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 Lift Truck Chain Virginia - The commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and at times the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight United States presidents born there. The weather and geography of the commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, that provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most densely inhabited city and Fairfax County the most populous political subdivision. The commonwealth's population is more than eight million.
The area's history begins with some native groups, including the Powhatan. During the year 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the very first permanent New World English colony. Slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant part in the colony's early politics and plantation economy. The state of Virginia was amongst the thirteen Colonies in the American Revolution and joined the Confederacy in the American Civil War, during which Richmond was made the Confederate capital and Virginia's northwestern counties separated to form the state of West Virginia. Even if the commonwealth was under conservative single party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, both major national parties are competitive in modern Virginia.
The Virginia General Assembly is the oldest legislature in the Americas. The state government has been repeatedly ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States. It is unique in how it treats counties and cities equally, prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms and manages local roads. Virginia's economy has numerous sectors: agriculture in the Shenandoah Valley; federal agencies within Northern Virginia, such as the headquarters of CIA and the Department of Defense; and military facilities within Hampton Roads, the place of the region's main seaport. Virginia's several colleges and universities as well as public schools have contributed to growing media and technology sectors. As a result, computer chips have become the state's leading export.
The economy of Virginia is balanced, with diverse sources of income, comprising military and government, farming, and business. The state of Virginia has 4.1 million civilian workers, and one-third of the jobs are in the service sector. The unemployment rate was 6.3% as of the month of April the year 2011. The Gross Domestic Product of Virginia was $424 billion during the year 2010. Based on the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Virginia had the most counties in the top 100 wealthiest in the United States based upon median income in 2007.
Virginia has the highest concentration of technology employees of any state. Computer chips became the state's highest-grossing export during 2006, surpassing its traditional top exports of tobacco and coal combined. Northern Virginia, once considered the dairy capital of the state, now hosts communication technology, consulting companies and software, particularly in the Dulles Technology Corridor. Northern Virginia's data centers currently carry more than 50% of the nation's internet traffic, and by 2012 Dominion Power expects that 10% of all its electricity in Northern Virginia will be utilized by data centers. Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Northern Virginia have the highest and second highest median household income, respectively, of all counties within the nation as of the year 2011.
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