State of the United States

Virginia

Virginia is a state of the United States. It covers about 104,000 km² (40,000 mi²), the 37th largest of the 51 states and districts in Natural Earth’s file for the United States, and about the same size as Iceland. About 8.6 million people live there (Wikidata, 2020).

In area1.01×the size ofIceland102,000 km² In people0.97×as many people asPapua New Guinea8.9 million

200 km

Virginia
Iceland

Facts

Area, measured	104,000 km²40,000 mi²
Official area	111,000 km²Wikidata · 6.4% above our measure
Share of the United States	1.1%of the area of the 51 states and districts
Rank by area	37th of 51states and districts of the United States
Population	8.6 millionWikidata, 2020 · the census year of every unit
Density	83 people per km²
Capital	Richmond
Latitude range	37°N to 39°N
Type	StateUS-VA

What the numbers say about Virginia

Virginia covers 1.1% of the area of the United States and ranks 12th of 51 by population, against 37th by area.
It would take 91.2 states and districts the size of Virginia to cover the United States.
Virginia holds 2.6% of the 331.4 million people that Wikidata’s 2020 figures give for the 51 states and districts together: about 1 in 38.
The largest, Alaska, is 14.5× the size of Virginia; the smallest, Washington, D.C., is 0.2% of it.
Closest in size within the United States: Kentucky (105,000 km², 1.01×) and Tennessee (109,000 km², 1.05×).
Counted as a country, Virginia would be larger than 133 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 107th by area, between Guatemala (109,000 km²) and Iceland (102,000 km²).
With 8.6 million people it would rank 100th of 238 by population.
Virginia has 83 people per km², about the density of Kenya, which has 83 per km².
That makes Virginia the 15th most densely populated of the 51 states and districts, 2.38× the average for the United States (35 per km²).
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 38°N is drawn about 1.6× too large in area, so Virginia looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, Virginia stretches about 323 km north to south and 746 km east to west.
Our measured 104,000 km² is 6.4% below Wikidata's official figure of 111,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently. This difference is flagged for review.

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.

Where Virginia ranks

Virginia is the 37th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States.

Ranked within the United States

All 51 states and districts of the United States, matched to countries

Compare Virginia

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
Population: Wikidata, 2020. United States’s units share the 2020 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
Matching: Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method