勞斯－萊斯公司

西維吉尼亞(West Virginia)

美國中東部一州。平均海拔457公尺，是美國密西西比河以東最高的州。西維吉尼亞的最高處位於東部的斯普魯斯峰（1,482公尺），最低處位於謝南多厄河和波多馬克河匯合處陡峭岬角上的哈珀斯費裡（75公尺）。土地崎嶇不平，從丘陵到高山，沒有廣闊的平原。整個西維吉尼亞是阿帕拉契山系的一部分。西維吉尼亞州傳統上在美國諸州中一直居於窮州的地位。該州有豐富的天然資源，煤是最有價值的礦物，同時還生產大量的石油和天然氣。20世紀時旅遊業是重要經濟來源。原是印第安人居住地，1730年代白人殖民者進入該區，英國人在1750年代和1760年代從法國人手中奪得該區的控制權。西維吉尼亞原是維吉尼亞州的一部分，但是在1861年其大多不實行奴隸制度的人口投票反對退出聯邦，因而與維吉尼亞分離。於1863年以新成立的獨立州加入聯邦，成為第三十五個州。面積62,758平方公里。首府查理斯敦。人口約1,808,344（2000）。

English version：

West Virginia

State (pop.,1997 est.: 1,816,000),eastern central U.S. It covers an area of 24,232 sq mi (62,760 sq km); its capital is Charleston. The Ohio River forms a large section of the upper western boundary,while the Potomac forms a section of the northern boundary. The Great Kanawha,Little Kanawha,Monongahela,and Shenandoah rivers cross the state. It contains the Appalachian Mtn. system,and is generally rugged land. The highest elevation is Spruce Knob (4,861 ft,or 1,482 m). Long occupied by Indian hunters,it was home to the Adena,or Mound Builders,who left archaeological traces. They were succeeded by the Iroquois and the Cherokee. The first permanent white settlement was in the 1730s. The English controlled the region during the 1750s and 1760s. Though eastern Virginia was rapidly settled,the area's western rugged terrain restricted settlement there. After the American Revolution,largely nonslaving settlers moved west; they grew dissatisfied with the Virginia government. With the outbreak of the American Civil War,residents from western Virginia voted against the ordinance of secession in 1861. In 1863 it was admitted to the Union as the 35th state. Its industrial emergence,encouraged by railroad expansion,began in the 1870s when its natural resources,including coal and gas,contributed to the growth of the U.S. In the 20th century,recreation and tourism became economically important.