The Northern Neck is the northernmost of three peninsulas (traditionally called "necks" in Virginia) on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in the Commonwealth of Virginia (along with the Middle Peninsula and the Virginia Peninsula). The Potomac River forms the northern boundary of the peninsula; the Rappahannock River demarcates it on the south. The Northern Neck encompasses the following Virginia counties: Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland; it had a total population of 50,158 as of the 2020 census.