Victoria County, Verona

Victoria County, officially the County of Victoria, is a county in the Commonwealth of Verona. It is situated in northeastern Verona and is the 43rd-largest county by area in Verona. In 2023, the county's population was estimated to sit at 5,990,018, making it the third-most populous county in Verona, as well as its most densely populated with 1193.2 PD/km2. It is the 11th highest-income county in Verona by median family income. It is home to the state's 5th- and 6th-largest cities, La Joya and Los Sueños, respectively, of which, La Joya, is also the county seat. Because both of their populations sit just below 1 million, and both cities have approximately the same area, they are sometimes referred to as the "Twin Cities".

History
Victoria County was created from a portion of Sierra County in 1731 following Lynnhaven County's separation as a result of a land grant to a local family. The Verona General Assembly created it as a charter county from existence and it was the first county to do so. Prior to its establishment in 1731, it was known as the Rancho Victoria. At the time, Sierra County was relatively large, and included a large portion of northeastern Verona, with all of what are now Andina, Lynnhaven, Santa Rosa, and Victoria Counties.

Prior to the creation of Georgetown and efforts to create a more centralized location, Los Sueños was the seat of the Commonwealth's government. The old capitol building became Victoria County's legislature building until it was demolished and replaced by a different building. Los Sueños is one of the oldest continuously inhabited, inland settlements in Verona.

Geography
According to the Cartadanian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the county has a total area of 5020.2 km2, of which 5003.1 km2 are land and 17.1 km2 are covered by water. The county is bounded by the Natua River on its southern border, while the San Miguel River cuts west to east through the county.

Adjacent counties

 * Sierra County (east)
 * Andina County (southeast)
 * Sinhedes County (south)
 * Lençois County (southwest)
 * Guines County (west)
 * Santa Maria County (northwest)

Government and politics
County politics in Victoria County, as in all Verona counties, center around a Board of Commissioners. It is composed of eight popularly elected county commissioners, one representing each precinct drawn decennially on the basis of population, and a county judge elected to represent the entire county. The county judge functions as the chairman (how it is termed in other counties) elected by the county at-large, bringing total board membership to 9. An associate judge is selected by the county judge and has historically been a judge from the county superior court. The board appoints a professional, nonpartisan county executive to manage operations of each government agency.

In other elected County offices, the Victoria County Commonwealth's Attorney, Sara Capra, the Victoria County Clerk of Superior Court, Ileana Sidoti, and the Victoria County Sheriff, Ivori Lusardi, are all SDPs.

Education
Victoria County is home to multiple school districts–three to be exact, of which, Twin Cities Independent School District is the largest, serving all of La Joya and Los Sueños, as well as neighboring portions of unincorporated Victoria County. It enrolls around 290,000 students in its 281 schools. The county is also home to Victoria Independent School District and Westside Independent School District, both of which enroll around 180,000 students.

The county is home to several institutions of higher learning, and there are a two major public universities located within the county lines: Verona Commonwealth University, Twin Cities (VCU Twin Cities) and the Verona Institute of Technology, which has its primary campus in La Joya where it serves as the anchor for the Palm Coast Tech Center.

The community college system consists of thirteen campuses governed by the trustees of the Victoria Community College District, including La Joya College (LJC), Los Sueños College (LSC), Twin Cities College, Rylander Mission College, Victoria Ames College, Torino College, Victoria Northwest College, Victoria Trade-Technical College and West Victoria College.

Transportation
The Palm Coast Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO or PCMTA) is the metropolitan transit authority for Victoria County as well as the entirety of the Palm Coast metro area. It operates the bus, light rail, and metrorail systems within the county and is an arm of the Palm Coast Consortium of Metropolitan County Governments. It has the largest transit fleet in Verona.

PCMTA also operates all of the major airports in the area via the Palm Coast Airport Authority (except Rosslyn International Airport, which is maintained by the city), including Silvain Rosetta International Airport, which sits in an unincorporated section of the county between the cities of La Joya and Los Sueños.

Cities

 * Abóbora
 * Allais
 * Caru
 * Commerce
 * Edair
 * Fiore
 * La Joya
 * Los Sueños
 * Nogueira

Census-designated places

 * Ariza
 * Balderas
 * Bolea
 * Carlito
 * Castrillón
 * Cleostrata
 * Ferrón
 * Lightfoot
 * Maciel
 * Melero
 * Mendoza
 * Poma
 * Pérezton
 * Queiros
 * Rancho Alypius
 * Sartori
 * Zarrilli

Planned communities
The city of Edair was a planned residential city, originally with seven communities, while the city of Commerce is a planned industrial/commercial blend city, where 91% of the city is zoned to industry and 8% is zoned to commercial. The remaining 1% are small communities that existed before the city's current zoning code took affect. Other planned communities exist within the other cities and CDPs, but no other master-planned cities are currently incorporated in the county.