The U.S. state of Virginia has 95 counties along with 38 independent cities. The county map of Virginia is showing 95 counties with their county seats and 38 independent cities.
About Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia is segregated in 95 counties. Moreover, it comprises 38 independent cities, which are regarded as equivalents to counties for the census. The Virginia county map in this article reflects the political reality. In Virginia, the cities are equal to levels of the governments in the counties. But towns are a part of the counties. For statistical objectives, in some towns, the Bureau of Economic Analysis combines any independent cities with the county that it was once an integral part of.
A large number of county seats are not a part of the counties served. Under Virginia law, all municipalities incorporated as big cities are known as independent cities. They are not part of any county. Some cities in the Hampton Roads area, like Virginia Beach, Newport News, etc., were developed from the entire county. These cities are no longer county seats. This is because the counties stopped existing after the formation of the cities. In Virginia, a county seat may be an independent city surrounded by the county of which it is the administrative center. For instance, Fairfax City is both the county seat of Fairfax County. However, the city is politically independent of the county.
In Virginia, there are 38 independent cities that are regarded as equal to the counties for census purposes. Many towns are as large as the cities but are not known as cities. Moreover, these towns are located within the parent counties. Eight independent cities, which also include Bedford, gave up their city charter in 2013 and became a town. Norton has a population of only 3958. In 2010, the most significant towns were Blacksburg and Leesburg. Four different towns also have a population of over 10,000 people.
The independent cities of Virginia were differentiated by the Virginia General Assembly in 1871. They were classified as the first class and second class cities. The Virginia Constitution of 1902 defined first-class cities as those with a population of 10,000 or more on the basis of the census enumeration. On the other hand, the second-class cities were those which had a population of less than 10,000. A city which was previously granted a charter but didn’t have the population has its status grandfathered in. The second-class cities usually didn’t possess a court of record and were needed to share the court cost with the county. They also shared the cost of the three constitutional officers of the court. The clerk, the sheriff, and the commonwealth attorney were the three officers who stood for election. These officers were to be elected in both the counties. At least two constitutional officers, the treasurer, and the revenue commissioner were needed to be elected solely by the citizens. The differentiation between the first and second-class cities ended with the implementation of the Virginia Constitution of 1971. But the cities that were classified as the second-class cities at the time of the adoption of the Virginia Constitution in 1971 were given the authority to share their court’s system along with the three constitutional officers of the adjacent county.
In Virginia, there are various cities and counties which carry the same name. However, they are politically separate. These include Fairfax, Richmond, etc. In the past, they also had Alexandria and Norfolk. Even Bedford changed its name to avoid confusion as a county of the same name surrounded it. A county or a city that shares the same name may be entirely unrelated in Geography. For instance, the County of Richmond is nowhere near to Richmond City. Moreover, Franklin County is quite far away from Franklin City.
A large number of Virginia Counties are named on the basis of women.
The postal abbreviation of Virginia is VA. The FIPS state code is 51.
