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Fairfax, Virginia ( FAIR-faks), formally the City of Fairfax, and colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,146. It is the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia.
The city, which is part of both the Washington metropolitan area and Northern Virginia, is located 14 miles (23 km) west of Washington, D.C. The Washington Metro's Orange Line serves Fairfax through its Vienna station, which is a mile northeast of Fairfax. CUE Bus and Metrobus operate in Fairfax. Virginia Railway Express's Burke Centre station is located three miles southeast of Fairfax.
George Mason University, located in unincorporated Fairfax County along Fairfax's southern border, is the largest public university in Virginia with 39,032 students as of 2020.