democrats hold 11 seats.
This is a list of properties and historic districts in West Virginia that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are listings in every one of West Virginia's 55 counties.
The U.S. state of West Virginia was formed out of western Virginia and added to the Union as a direct result of the American Civil War, in which it became the only modern state to have declared its independence from the Confederacy. In the summer of 1861, Union troops, which included a number of newly-formed Western Virginia regiments, under General George McClellan, drove off Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee. This essentially freed Unionists in the northwestern counties of Virginia to form a functioning government of their own as a result of the Wheeling Convention. Prior to the admission of West Virginia the government in Wheeling formally claimed jurisdiction over all of Virginia, although from its creation it was firmly committed to the formation of a separate state.
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. West Virginia plays its home games on Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium on the campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Mountaineers have won or shared a total of 15 conference championships, including eight Southern Conference titles and seven Big East Conference titles. The Mountaineers compete in the Big 12 Conference and are led by head coach Neal Brown.
The Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in the Appalachian Plateau region of the United States. Referred to locally as the “Tri-State area”, the region spans seven counties in the three states of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. With a population of 361,580, the Tri-State area is nestled along the banks of the Ohio River. The region offers a diverse range of outdoor activities.
The 2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States elections in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. West Virginia voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. West Virginia has five electoral votes in the Electoral College.
The U.S. state of West Virginia reported its first confirmed case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 17, 2020, becoming the last state to do so. However, the particular patient had been showing symptoms for several days prior. On March 29, 2020, the state reported its first COVID-19 death.
