The city of Virginia Beach is in southeastern Virginia, on the Atlantic coast and Chesapeake Bay. It is an independent city, not part of any county, in the Hampton Roads region adjacent to the cities of Norfolk and Chesapeake. Virginia Beach is Virginia’s most populous city. It is also large in area, covering 249 square miles (645 square kilometers) of land and extending 28 miles (45 kilometers) southward from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay to the North Carolina border.
Virginia Beach’s natural features include Cape Henry, situated at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. A memorial there, part of Colonial National Historical Park, marks the first landing, in April 1607, of the Jamestown colonists. Cape Henry has an old lighthouse, built in 1792, and a newer lighthouse, built in 1881. At the south end of the city is Back Bay, a brackish lagoon near the ocean. It occupies about 39 square miles (101 square kilometers) and includes a national wildlife refuge.
Municipal attractions include the Virginia Beach Amphitheatre, which accommodates 20,000 people for musical performances, and the Virginia Aquarium, which features many animals and plants that are native to the state. Facilities for water recreation and fishing are available from the city’s boardwalks, bays, and beaches. Among the city’s historic houses are the Adam Thoroughgood House, built in about 1719, and the Francis Land House, built in about 1805 as a plantation manor. A prominent educational institution is Regent University, founded in 1978 by evangelist Pat Robertson. The Virginia Tech Hampton Roads Center is also in Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach developed as a resort following the construction during the 1880s of a hotel and a railroad linking it with Norfolk. After World War I it became a link in the national coastal-defense system. Present-day military installations include the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek–Fort Story and the Naval Air Station Oceana. The completion in 1964 of the 17.6-mile (28-kilometer) Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel connected the city with Cape Charles on the Delmarva Peninsula and facilitated commerce. Agriculture (grains, vegetables, and dairy products), and diversified manufactures have also contributed to the local economy.
The original town of Virginia Beach was incorporated within Princess Anne county in 1906. The town became an independent city in 1952. Then in 1963 the independent city absorbed the county. Virginia Beach has a council-manager form of government. Population (2010) 437,994; metropolitan area (2010) 1,671,683.