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 administrative units discussed here ceased to exist in a number of ways. A number of smaller settlements became extinct due to loss of population. In time, others changed names, ascended to higher levels (or occasionally, descended to lower levels) of autonomy, or were occasionally annexed by larger nearby units. At a higher level, large areas of Virginia were split off to form new states, transferred as state boundaries were clarified, or came under the administration of the federal government.

As of July 2016^[update], Virginia had 95 counties, 38 independent cities, and 190 incorporated towns. There are also hundreds of unincorporated places in Virginia with their own identities.

After the European discovery of North America in the 15th century, European nations competed to establish colonies on the continent. In the late 16th century, the area claimed by England was well defined along the coast, but was very roughly marked in the west, extending from 34 to 48 degrees north latitude, or from the vicinity of Cape Fear in present-day North Carolina well into Acadia. The English called this huge claim, parts of which other powers contested, "Virginia." In 1609, the northern border was reduced to 45 degrees north latitude on the Atlantic coast, very close to the current coastal border between the U.S. and Canada. In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh sent Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to explore the coast of present-day North Carolina, and they returned with word of a regional native chief named "Wingina." This name was given to the territory, and was shortly renamed "Virginia" by Queen Elizabeth I, perhaps in part due to her status as the "Virgin Queen." Raleigh's Roanoke Colony in the 1580s and the Virginia Company of Plymouth's Popham Colony in the 1600s (present-day Maine) both took place in what the English then called Virginia, and were both unsuccessful in establishing permanent footholds.

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