West Virginia

1863-6-20

Yes

United States

[b]West Virginia[/b] is a state located in the Appalachian region of the Southern item:108220[United States]. It is bordered by item:110885[Virginia] to the southeast, item:110856[Kentucky] to the southwest, item:110874[Ohio] to the northwest, item:110877[Pennsylvania] to the north (and, slightly, east), and item:110859[Maryland] to the northeast. West Virginia is the 41st largest by area and the 38th most populous of the 50 United States. The capital and largest city is Charleston. West Virginia became a state following the Wheeling Conventions of 1861, in which delegates from some Unionist counties of northwestern Virginia decided to break away from Virginia during the American Civil War, although they included many secessionist counties in the new state. West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key Civil War border state. West Virginia was the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state, the first to separate from any state since item:110858[Maine] separated from item:110860[Massachusetts], and was one of two states formed during the American Civil War (the other being item:110867[Nevada], which separated from Utah Territory).