State of the United States

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state of the United States. It covers about 62,700 km² (24,200 mi²), the 41st largest of the 51 states and districts in Natural Earth’s file for the United States, and about the same size as Latvia. About 1.8 million people live there (Wikidata, 2020).

In area0.97×the size ofLatvia64,600 km² In people0.98×as many people asNorth Macedonia1.8 million

100 km

Latvia
West Virginia

Facts

Area, measured	62,700 km²24,200 mi²
Official area	62,800 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure
Share of the United States	0.7%of the area of the 51 states and districts
Rank by area	41st of 51states and districts of the United States
Population	1.8 millionWikidata, 2020 · the census year of every unit
Density	29 people per km²
Capital	Charleston
Latitude range	37°N to 41°N
Type	StateUS-WV

What the numbers say about West Virginia

West Virginia covers 0.7% of the area of the United States and ranks 39th of 51 by population, against 41st by area.
It would take 151 states and districts the size of West Virginia to cover the United States.
West Virginia holds 0.5% of the 331.4 million people that Wikidata’s 2020 figures give for the 51 states and districts together: about 1 in 185.
The largest, Alaska, is 24.0× the size of West Virginia; the smallest, Washington, D.C., is 0.3% of it.
Closest in size within the United States: South Carolina (80,200 km², 1.28×) and Maine (84,300 km², 1.34×).
Counted as a country, West Virginia would be larger than 114 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 126th by area, between Latvia (64,600 km²) and Togo (56,900 km²).
With 1.8 million people it would rank 153rd of 238 by population.
West Virginia has 29 people per km², about the density of Latvia, which has 29 per km².
That makes West Virginia the 30th most densely populated of the 51 states and districts, 82% of the average for the United States (35 per km²).
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 39°N is drawn about 1.6× too large in area, so West Virginia looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, West Virginia stretches about 382 km north to south and 424 km east to west.
Wikidata's official figure of 62,800 km² agrees with our measured area of 62,700 km², to within 2%.

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.

ChinaAreaNingxia1.20× · 52,100 km²Peoplenone within 2×
IndiaAreaLadakh0.98× · 64,300 km² PeopleNagaland0.91× · 2.0 million (2011)
GermanyAreaBavaria90% · 70,000 km² PeopleHamburg0.95× · 1.9 million (2022)
FranceAreaGrand Est1.09× · 57,400 km² PeopleCentre-Val de Loire69% · 2.6 million (2022)
ItalyAreanone within 2×PeopleCalabria0.92× · 1.9 million (2019)
SpainAreaCastilla–La Mancha79% · 79,400 km² PeopleMurcia1.14× · 1.6 million (2024)
JapanAreaHokkaido (Japan)80% · 78,800 km² PeopleMie1.01× · 1.8 million (2020)
BrazilAreaParaíba1.11× · 56,500 km² PeopleRondônia1.13× · 1.6 million (2022)
CanadaAreaNova Scotia1.14× · 55,100 km² PeopleManitoba1.34× · 1.3 million (2021)
AustraliaAreaTasmania (Australia)0.92× · 68,100 km² PeopleSouth Australia0.95× · 1.9 million (2024)
MexicoAreaSan Luis Potosí0.98× · 64,200 km² PeopleDurango1.02× · 1.8 million (2015)
ThailandAreanone within 2×PeopleKhon Kaen1.00× · 1.8 million (2020)

Where West Virginia ranks

West Virginia is the 41st largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States.

Ranked within the United States

All 51 states and districts of the United States, matched to countries

Compare West Virginia

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
Population: Wikidata, 2020. United States’s units share the 2020 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
Matching: Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method