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The Commonwealth of Virginia (named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, who is also known as The Virgin Queen) is one of the original thirteen states of the United States that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. It is primarily considered to be part of the Southern United States but is sometimes included in the Mid-Atlantic States. It is one of four states that use the name commonwealth. Virginia was the first part of the Americas to be colonized permanently by England. Virginia's U.S. postal abbreviation is VA, and its Associated Press abbreviation is Va. Kentucky and West Virginia were part of Virginia at the time of the founding of the United States; but the former was admitted to the Union as a separate state in 1792, while the latter broke away from Virginia during the American Civil War. Virginia is known as the "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents, more than any other state. Five of them were re-elected to a second term: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe and Woodrow Wilson. William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Zachary Taylor round out the list of American Presidents from the Commonwealth of Virginia. (Harrison and Taylor died while in office.) Virginia has also been known as the "Mother of States", because portions of the original Colony subsequently became West Virginia, Kentucky, along with portions of Ohio and Indiana. Virginia is bordered by West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (across the Potomac River) to the north, by Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south, and by Kentucky and West Virginia to the west. The Chesapeake Bay divides the state, with the eastern portion (called 'the Eastern Shore of Virginia'), a part of the Delmarva Peninsula, completely separate (an exclave) from the rest of the state. Geographically, Virginia is divided into the following 5 regions:Tidewater - Stretching from the Atlantic coast to the fall line , Piedmont - East of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Tidewater Region , Blue Ridge Mountains - East of the Appalachian Mountains to the Blue Ridge Mountain Region , Valley and Ridge - Appalachian Mountains and Shenandoah Valley Region and Appalachian Plateau - West of the Appalachian Mountains. Virginia's long east-west axis means that metropolitan northern Virginia lies much closer to New York and New England than to the rural western panhandle of its own state. Conversely, Lee County, at the tip of the panhandle, is closer to 8 state capitals than it is to Richmond.
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