West Virginia

{Otheruses1|the U.S. State of West Virginia}}
West Virginia () 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 occupied by West Virginia was contested territory, mainly by Pennsylvania and Virginia. Some speculative land companies, such as the Vandalia Company, Charles H. Ambler, "A History of West Virginia" pg. 104 and later the Ohio Company and Indiana Company tried to legitimize their claims to land in parts of West Virginia and Kentucky but failed. With the settlement of the Pennsylvania and Virginia border dispute, which resulted in the creation of Kentucky, Kentuckians "were satisfied...and the inhabitants of a large part of West Virginia were grateful."Charles H. Ambler. "A History of West Virginia", pgs. 132-138
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, 1863, and was a key Civil War "border state." It is one of only two states formed during the American Civil War (along with Nevada, which separated from Utah Territory) and is the only state to form by seceding from a Confederate state.