Richmond, Virginia

**Richmond** () is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. The population within the city limits was 226,610 in 2020. The population of the Richmond metropolitan area was over 1.3 million — making it the third largest in Virginia.

## Location

Richmond is at the fall line of the James River,  south of Washington DC,  east of Charlottesville, Virginia, and  west of Williamsburg, Virginia. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64, and encircled by Interstate 295 and Virginia State Route 288.

## History

Richmond began as an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown in 1609, and in 1610–11. English settlers returned to found a permanent town in 1737. It became the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780. During the Revolutionary War period, the city was known for Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech in 1775 at St. John's Church, and the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom written by Thomas Jefferson. During the American Civil War, Richmond served as the capital of the Confederate States of America. The city entered the 20th century with one of the world's first successful electric streetcar systems.

## Economy

Richmond's economy is primarily driven by law, finance, and government. It has federal, state, and local governmental agencies in its downtown.  The downtown also has offices for legal and banking firms. The city is home to both the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, one of 13 federal appellate courts, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, one of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. Dominion Resources, Carmax, Genworth Financial, and MeadWestvaco, Fortune 500 companies, along with Massey Energy and Universal Corporation, Fortune 1000 companies, are headquartered in the city. The historic sites in the area bring tourists.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Richmond, Virginia
- **official name**: City of Richmond
- **settlement type**: List of capitals in the United States, State capital and independent city (United States), independent city
- **image skyline**: Collage of Landmarks in Richmond, Virginia v 1.jpg
- **imagesize**: 300px
- **image caption**: Top: Skyline above the falls of the James River Middle: St. John's Episcopal Church (Richmond, Virginia), St. John's Episcopal Church, Jackson Ward, Monument Avenue. Bottom: Virginia State Capitol, Main Street Station (Richmond, Virginia), Main Street Station
- **nickname**: RVA, The River City, Former Capital of the South
- **motto**: _Sic Itur Ad Astra_ ("Thus do we reach the stars")
- **pushpin map**: USA Virginia#USA
- **pushpin label**: Richmond
- **pushpin map caption**: Location in Virginia and the United States
- **pushpin relief**: yes
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision type2**: County
- **subdivision name1**: Virginia
- **subdivision name2**: None (Independent city (United States), independent city)
- **named for**: Richmond, London
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader name**: Danny Avula (Democratic Party (United States), D)
- **total type**: City
- **area total sq mi**: 62.6
- **area land sq mi**: 59.9
- **area water sq mi**: 2.6
- **elevation m**: 45.7
- **elevation ft**: 166.45
- **population total**: 226,610 (List of United States cities by population, 97th)
- **population as of**: 2020
- **population density sq mi**: 3,781.6
- **population metro**: 1,314,434 (Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 45th)
- **population demonym**: Richmonder
- **postal code type**: ZIP Codes
- **postal code**: 23173, 23218–23242, 23249–23250, 23255, 23260–23261, 23269, 23273–23274, 23276, 23278–23279, 23282, 23284–23286, 23288–23295, 23297–23298
- **area code**: Area code 804, 804
- **area code type**: North American Numbering Plan, Area code
- **website**: [http://www.ci.richmond.va.us/ www.ci.richmond.va.us]
- **footnotes**: <span style="font-size:87%;">**Nomenclature evolution**</span>
Prior to 1071 – [http://www.lion1906.com/departements/seine-maritime/richemont-.pdf Richemont]: a town in Normandy, France.
1071 to 1501 – Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond: a castle town in Yorkshire, UK.
1501 to 1742 – Richmond, London, Richmond, a palace town in Surrey, UK.
1742 to present – Richmond, Virginia.
- **timezone**: Eastern Time Zone, EST
- **utc offset**: -5
- **timezone dst**: Eastern Time Zone, EDT
- **utc offset dst**: -4
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standard, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 51-76000
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS feature ID
- **blank1 info**: 1499957