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The Commonwealth of Virginia is divided into 95 counties and 39 independent cities, which are considered county-equivalents for census purposes. Note that the map in this article, taken from the official United States Census Bureau site, includes Clifton Forge as an independent city. This reflected the political reality at the time of the 2000 Census. However, in 2001, Clifton Forge relinquished its city charter and reincorporated as a town in Alleghany County, as in Virginia, all municipalities incorporated as towns are included within 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, Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton, 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.

It is also worthy of note that there are several counties and cities which have the same name, but are separate politically. These currently include Bedford, Fairfax, Franklin, Richmond, and Roanoke, and in the past included Norfolk and Alexandria, whose counties changed their names, ostensibly to end some of the confusion. Similarity in their names does not necessarily mean that the current counties and cities which share names are close geographically. Richmond County is nowhere near the City of Richmond, and Franklin County is even further from the City of Franklin.

For historical purposes, do not forget to review the breakaway counties which formed West Virginia.

The map below may be clicked upon to go to any of the counties (or named Independent cities) shown.

List of 95 counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia (link shown under Fips County Code are for the U.S. Census Bureau Statistics Info Page for that county):

State Abbr. FIPS State Code State VA 51 Virginia FIPS County Code County Name Location 001 Accomack County 003 Albemarle County 005 Alleghany County 007 Amelia County 009 Amherst County 011 Appomattox County 013 Arlington County 015 Augusta County 017 Bath County 019 Bedford County 021 Bland County 023 Botetourt County 025 Brunswick County 027 Buchanan County 029 Buckingham County 031 Campbell County 033 Caroline County 035 Carroll County 036 Charles City County 037 Charlotte County 041 Chesterfield County 043 Clarke County 045 Craig County 047 Culpeper County 049 Cumberland County 051 Dickenson County 053 Dinwiddie County 057 Essex County 059 Fairfax County 061 Fauquier County 063 Floyd County 065 Fluvanna County 067 Franklin County 069 Frederick County 071 Giles County 073 Gloucester County 075 Goochland County 077 Grayson County 079 Greene County 081 Greensville County 083 Halifax County 085 Hanover County 087 Henrico County 089 Henry County 091 Highland County 093 Isle of Wight County 095 James City County 097 King and Queen County

State Abbr. FIPS State Code State VA 51 Virginia FIPS County Code County Name Location 099 King George County 101 King William County 103 Lancaster County 105 Lee County 107 Loudoun County 109 Louisa County 111 Lunenburg County 113 Madison County 115 Mathews County 117 Mecklenburg County 119 Middlesex County 121 Montgomery County 125 Nelson County 127 New Kent County 131 Northampton County 133 Northumberland County 135 Nottoway County 137 Orange County 139 Page County 141 Patrick County 143 Pittsylvania County 145 Powhatan County 147 Prince Edward County 149 Prince George County 153 Prince William County 155 Pulaski County 157 Rappahannock County 159 Richmond County 161 Roanoke County 163 Rockbridge County 165 Rockingham County 167 Russell County 169 Scott County 171 Shenandoah County 173 Smyth County 175 Southampton County 177 Spotsylvania County 179 Stafford County 181 Surry County 183 Sussex County 185 Tazewell County 187 Warren County 191 Washington County 193 Westmoreland County 195 Wise County 197 Wythe County 199 York County

39 INDEPENDENT CITIES: (link shown under Fips County Code are for the U.S. Census Bureau Statistics Info Page for that independent city):

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