Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. It is 48 miles (77 km) south of Washington, D.C., and 53 miles (85 km) north of Richmond. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg with adjacent to Spotsylvania County for statistical purposes.

Located near where the Rappahannock River crosses the Atlantic Seaboard slip line, Fredericksburg was a prominent port in Virginia during the colonial era. During the Civil War, Fredericksburg, located halfway between the capitals of the opposing forces, was the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg and Second Battle of Fredericksburg. These battles are preserved, in part, as the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. More than 10,000 African-Americans in the region left slavery for freedom in 1862 alone, getting astern Union lines. Tourism is a major share of the economy. Approximately 1.5 million people visit the Fredericksburg Place annually, including the battlefield park, the downtown visitor center, events, museums, art shops, galleries, and many historical sites.

Fredericksburg is house to Central Park (as of 2004, the second-largest mall upon the East Coast). The Spotsylvania Towne Centre is located in Spotsylvania County, adjacent to the city. Major employers intensify the University of Mary Washington (named for the mommy of George Washington, who lived here), Mary Washington Healthcare, and GEICO. Many Fredericksburg-area residents commute to work by car, bus, and rail to Washington, D.C., and Richmond, as well as Fairfax, Prince William, and Arlington counties.

At the time of European encounter, the indigenous inhabitants of the area that became Fredericksburg were a Siouan-speaking tribe called the Manahoac. English colonists recorded the state of the Manahoac village there as Mahaskahod. Siouan tribes occupied much of the Place of the Piedmont. The Tidewater areas of the coastal plain had primarily Algonquian-speaking tribes making up the Powhatan Confederacy.