The Commonwealth of Virginia is on the Atlantic Coast of the southern United States. It has been the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography of the state is shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, home to much of the state's flora and fauna. The state population is nearly 8 million. Virginia has eleven metropolitan areas; Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Richmond-Petersburg are the three most populated. Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and its metropolitan area have a population of over 1.2 million people.