 Virginia has a total area of 42 @,@ 774 @.@ 2 square miles ( 110 @,@ 784 @.@ 7 km2 ) , including 3 @,@ 180 @.@ 13 square miles ( 8 @,@ 236 @.@ 5 km2 ) of water , making it the 35th @-@ largest state by area . Virginia is bordered by Maryland and Washington , D.C. to the north and east ; by the Atlantic Ocean to the east ; by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south ; by Kentucky to the west ; and by West Virginia to the north and west . Virginia 's boundary with Maryland and Washington , D.C. extends to the low @-@ water mark of the south shore of the Potomac River . The southern border is defined as the 36 ° 30 ′ parallel north , though surveyor error led to deviations of as much as three arcminutes . The border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893 , when their dispute was brought to the U.S. Supreme Court . 
