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, independent cities, and incorporated towns) are political subdivisions of the state.

According to the 2002 Census of Governments, Virginia ranked 43rd among the 50 states in the number of local governments, with 521 as of June 2002.

Virginia has 95 counties, covering all of the territory not within the independent cities. Under Virginia law, counties are an arm of the state itself, and exist at the will of the state government. Their populations vary widely; 2010 census population counts ranged from 2,321 for Highland County to 1,081,726 for Fairfax County.

Since Virginia has no civil townships, and since incorporated towns cover such a small area of the state, the county is the de facto local government for much of the state, from rural areas to densely populated unincorporated communities such as Tysons Corner. In fact, Arlington County, while entirely urbanized, has no towns at all; the county is the only general-purpose local government and is thus similar to a unitary authority.

Since 1871, all incorporated cities in Virginia have classified as independent cities. This is the most noteworthy aspect of Virginia local government relative to the other 49 states. Of the 41 independent cities in the United States, 38 are in Virginia. The three that are not in Virginia are Baltimore, Maryland; St. Louis, Missouri; and Carson City, Nevada. Cities in Virginia are thus similar to unitary authorities in some countries.

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