Richmond, Virginia

The city of Richmond serves as the state capital of Virginia, which is located in the United States. It serves as the administrative, commercial, and cultural hub of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond Region. Incorporated in the year 1742, Richmond did not become a free and autonomous city until 1871. At the time of the census in 2010, the population of the city was 204,214; by the year 2020, it had increased to 226,610, making Richmond the fourth-most populated city in the state of Virginia. There are 1,260,029 people living in the Richmond Metropolitan Area, making it the third most populated metropolitan area in the state.

Richmond is located on the fall line of the James River, which is 44 miles (71 kilometres) to the west of Williamsburg, 66 miles (106 kilometres) to the east of Charlottesville, 91 miles (146 kilometres) to the east of Lynchburg, and 92 miles (148 kilometres) to the south of Washington, District of Columbia. The city is located at the crossroads of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64, and it is also encompassed by Interstate 295, Virginia State Route 150, and Virginia State Route 288. Additionally, the city is bordered on all sides by the counties of Henrico and Chesterfield. Midlothian is located to the southwest, Chesterfield is located to the south, Varina is located to the southeast, Sandston is located to the east, Glen Allen is located to the north and west, Short Pump is located to the west, and Mechanicsville is located to the northeast.

The location that is now Richmond was formerly home to a significant Powhatan Confederacy hamlet, and it was temporarily inhabited by English colonists from Jamestown between the years 1609 and 1611. The current iteration of the city of Richmond was established in the year 1737. In 1780, it superseded Williamsburg as the seat of government for both the Virginia Colony and the Virginia Dominion. During the time of the Revolutionary War, the city was the site of a number of significant events. These events included Patrick Henry's speech, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" which was delivered in 1775 at St. John's Church, and the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which was written by Thomas Jefferson. Richmond served as the capital of the Confederacy for the duration of the American Civil War. It was one of the first successful electric streetcar systems anywhere in the world when it entered the 20th century. The Jackson Ward area has long been known as a centre for African-American commercial and cultural life.

The legal industry, the financial sector, and the government are the primary contributors to Richmond's economy. The downtown region of Richmond is home to a number of significant legal and banking businesses, in addition to federal, state, and municipal government institutions. The city is home to a United States Court of Appeals, making it one of the 13 such courts, as well as a Federal Reserve Bank, making it one of the 12 such banks. The city is home to the headquarters of a number of Fortune 500 firms, including Dominion Energy, WestRock, Performance Food Group, CarMax, ARKO, and Altria. The city's metropolitan region is also home to additional Fortune 500 corporations, such as Markel.

The city continues to suffer with extraordinarily high rates of homicide and other forms of violent crime, which makes it one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.