 The state 's most populous ethnic group , Non @-@ Hispanic White , has declined from 76 % in 1990 to 62 @.@ 7 % in 2015 . In 2011 , non @-@ Hispanic Whites were involved in 50 @.@ 9 % of all the births . People of English heritage settled throughout the Commonwealth during the colonial period , and others of British and Irish heritage have since immigrated . Those who self @-@ identify as having " American ethnicity " are predominantly of English descent , but have ancestry that has been in North America for so long that they choose to identify simply as American . Of the English immigrants to Virginia in the 17th century , 75 % came as indentured servants . The western mountains have many settlements that were founded by Scots @-@ Irish immigrants before the American Revolution . There are also sizable numbers of people of German descent in the northwestern mountains and Shenandoah Valley , and German ancestry was the most popular response on the 2010 American Community Survey , with 11 @.@ 7 % . 2 @.@ 9 % of Virginians also describe themselves as biracial . 
