Population:

37th largest U.S. State by population, with 1,819,777 people (2009 estimate).
41st largest state in the country by area, at 24,230 square miles.

Largest city: Charleston

Median income:$37,989 (2008 estimate)

Climate:
Yearly rainfall: 40.7 inches per year
Yearly snowfall: 34 inches per year in Charleston; 78 inches per year in Elkins
Temperatures (High/Low) in capital city of Charleston:
January, 43/24; July, 85/63

Foreclosures:
Foreclosure activity for 2009 increased in West Virginia over the prior year. There was a total of 1,479 properties with filings. That works out to a rate of one filing for every 597 households, which compares to the United States average of 45, and is about one sixth of one percent of the state’s housing units.

Those figures represent a 115 percent increase over 2008 and a 221 percent increase over 2007.

In 2008 there were about 25,500 existing homes (including condos, co-ops, and single-family homes but excluding new homes) sold in West Virginia, compared to about 29,000 sold in 2007.

Economy:
West Virginia is among the poorest states in the country, ranked 48th in per capita income and 49th in median household income. The state’s economy has long depended on coal mining; it produces the second most coal of any state in the country and its coal-fired power plants export the most electricity of any state in the country. Because the state is so mountainous, agriculture has never been a major source of revenue for West Virginia. The state acts as a sort of gateway through the Appalachians, and its highways and railways are vital to interstate trade between the Northeast, South, and Midwest.

Noteworthy:
West Virginia separated from Virginia at the outbreak of the Civil War, with its counties choosing to stay a part of the union instead of seceding.