West Virginia

    West Virginia (/ˌwɛstvɚˈdʒɪnjə/ (help·info)) is a state in the Appalachian, Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia on the southeast, Kentucky on the southwest, Ohio on the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland on the northeast. The capital and largest city is Charleston.     Historically the area now occupying West Virginia had a separate identity from the early days of pioneering settlement. The early British American settlers called the area Vandalia. After the American Revolution the settlers of the area sought the status of an individual state of the union under the name Westsylvania, but their attempts were blocked by Virginia which claimed most of the area, and Pennsylvania which claimed a small part of the area.     After the Wheeling Conventions, West Virginia broke away from Virginia during the American Civil War and was admitted to the Union as a separate state on June 20…