<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Released in 2005 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Lists of United States state symbols </Td> </Tr> <P> West Virginia (/ vərˈdʒɪniə / (listen)) is a state located in the Appalachian region of the Southern United States . It is bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast . West Virginia is the 41st largest state by area, and is ranked 38th in population . The capital and largest city is Charleston . </P> <P> West Virginia became a state following the Wheeling Conventions of 1861, after the American Civil War had begun . Delegates from some Unionist counties of northwestern Virginia decided to break away from Virginia, although they included many secessionist counties in the new state . West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key border state during the war . 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 admitted to the Union during the American Civil War (the other being Nevada). While a portion of its residents held slaves, most of the residents were yeomen farmers, and the delegates provided for gradual abolition of slavery in the new state Constitution . </P>

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