West Virginia per year, with 1,400 of those statistically attributed to deaths from heart, respiratory and kidney disease from living in an Appalachian coal county. In 2015, McDowell County had the highest rate of drug-induced deaths of any county in the United States, with a rate of 141 deaths per 100,000 people. Four of the five US counties with the highest rates of drug-induced deaths are located in West Virginia (McDowell, Wyoming, Cabell and Raleigh Counties). West Virginia's capital and seat of government is the city of Charleston, located in the southwest area of the state. The West Virginia Legislature is bicameral.
Geology of West Virginia Geology of West Virginia West Virginia's geologic history stretches back into the Precambrian, and includes several periods of mountain building and erosion. At times, much of what is now West Virginia was covered by swamps, marshlands, and shallow seas, accounting for the wide variety of sedimentary rocks found in the state, as well as its wealth of coal and natural gas deposits. West Virginia has had no active volcanism for hundreds of millions of years, and does not experience large earthquakes, although smaller tremors are associated with the Rome Trough, which passes through the western part of the state. The