The area of West Virginia was originally part of the colony and later the state of Virginia. West Virginia was separated from Virginia and admitted to the Union as a state on June 20, 1863, as the 35^th state. West Virginia originally included 48 Virginia counties; in 1866, Congress officially added two more counties, Berkeley and Jefferson, to the state resulting in generally the same boundary as the present state.

Although West Virginia had not been legally established, census data for West Virginia are available beginning with the 1790 census when it was enumerated as part of Virginia. The populations shown from 1790 to 1860, before statehood, are based on the county boundaries that existed at each census; these boundaries generally conformed to the present boundary of West Virginia. The population of Virginia (of which the area of West Virginia was a part) as legally existing from 1860 to 1790 was: 1,596,318 in 1860; 1,421,661 in 1850; 1,239,797 in 1840; 1,211,405 in 1830; 1,065,366 in 1820; 974,600 in 1810; 880,200 in 1800; and 821,287 in 1790.

Data for the legally established state of West Virginia are available beginning with the 1870 census.

METROPOLITAN AND MICROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS AND RELATED STATISTICAL AREAS

West Virginia has 10 metropolitan statistical areas, 6 micropolitan statistical areas, 1 metropolitan division, and 3 combined statistical areas.

COUNTIES

There are 55 counties in West Virginia.  All counties are functioning governmental units, each governed by a county commission.

COUNTY SUBDIVISIONS

West Virginia has 235 county subdivisions which are known as minor civil divisions (MCDs).  These magisterial districts are all nongovernmental, nonfunctioning subdivisions of the county and are districts from which voters elect county commissioners and school board members. 

PLACES

West Virginia has 401 places; 232 incorporated places and 169 census designated places (CDPs).  The incorporated places consist of 77 cities, 148 towns, 6 villages, and 1 corporation.  Towns and villages have a population less than 2,000 and cities have a minimum population of 2,000.  Incorporated places are dependent within county subdivisions. 

CENSUS TRACTS/BLOCK GROUPS/BLOCKS

West Virginia has 484 census tracts, 1,592 block groups, and 135,218 census blocks.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

For the 111^th Congress (January 2009-January 2011), West Virginia had three congressional districts.  For the 113^th Congress (January 2013-January 2015), West Virginia continues to have three congressional districts as a result of reapportionment based on the 2010 census.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

West Virginia has 55 county-coextensive unified school districts.

STATE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS

There are 16 state senate districts and 58 state house districts in West Virginia.

URBAN AREAS

West Virginia has 50 urban areas; 9 urbanized areas and 41 urban clusters.

ZIP CODE TABULATION AREAS

West Virginia has 708 ZIP Code tabulation areas (ZCTAs).

¹  Source:  U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1923
²  Source:  U.S. Census Bureau, recomputation for historical county level data which relied upon aggregate county level population data with an estimated county centroid resulting in a possible error of up to one mile.
³  Source:  U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Centers of Population for States and Counties, 1974
⁴  Source:  U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, recomputation from archived national block group/enumeration area data resulting in a possible error of up to 1,000 feet.
⁵  Source:  U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division, recomputation from archived national block group data resulting in a possible error of up to 1,000 feet.
⁶  Source:  U.S. Census Bureau, computation from national block-level data