USA West Virginia - The People : USA  

USA West Virginia - The People - Travel guide

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USA West Virginia - The People

The People

The pioneer stock of West Virginia was largely Scots-Irish, German, and English. There were also a few blacks. Many settlers before the American Civil War lived in isolated mountainous sections. Cut off from surrounding regions, they retained customs and speech patterns that sometimes dated from England during the time of Queen Elizabeth I.

At the time of the 2000 federal census whites constituted 95 percent of the population, blacks 3.2 percent, Asians 0.5 percent, Native Americans 0.2 percent, and those of a mixed heritage or not reporting ethnicity 1 percent. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered 400. Hispanics, who can be of any race, are 0.7 percent of the people.

The 1998 census put West Virginia's population at 1,811,000. The State Capital is Charleston, other major cities or towns include Beckley, Clarksburg, Fairmont, Huntington, Parkersburg, Weirton, Wheeling.