Editing Lee County, Virginia (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Lee County, Virginia.jpg|thumb|230px|Lee County landscape near Pennington Gap]]
[[File:Rose-Hill-view-va.jpg|230px|thumb|right|Mountains near [[Rose Hill, Lee County, Virginia|Rose Hill]]]]

According to the [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|437|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|436|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|1.9|sqmi}} (0.4%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> Lee County is one of the 423 counties served by the [[Appalachian Regional Commission]],<ref name="ARC">{{cite web |title=About the Appalachian Region |url=https://www.arc.gov/about-the-appalachian-region/ |publisher=Appalachian Regional Commission |access-date=June 21, 2024}}</ref> and it is identified as part of "Greater Appalachia" by Colin Woodard in his book ''[[American Nations|American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America]]''.<ref name="NYT_CW">{{cite news |last1=Woodard |first1=Colin |title=The Maps That Show That City vs. Country Is Not Our Political Fault Line |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/opinion/urban-rural-united-states-regions-midterms.html |work=New York Times |date=July 30, 2018 |access-date=July 30, 2018}}</ref>

All of Lee County lies longitudinally west of [[West Virginia]]. The entirety of Lee County is physically closer to eight state capitals other than its own capital in [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]]: [[Raleigh, North Carolina]]; [[Columbia, South Carolina]]; [[Atlanta, Georgia]]; [[Nashville, Tennessee]]; [[Charleston, West Virginia]]; [[Frankfort, Kentucky]]; [[Columbus, Ohio]]; and [[Indianapolis, Indiana]]. Additionally, the far western part of Lee County–including [[Wheeler, Virginia|Wheeler]] and the [[Cumberland Gap]], roughly {{convert|350|mi|km|}} from Richmond–is closer to [[Montgomery, Alabama]], a ninth state capital.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lee+County,+VA/@36.7590594,-83.5093128,9z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x885b15a39aa0bddd:0x1abe879ceb3b0672!8m2!3d36.7075931!4d-83.0361376|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=January 12, 2022|title=Lee County, Virginia}}</ref>

The county contains [[karst]], a type of topography, within an area of [[Ordovician]] limestone called "the Cedars."<ref>{{cite journal|author=USFWS|date=November 20, 1992|title=ETWP; Determination of Endangered Status for the Lee County Cave Isopod (''Lirceus usdagalun'')|journal=Federal Register|volume=57|issue=225|pages=54722–54726}} {{Federal Register|57|54722}}</ref>{{rp|54723}} The [[Powell River (Tennessee River tributary)|Powell River]] flows through Lee County on its way to Tennessee.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dwr.virginia.gov/waterbody/powell-river/|title=Powell River|website=Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources|year=2023|access-date=May 28, 2023}}</ref>

===Districts===
The county is divided into seven districts: Jonesville, Rocky Station, Rocky Station Mineral, Rose Hill, White Shoals, Yoakum, and Yoakum Mineral. There are two towns: [[Pennington Gap, Virginia|Pennington Gap]], and [[Jonesville, Virginia|Jonesville]].

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Wise County, Virginia|Wise County]] – northeast
* [[Scott County, Virginia|Scott County]] – east
* [[Hancock County, Tennessee]] – south
* [[Claiborne County, Tennessee]] – south-southwest
* [[Bell County, Kentucky]] – west
* [[Harlan County, Kentucky]] – northwest

===National protected areas===
* [[Cumberland Gap National Historical Park]] (part)
* [[Jefferson National Forest]] (part)

===State protected areas===
* [[The Cedars Natural Area Preserve]]

===Major routes===
* {{jct|state=VA|US|23}}
* {{jct|state=VA|US|58}}
* {{jct|state=VA|US-Alt|58}}
* {{jct|state=VA|US|421}}
* {{jct|state=VA|VA|70}}
* {{jct|state=VA|VA|352}}
* {{jct|state=VA|Sec|600|county1=Lee}}