Arlington County

Arlington County, Virginia
County
Arlington County
The skylines of Arlington's Courthouse and Rosslyn neighborhoods, with the Georgetown and Downtown neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. immediately past them. The county accounts for most of Virginia's border with the District.
Flag Seal Logo
Location in the U.S. state of Virginia
Virginia's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 27, 1801
Named for	Arlington House
Seat	Arlington
Area
• Total	26 sq mi (67 km2)
• Land	26 sq mi (67 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0 km2), 0.4%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	229,164
• Density	8,814/sq mi (3,403/km²)
Congressional district	8th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.arlingtonva.us

Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is coterminous with the U.S. Census Bureau-census-designated place of Arlington, which is the second-largest principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As a result, the county is often referred to in the region simply as "Arlington" or "Arlington, Virginia". In 2015, the county's population was estimated at 229,164, which would make it the fourth-largest city in the Commonwealth if it were incorporated as such.

The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district of Columbia. On February 27, 1801, a year after moving from the temporary National Capital at Philadelphia to the City of Washington, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of the District named Alexandria County. In 1846, Congress returned the land southwest of the Potomac River donated by Virginia due to issues involving Congressional representation and the abolition of slavery. The General Assembly of Virginia changed the county's name to Arlington in 1920 to avoid confusion with the adjacent City of Alexandria.

The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the south bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C. Arlington is also bordered by Fairfax County and City of Falls Church to the northwest, west and southwest, and the City of Alexandria to the southeast. With a land area of 26 square miles (67 km²), Arlington is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the United States, and due to state law regarding population density, has no incorporated towns within its borders. As of the 2010 census, the population was 207,627.