Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia
Region
Clockwise from the top left: Tysons station entrance on the Metro Silver Line, The Pentagon, Reston and the Dulles Toll Road, Old Town Alexandria, Mount Vernon
Nickname(s):  NOVA, NoVA, Nova
The counties of Virginia that form part of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Counties and independent cities	Alexandria, Arlington County, Clarke County, Culpeper County, Fairfax, Fairfax County, Falls Church, Fauquier County, Frederick County, Fredericksburg, Loudoun County, Manassas, Manassas Park, Orange County, Prince William County, Rappahannock County, Spotsylvania County, Stafford County, Warren County, Winchester
Largest city	Alexandria
Area [1]
• Land	11,425.6 km2 (4,411.45 sq mi)
	13 counties and 7 independent cities in Virginia within the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area or Washington-Baltimore Combined Statistical Area
Population  (2023)	3,257,133
• Density	285.07/km2 (738.34/sq mi)
Demonym	Northern Virginian

Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region radiates westward and southward from Washington, D.C. With 3,257,133 people as of 2023 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the region includes 37.37 percent of Virginia's total population. It is the most populous region of both Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area.^[2][3][4]

Communities in the region form the Virginia portion of the Washington metropolitan area and the larger Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area. Northern Virginia has a significantly larger job base than either Washington, D.C. or the Maryland portion of its suburbs,^[5] and is the highest-income region of Virginia, with several of the highest-income counties in the nation, including three of the ten highest counties for median household income, according to the 2019 American Community Survey.^[6]

Northern Virginia's transportation infrastructure includes two major airports, Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International, several lines of the Washington Metro subway system, the Virginia Railway Express suburban commuter rail system, transit bus services, bicycle sharing and bicycle lanes and trails, and an extensive network of Interstate highways and expressways.

The Pentagon, which serves as the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense and is the world's second-largest office, is located in Arlington County in Northern Virginia. Northern Virginia also houses the George Bush Center for Intelligence, the headquarters for the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, and several large companies, including several major aerospace manufacturing, defense industry, and consulting firms, which serve them and the rest of the U.S. federal government.

Tourist attractions in Northern Virginia include various memorials, museums, and Colonial and Civil War–era sites, including Arlington National Cemetery, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, Manassas National Battlefield Park, Mount Vernon Estate, the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the National Museum of the United States Army, the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum, and the United States Marine Corps War Memorial. Other attractions include portions of the Appalachian Trail, Great Falls Park, Old Town Alexandria, Prince William Forest Park, and portions of Shenandoah National Park.