Chesapeake, Virginia
Chesapeake is an independent city in Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, making it the second-most populous city in Virginia, the tenth largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 89th-most populous city in the United States.
Chesapeake, Virginia | |
|---|---|
Great Dismal Swamp Canal | |
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Flag Seal Wordmark | |
| Motto: "One Increasing Purpose" | |
Location in Virginia | |
Chesapeake Chesapeake | |
| Coordinates: 36°42′51″N 76°14′18″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| Founded | 1963 (1919 as South Norfolk, 1634 as Norfolk County, Virginia) |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–council–manager |
| • Mayor | Rick West (R) |
| Area | |
| • Independent city | 350.95 sq mi (908.95 km2) |
| • Land | 338.51 sq mi (876.74 km2) |
| • Water | 12.44 sq mi (32.21auto279.26 km2) 2.9% |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Independent city | 249,422 |
| • Rank | 90th in the United States 2nd in Virginia |
| • Density | 710/sq mi (270/km2) |
| • Metro | 1,799,674 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP codes | 23320-23328 |
| Area code(s) | 757 and 948 |
| FIPS code | 51-16000 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1496841 |
| Website | www.cityofchesapeake.net |
Chesapeake is included in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. One of the cities in the South Hampton Roads, Chesapeake was organized in 1963 by voter referendums approving the political consolidation of the city of South Norfolk with the remnants of the former Norfolk County, which dated to 1691. (Much of the territory of the county had been annexed by other cities.) Chesapeake is the second-largest city by land area in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the 17th-largest in the United States.
Chesapeake is a diverse city in which a few urban areas are located; it also has many square miles of protected farmland, forests, and wetlands, including a substantial portion of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Extending from the rural border with North Carolina to the harbor area of Hampton Roads adjacent to the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach, Chesapeake is located on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It has miles of waterfront industrial, commercial and residential property. In 2011, Chesapeake was named the 21st best city in the United States by Bloomberg Businessweek. Chesapeake is home to the international headquarters of Dollar Tree.