Sample A: Cover Page of Thesis, Project, or Dissertation Proposal

Regional Study Areas in Virginia
In 2006 1 Virginia had an estimated population of 7,640,249 (U.S. Bureau of the
Census 2000). Of Virginia‟s eleven Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Northern Virginia,
Hampton Roads, and Richmond-Petersburg are the three most populated.
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, in 2000 there were 2,055,014 people in
Northern Virginia, 26.89% of Virginia's estimated population. This estimate included the
combined populations of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties and the
independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, and Manassas Park (U.S.
Bureau of the Census 2000). The U.S. Bureau of the Census estimated in 2006 that the
population of Northern Virginia had increased to 2,432,823, around 32% of the state's
population.
The majority of Northern Virginia is within the Piedmont physiographic province,
having wide, rolling hilltops underlain by weathered metamorphic rocks, and dissected into
dendritic drainage patterns. Coastal lowlands (flat low-relief land near the Chesapeake Bay
and along major rivers with elevation ranging from 0-60') are found east of Interstate-95.
Water in this region drains southeasterly into the Potomac River basin and Chesapeake Bay
(Roberts and Bailey 2000, Grymes 2009).
Poor drainage of the moderate to low permeability clay soils of Northern Virginia
provides favorable breeding habitat for mosquitoes (Allen and Wong 2006). Mosquitoes
may survive the moderately mild winters, and blooms may occur throughout the year but
particularly between May and October when temperatures and humidity are higher (Allen
and Wong 2006).
1 2006 demographic data was used to correspond with mosquito and environmental data.
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