VIRGINIA, one of the United States of North America, extends between 36' 30' and 39° 43' N. lat. (with the exception of a long narrow slip of land which extends between Pennsylvania and the Ohio River as far north as 40° 33' N. lat.), 75° 15' and 83° 30' W. long. It is bounded E. by the Atlantic Ocean and the Potomac River, which separates it from the state of Maryland and the district of Columbia ; N.E. by Maryland ; N. by Pennsylvania ; N.W. by Ohio; W. by Kentucky ; S.W. by Tennessee; and S. by North Carolina The area is 61,352 square miles. The population in 1850 was 1,421,661, of whom 51,333 were free coloured persons, and 472,528 slaves : the density of population was 23.17 to the square mile. The federal representative population in 1850 was 1,232,649, in which number three-fiftha of the slaves are included. This, according to the present ratio of representation, entitles the state to send 13 members to Congress. To the Senate, like each of the other states, Virginia sends two members.
Sea-Coast.--From tho northern extremity of the Currituck Sound, which is included within the boundary of Virginia, to Cape Henry, about 30 miles, is an unbroken lino of low shelving sandy shore. From Cape Henry, which is a low sand-hill, it is about 12 miles to Cape Charles; and between these two capes is the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, which extends inland about 180 miles. Chesapeake Bay is de scribed under MARYLAND, to which state the greater part of it belongs. From Cape Henry to Windmill Point, a distance of about 45 miles, the coast of Virginia presents a succession of projecting headlands, inclosing many bays, some of which extend far inland, and preserve a considerable width and depth to a distance of from 20 to 50 miles from the sea. These larger bays are the restuaries of rivers, and admit large vessels, so as to constitute good harbours. The smaller bays are formed by indentations of tho shores, and molt of them have safe anchorage for coasting vessels. The headlands between the bays have low and frequently swampy shores, but at some distance from them the country rises from 15 to 20 feet. That part of Virginia which lies east of Chesapeake Bay, and is called the ' Eastern shore of Vir ginia,' is skirted ou the aide of the Atlantic by a number of low sandy islands, which towards the north form one row, but towards Cape Charles two or three parallel rows. They are inhabited by a few
fishermen, and the ?traits which separate these islands from one another afford some passages for small coasting vessels. The coast opposite these islands supplies shelter and good anchorage, and that an the aide of Chesapeake Bay has some good harbours for small vessels.
Surface, Soil, Climate, A griculgurol Productions.—Nearly one-half of the surface of Virginia is mountainous. The Appalachian or Allegheny Mountains run through it obliquely from south-west to north-east, spreading along the southern boundary over the western, and towards the north over the central, districts of the state. From the eastern base of this mountain region there extends to the shores of the Atlantic and of Chesapeake Bay a plain known as the Atlantic Slope, which along the shores of the sea is a low undulating plain, and at the back of it a higher hilly country, which reaches to the Blue Ridge. Those two plains constitute the maritime and the higher elope of the Atlantic. That portion of Virginia which lies to the north-west of the mountain region, between it and the rivers Ohio and Big Sandy, is much more hilly than the easteru plain, and may be called the hilly region of the Ohio and of the Kanawha. The following table exhibits a rough esti mate iu square miles of the respective areas of thesis four regions : 1. Maritime or Lower Slope of the Atlantic . . 8,000 2. Hilly or Upper Slope of the Atlantic . . . 17,000 3. Mountain Region of the Appalachians . . . 20,300 4. Ililly Region of the Ohio and Kanawha . . . 10,000 1. The Maritime Slope of the Atlantic comprehends also the eastern shore of Virginia, or that part which lies east of Chesapeake Bay. This country consists of a tongue of land about 70 miles long and 10 miles In width, the islands included, but without them only 7 miles woes. Along the shore is a sterile tract mostly covered with low eand-hilis or swamps, and about half a mile wide; the interior is a level fiat country, with a light sandy soil resting on play. The prin ripe] crops are make and Enda, but wheat, cotton, peas, beans, and potatoes are also grown. There are good orchards, in which the fig trees and pomegranate-trees attain a huge size, stud yield abuod int fruit. The from which the castor-oil is is cultivated to a considerable extent.