Virginia Real Estate Listings, Virginia Homes for Sale, Virginia Condos, VA

Virginia Real Estate Overview

The Commonwealth of Virginia is primarily considered to be part of the Southern United States but is sometimes included in the Mid-Atlantic States. Virginia's U.S. postal abbreviation is VA, and its Associated Press abbreviation is Va.

Virginia is bordered by West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (across the Potomac River) to the north, by Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south, and by Kentucky and West Virginia to the west.

The Chesapeake Bay divides Virginia, with the eastern portion (called 'the Eastern Shore of Virginia'), a part of the Delmarva Peninsula, completely separate (an exclave) from the rest of the state.

Geographically, Virginia is divided into the following 5 regions:

• Tidewater - Stretching from the Atlantic coast to the fall line
• Piedmont - East of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Tidewater Region
• Blue Ridge Mountains - East of the Appalachian Mountains to the Blue Ridge Mountain Region
• Valley and Ridge - Appalachian Mountains and Shenandoah Valley Region
• Appalachian Plateau - West of the Appalachian Mountains

Virginia's long east-west axis means that metropolitan northern Virginia lies much closer to New York and New England than to the rural western panhandle of its own state. Conversely, Lee County, at the tip of the panhandle, is closer to 8 state capitals than it is to Richmond.

As of 2005, Virginia has an estimated population of 7,567,465, which is an increase of 86,133, or 1.2%, from the prior year.

Virginia Transportation

Virginia is served by a network of Interstate Highways, arterial highways, several limited access tollways, bridges, tunnels, and five bridge-tunnel complexes known as the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, the Elizabeth River Downtown Bridge-Tunnel, the Elizabeth River Midtown Bridge-Tunnel, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The Springfield Interchange Project (also known as "The Mixing Bowl") and the replacement of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, two of the country's largest highway improvement projects, are taking place in the state ten miles apart.

Major airports are located in these areas: Northern Virginia (Reagan-National and Dulles), Richmond-Petersburg (Richmond), Virginia Peninsula (Newport News), South Hampton Roads (Norfolk), and the Roanoke Valley (Roanoke).

Virginia has extensive waterways. In addition to the lower portion of the Chesapeake Bay, navigable rivers include the Elizabeth River at Hampton Roads, the James River, the York River, the Rappahannock River, and the Potomac River. The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway passes through eastern Virginia.

Virginia Important Cities and Towns

Under the laws in effect in Virginia, all municipalities incorporated as cities are independent of any county. Of the 43 independent cities in the United States, 39 are in Virginia.

Ten Largest Virginia Cities:

• Virginia Beach Real Estate
• Norfolk Real Estate
• Chesapeake Real Estate
• Richmond Real Estate
• Newport News Real Estate
• Hampton Real Estate
• Alexandria Real Estate
• Portsmouth Real Estate
• Roanoke Real Estate
• Suffolk Real Estate

The complete list of Virginia independent cities follows:

Alexandria, Bedford, Bristol, Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Colonial Heights, Covington, Danville, Emporia, Fairfax, Falls Church, Franklin, Fredericksburg, Galax, Hampton, Harrisonburg, Hopewell, Lexington, Lynchburg, Manassas, Manassas Park, Martinsville, Newport News, Norfolk, Norton, Petersburg, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Richmond, Radford, Roanoke, Salem, Staunton, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Waynesboro, Williamsburg, Winchester.

Some other municipalities are incorporated towns, which are not independent of a county, but rather, located within one of the 95 counties in Virginia. These incorporated towns include:

Accomac, Abingdon, Alberta, Altavista, Ashland, Bassett, Berryville, Blacksburg, Bluefield, Bridgewater, Chincoteague, Christiansburg, Clifton, Clifton Forge, Clinchco, Clintwood, Colonial Beach, Culpeper, Dumfries, Eastville, Farmville, Front Royal, Glasgow, Grundy, Haysi, Herndon, Kenbridge, Lebanon, Leesburg, Luray, Marion, Occoquan, Orange, Pulaski, Purcellville, Richlands, Rocky Mount, Smithfield, South Boston, South Hill, Strasburg, Tappahannock, Tazewell, Victoria, Vienna, Vinton, Wachapreague, Warrenton, West Point, Wise, Woodstock, Wytheville.

Finally, Arlington County, which lies across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is a completely urbanized community, much like a city, but remains organized as a county, and has no towns within its borders. There are also hundreds of other unincorporated communities (sometimes informally called villages or towns) in Virginia.

Virginia Counties

Accomack, Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington Real Estate, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Brunswick, Buchanan, Buckingham, Campbell, Caroline, Carroll, Charles City, Charlotte, Chesterfield Real Estate, Clarke, Craig, Culpeper, Cumberland, Dickenson, Dinwiddie, Essex, Fairfax Real Estate, Fauquier, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Frederick, Giles, Gloucester, Goochland, Grayson, Greene, Greensville, Halifax, Hanover Real Estate, Henrico Real Estate, Henry, Highland, Isle of Wight, James City, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Lee, Loudoun Real Estate, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Mathews, Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Montgomery, Nelson, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Nottoway, Orange, Page, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, Prince William Real Estate, Pulaski, Rappahannock, Richmond, Roanoke Real Estate, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Russell, Scott, Shenandoah, Smyth, Southampton, Spotsylvania Real Estate, Stafford Real Estate, Surry, Sussex, Tazewell, Warren, Washington, Westmoreland, Wise, Wythe, York.

Virginia Regions

Baltimore-Washington Metro Area, Eastern Shore, Hampton Roads, Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck, Northern Virginia, Piedmont, Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, Richmond-Petersburg, Shenandoah Valley, Southside Virginia, Tidewater, Virginia Peninsula.

Also: State of Virginia Official Website