Central Virginia

Central Virginia, also known as the Piedmont, is the largest region of the state of Virginia and contains the state capital, Richmond. It is marked on the east by the Fall Line, and on the west by the Appalachian Mountains.

Photo: Morgan Riley, CC BY 3.0.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Richmond and Charlottesville.

Richmond

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Richmond is the capital of Virginia. Richmond has a population of 227,000 and the adjacent counties of Henrico and Chesterfield combine to create a local population of more than 1.3 million people.

Charlottesville

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Charlottesville, in central Virginia, is a lovely university town of about 40,000 with lots to offer. Charlottesville is a town steeped in history and culture.

Lynchburg

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Lynchburg is an independent city of 79,000 in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It lies east of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Central Virginia.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Petersburg and Danville.

Petersburg

Photo: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Petersburg is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg with Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes.

Danville

Photo: MarmadukePercy, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Danville is a city of 40,000 people in the state of Virginia on the Banks of the Dan River close to the border with North Carolina. Founded in 1793, Danville is perhaps best known for its role in the Civil War, when it was an important railroad stop for the Confederacy and became the last Confederate capital after Richmond fell to the North.

Bedford

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0.

Bedford is a town and former independent city in the county of the same name in Central Virginia of the Southern United States of America. With an estimated population of 6,585 as of 2018, the town – which is the county seat of Bedford County – is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Culpeper

Photo: Nwarner85, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Culpeper is a town of over 20,000 people in the center of Culpeper County in Central Virginia. Culpeper is the literal heart of the county, and has grown rapidly since 2000 when it was home to fewer than 10,000 people.

Crewe

Photo: Idawriter, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Crewe is a former railroad town in Central Virginia, a sister town to Crewe, England.…

Amherst

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Amherst is a town in Amherst County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Amherst had a population of 2,110. It is the county seat of Amherst County. Amherst is part of the Lynchburg metropolitan area.

Ashland

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Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, United States, located 16 miles north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 7,565, up from 7,225 at the 2010 census.

Farmville

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Farmville is a college town in Virginia. Its economy is largely based on Longwood University and nearby Hampden-Sydney College. It is home to about 7,000 people…

Blackstone

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Blackstone, formerly named Blacks and Whites, and then Bellefonte, is a town in Nottoway County in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Blackstone had a population of 3,352.

Hanover

Photo: Mojo Hand, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Hanover is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Hanover County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat and is located at the junction of U.S. Route 301 and State Route 54, south of the Pamunkey River.

Doswell

Photo: DiscoA340, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Doswell is an unincorporated community in Hanover County in the Central Region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It is considered a exurb of Richmond. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on the Virginia Central Railroad at a crossing of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, a north–south route.

Lake Country

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.

The Lake Country of southern Central Virginia surrounds the John H. Kerr Reservoir, colloquially known as "Buggs Island Lake" in Virginia and "Kerr Lake" in North Carolina.

Central Virginia

Type: metropolitan statistical area with 1,310,000 residents
Description: region and metropolitan area in Virginia, United States
Also known as: “Greater Richmond Region”, “Richmond metropolitan area”, “Richmond, VA Metro Area”, and “Richmond, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area”
Location: Virginia, South, United States, North America
View on OpenStreetMap

Latitude of center

37.809° or 37° 48′ 32″ north

Longitude of center

-78.178° or 78° 10′ 41″ west

Population

1,310,000

Wikidata ID

Q5600736

This page is based on Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.

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Satellite Map

Discover Central Virginia from above in high-definition satellite imagery.

In Other Languages

From Chinese to Urdu—“Central Virginia” goes by many names.

Chinese: “大里士满地区”
Chinese: “大里士滿地區”
German: “Metropolregion Richmond”
Italian: “Virginia centrale”
Japanese: “リッチモンド都市圏”
Persian: “منطقه ریچموند بزرگ”
Slovenian: “Centralna Virginija”
Slovenian: “Greater Richmond Region”
Slovenian: “metropolitansko območje Richmonda”
Spanish: “Área metropolitana de Richmond–Petersburg”
Spanish: “Area metropolitana de Richmond”
Spanish: “Área metropolitana de Richmond”
Urdu: “گریٹر رچمنڈ خطہ”

Virginia: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into Arlington, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Alexandria.

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