An extremely important power of every state legislature is the creation of political subdivisions within the state itself: namely, the counties. The Virginia Constitution specifically provides for the formation, division and consolidation of counties. A new county must have a minimum area of 600 square miles and the county or counties from which it is formed cannot be less than 600 square miles after the new county has been formed. No county can be reduced in population below 8,000 people. Whenever any county has a length three times its breadth, or has a length exceeding fifty miles, it may be divided at the discretion of the General Assembly. Such added length can occur as a result of boundary changes or the annexation of territory. The General Assembly may consolidate existing counties upon the approval of a majority of the qualified voters of each of these counties voting as a result of an election held for this specific purpose. If the majority do not vote approval of consolidation, such consolidation cannot take place. Virginia had eight counties originally, dating from 1634: Accawmack (now known as Accomack and Northampton), Charles City (now known as Prince George County), Charles River (now known as York County), Elizabeth City (ceased as a county in 1952), Henrico, James City (now known as Surry County), Wamosquyoake (no longer in existence--existed only from 1634-1637) and Warwick River (known as Warwick but ceased as a county in 1952). In 1648, an Indian district called Chickacoan was formed into the County of Northumberland. From these nine counties eventually 172 counties were created, with the largest number, 116, created from Northumberland. The last change in the number of counties occurred in 1952 when both Elizabeth City County and Warwick County became first class independent cities, thus relinquishing county status. At the present time, there are 98 counties in Virginia. Furthermore, since 1788, nine counties became part of the present state of Kentucky, fifty counties became part of the present state of West Virginia and fifteen counties (including the two mentioned previously) went out of existence through consolidation or other methods. The General Assembly has exercised and will continue to exercise its power of county-making in Virginia.