Virginia is a western suburb of Monrovia

Monrovia

Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...

, located near the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 and Saint Paul River

Saint Paul River

The Saint Paul River is a river of western Africa. Its headwaters are in southeastern Guinea. Its upper portion in Guinea is known as the Diani River or Niandi River, and forms part of the boundary between Guinea and Liberia. The river then enters Liberia about north of Gbarnga and crosses...

 in Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

. It was the birthplace of Angie Brooks, the first African female president of the United Nations General Assembly

United Nations General Assembly

For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...

.

A settlement originally called New Virginia, the American Colonization Society

American Colonization Society

The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...

 used it as a location for African-American immigrants from the U.S. It gets its name from the U.S. state of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, where most of the town's settlers originated before emigration to Liberia.

Virginia was also the location of the Organization of African Unity conference hosted by President William R. Tolbert, Jr.

William R. Tolbert, Jr.

William Richard Tolbert, Jr. was the 20th President of Liberia from 1971 to 1980.Trained as a civil servant, he entered the country's House of Representatives in 1955 for the True Whig Party, then the only established party in the country...

 - who was the group's chair at the time - at Hotel Africa in 1979, just months before he was overthrown by Samuel Doe

Samuel Doe

Samuel Kanyon Doe was the 21st President of Liberia, serving from 1986 until his assassination in 1990. He had previously served as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council from 1980 to 1986. He was the first indigenous head of state in Liberian history.Doe was a part of a rural tribe in inland...

.

During the Second Liberian Civil War

Second Liberian Civil War

The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...

, rebels used Virginia to launch an onslaught on Monrovia

Monrovia

Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...

in 2003.

A South African consortium plans to invest US$100 million to renovate the historic hotel in time for Liberia's hosting duties of an international women's colloquium in 2009.