The US state of Virginia is situated on the Southern Atlantic Coastline of the nation. referred to as the "Old Dominion" the state of Virginia is also known as the "Mother of Presidents," because eight of the previous United States presidents were born in the state of Virginia. The geography and weather of the commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, that provide habitat for a lot of its fauna and flora. Richmond is the capital of the commonwealth; Virginia Beach is the most populous city and the most densely inhabited political subdivision is Fairfax. The commonwealth's population is more than eight million.
The area's history starts with some indigenous groups, comprising the Powhatan. In the year 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony. Slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant part in the colony's early politics and plantation economy. Virginia was amongst the thirteen Colonies in the American Revolution and joined the Confederacy in the American Civil War, during which Richmond was made the Confederate capital and Virginia's northwestern counties separated to form the state of West Virginia. Although the commonwealth was under conservative single party rule for almost a century following Reconstruction, both major national parties are competitive in modern Virginia.
The Virginia General Assembly is the oldest legislature in the Americas. The state government has been repeatedly ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States. It is unique in the way it treats counties and cities equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. The economy of Virginia has numerous sectors: agriculture in the Shenandoah Valley; federal agencies in Northern Virginia, like the headquarters of CIA and the Department of Defense; and military facilities in Hampton Roads, the site of the area's main seaport. Virginia's several colleges and universities as well as public schools have contributed to growing technology and media sectors. As a result, computer chips have become Virginia's leading export.
Virginia's economy is balanced, with diverse sources of income, including military and government, farming, and business. Virginia has 4.1 million civilian staff, and one-third of the jobs are in the service sector. The unemployment rate was 6.3% as of April the year 2011. The Gross Domestic Product of Virginia was $424 billion during the year 2010. Based on the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Virginia had the most counties in the top 100 wealthiest within the country based upon median income during 2007.
Virginia has the highest concentration of technology employees of whichever state. Computer chips became the state's highest-grossing export in 2006, surpassing its traditional top exports of coal and tobacco combined. Northern Virginia, once considered the dairy capital of the state, now hosts communication technology, consulting companies and software, particularly in the Dulles Technology Corridor. Northern Virginia's data centers currently carry over 50 percent of the nation's internet traffic, and by 2012 Dominion Power expects that 10% of all its electricity within Northern Virginia will be utilized by data centers. Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Northern Virginia have the highest and second highest median household income, respectively, of all counties in the nation as of the year 2011.