Southside Virginia - Definition and Overview

Southside is the colloquial name given to a broad swath of southeastern and/or south-central Virginia. It is bounded on the north by the James River, and does not have any particular western boundary. The term can be used in two senses:

• It can refer to the south side of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. In this sense, the term always includes the cities of Suffolk and Chesapeake, as well as Surry County and Isle of Wight County. Some also include the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Portsmouth in this definition.

• It can also refer to the south-central part of the state, roughly bounded by the James River on the north, the Blue Ridge Mountains on the west, and the South Hampton Roads area on the east. The Richmond-Petersburg area is never included in this sense of the term. The major center of this area is generally considered to be Danville.

The term Southside Virginia is generally used to refer to the second area, not the first.