West Virginia

West Virginia, known as The Mountain State, is a state of the United States. West Virginia broke away from Virginia during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and was admitted to the Union as a separate state on June 20, 1863.

Demographics

The population of West Virginia as of 2003 was 1,810,354.

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Only 1.1% of the state's residents were foreign-born, placing West Virginia last among the 50 states in that statistic. It has the lowest percentage of residents that speak a language other than English in the home (2.7%).

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The racial makeup of the state is:

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• 94.6% White non-Hispanic
• 3.2% Black
• 0.7% Hispanic
• 0.5% Asian
• 0.2% Native American
• 0.9% Mixed race

The five largest ancestry groups in West Virginia are: American (23.2%), German (17.2%), Irish (13.5%), English (12%), Italian (4.8%).

Related Topics:
German - Irish - English - Italian

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Many West Virginians identify their ancestry as "American," it is the largest reported ancestry in most counties in the state, and the state has the highest percentage of residents of "American ancestry" in the nation. Large numbers of people of German ancestry are present the northeastern counties of the state.

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5.6% of West Virginia's population were reported as under 5, 22.3% under 18, and 15.3% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.4% of the population.

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Religion

The religious affiliations of the people of West Virginia are:

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• Christian – 86%
• Protestant – 77%
• Baptist – 33%
• Methodist – 16%
• Presbyterian – 3%
• Pentecostal – 3%
• Other Protestant or general Protestant – 22%
• Roman Catholic – 8%
• Other Christian – 1%
• Other Religions – <1%
• Non-Religious – 14%