![Virginia-Year of established](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Virginia-Year_of_established.svg)
The
Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
is divided into 95 counties, along with 38
independent cities that are considered
county-equivalent
In the United States, a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 states, wh ...
s for census purposes. The map in this article, taken from the official
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
site, includes
Clifton Forge
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the greater Roanoke Region. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as J ...
and
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
as independent cities. This reflected the political reality at the time of the 2000 Census. However, both have since chosen to revert to town status. In Virginia, cities are co-equal levels of government to counties, but towns are part of counties. For some counties, for statistical purposes, the
Bureau of Economic Analysis combines any independent cities with the county that it was once part of (before the legislation creating independent cities took place in 1871).
Many county seats are politically not a part of the counties they serve; under Virginia law, all municipalities incorporated as cities are
independent cities and are not part of any county. Some of the cities in the
Hampton Roads area (
Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...
,
Chesapeake,
Newport News
Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...
,
Hampton
Hampton may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia
*Hampton, New South Wales
*Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region
* Hampton, Victoria
Canada
* Hampton, New Brunswick
*Ha ...
, and
Suffolk) were formed from an entire county. These cities are no longer county seats, since the counties ceased to exist once the cities were completely formed, but are functionally equivalent to counties. Also in Virginia, a county seat may be an independent city surrounded by, but not part of, the county of which it is the administrative center; for example,
Fairfax City is both the county seat of Fairfax County and is completely surrounded by
Fairfax County
Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and ...
but the city is politically independent of the county.
There are 38 independent cities, which are considered
county-equivalent
In the United States, a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 states, wh ...
s for census purposes. Many
towns
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
are as large as cities, but are not
incorporated as cities and are situated within a parent
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
or counties. Seven independent cities had 2020 populations of less than 10,000 with the smallest,
Norton Norton may refer to:
Places
Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada
* Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan
*Norton Parish, New Brunswick
**Norton, New Brunswick, a ...
having a population of only 3,687.
["Population and Area of All Virginia Local Governments, 1790-2010"](_blank)
Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development website. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013. In 2020, the largest towns were Leesburg (with 48,250 people) and Blacksburg (44,826). Six other towns also had populations of over 10,000 people.
For a complete list of these towns, see
List of towns in Virginia
This is a complete list of towns in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. An incorporated town in Virginia is the equivalent of a city in most other states, i.e. a municipality which is part of a county. Incorporated cities in Vi ...
. For major unincorporated population centers, see
List of unincorporated communities in Virginia
This is a list of unincorporated communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia that are not incorporated as independent cities or towns . Bolded places are census-designated places; there are 362 of them as of the 2010 United States Census. ...
.
Virginia's independent cities were classified by the
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...
in 1871 as cities of the first class and cities of the second class.
["Former Second Class Cities in Virginia"](_blank)
Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development website. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013. The Virginia Constitution of 1902 defined first class cities as those having a population of 10,000 or more based upon the last census enumeration while second class cities were those that had a population of less than 10,000.
Cities that previously been granted a city charter, but did not have the requisite population, had their status grandfathered in.
Second class did not have a court of record and were required to share the cost of that court with their adjacent county and also shared the cost for three constitutional officers of that court—generally, the clerk, commonwealth attorney and sheriff—and those shared officers stood for election in both the city and the county.
At least two constitutional officers—treasurer and commissioner of the revenue—were required to be elected solely by the residents of the city.
The distinction between first and second class cities was ended with the
Virginia Constitution of 1971.
However, cities that were classified as second class cities at the time of the adoption of the 1971 Virginia Constitution were authorized to continue sharing their court system and three constitutional officers with the adjacent county.
, 14 of Virginia's independent cities retain these features.
There are several counties and cities that have the same name, but are separate politically. These currently include Fairfax, Franklin, Richmond, and Roanoke. In the past they also included Norfolk and Alexandria, whose counties changed their names, ostensibly to end some of the confusion; as well as Bedford, where a city was surrounded by a county of the same name from 1968 until 2013, when the city reverted to town status. A city and county that share a name may be completely unrelated in geography. For example, Richmond County is nowhere near the City of Richmond, and Franklin County is even farther from the City of Franklin.
More Virginia counties are named for women than in any other state.
Virginia's postal abbreviation is VA and its
FIPS state code
FIPS state codes were numeric and two-letter alphabetic codes defined in U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard Publication ("FIPS PUB") 5-2 to identify U.S. states and certain other associated areas. The standard superseded FIPS PUB 5-1 o ...
is 51.
List of the 95
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in the
Commonwealth of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
(links shown under FIPS County Code are for the U.S. Census Bureau Statistics Info Page for that county):
Clickable map
List of counties
List of independent cities
Largest cities
See also
*
Administrative divisions of Virginia The administrative divisions of Virginia are the areas into which the Commonwealth of Virginia, a U.S. state, is divided for political and administrative purposes. Some are local governments; others are not. However, all local governments (counties ...
*
List of former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia
Former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia are those that existed within the English Colony of Virginia or, after statehood, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and no longer retain the same form within its boundaries. The settlements, towns, and ...
*
List of counties of Kentucky
*
List of counties of West Virginia
The U.S. state of West Virginia has 55 counties. Fifty of them existed at the time of the Wheeling Convention in 1861, during the American Civil War, when those counties seceded from the Commonwealth of Virginia to form the new state of West Virg ...
References
{{Lists of cities by U.S. state
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
Counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...