Blank Virginia map

What the outline shows

The map draws the state boundary. The northeast edge is the Potomac River, from its source to Chesapeake Bay; the boundary is on the Virginia bank, so the river belongs to Maryland. The south edge with North Carolina is a straight line along about 36.5°N. The southwest edge with Tennessee is also straight. The west edge with Kentucky and West Virginia follows the Appalachian crest and is highly irregular, with a long, thin western tip that reaches almost to the Ohio River. The east is Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic coast, with the Eastern Shore, the southern end of the Delmarva Peninsula, as a separate piece across the bay. Nothing inside is drawn. Press Capital to mark Richmond on the James River at the Fall Line.

Portrait or landscape

Virginia is about 430 miles from the western tip to the Eastern Shore and about 200 miles north to south. Print in landscape. In that orientation the western tip, the Shenandoah Valley and the bay all remain large enough to work on. Portrait would leave the state small and centred with the top and bottom of the page empty. For Tidewater and the bay alone, zoom to the area east of Richmond and print landscape as well, since the bay's mouth and Hampton Roads run east–west.

Five classroom exercises

1. Trace the Potomac River along the northeast edge, mark Washington, DC, on the far bank, and note that the state line lies on the Virginia shore.
2. Draw the James River from the Alleghenies east through Richmond to Hampton Roads, and the Rappahannock and York rivers parallel to it, all ending in Chesapeake Bay.
3. Draw the Blue Ridge as a line from the Potomac southwest across the state, and shade the Shenandoah Valley behind it.
4. Shade the Eastern Shore across the bay and mark the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel joining it to Virginia Beach.
5. Place Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Richmond and Arlington, and note that the three largest cities are all in Hampton Roads.

How to recognise the Virginia outline

• A triangle pointing west, with a long straight bottom edge.
• A wavy upper-right edge, the Potomac, running from the mountains to the bay.
• A separate piece of land at the far right, the Eastern Shore, across the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.
• A very long, thin tail at the western tip, squeezed between Kentucky and Tennessee.

Answer key and related maps

• Virginia map — the labeled version with capital, cities and borders; use it as the answer key.
• Printable Virginia map — the same outline with cities, county lines and the capital printed on.
• Virginia county map — all 133 counties with their seats.
• Richmond — the capital, on the James River.
• Neighbours: Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia.
• Appalachian Mountains and Mid-Atlantic region.
• All blank state maps and the printable US maps index.