Richmond ( / ' r ? t? m ? n d / ) is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia , in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county . Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Greater Richmond area. The population within the city limits was 204,214 in 2010, [ 5 ] with an estimated population of 1,231,675 for the Richmond Metropolitan Area  — making it the third largest in Virginia. [ 6 ] Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is located at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64 , and encircled by Interstate 295 and Virginia State Route 288 .

The site of Richmond, at the fall line of the James River , had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy , and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown in 1609, and in 1610–11. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737. It became the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780. During the Revolutionary War period, several notable events occurred in the city, including 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, as well as a national hub of African-American commerce and culture, the Jackson Ward neighborhood.

Richmond's economy is primarily driven by law , finance , and government , with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as notable legal and banking firms, located in the downtown area. The city is home to both the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit , one of 13 United States courts of appeals , and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond , one of 12 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, with others in the metropolitan area. [ 7 ] Tourism is also important, as many historic sites are in or nearby the city.

 

Before 1607, the Powhatan tribe had lived in the region with one of their capitals there, known as Powhatan , Shocquohocan , or Shockoe . [ 8 ] [ 9 ]

In 1606, James I granted a royal charter to the Virginia Company of London to settle colonists in North America. [ 10 ] After the first permanent English-speaking settlement was established in April 1607, at Jamestown , Captain Christopher Newport led explorers northwest up the James River , and on May 24, 1607, erected a cross on one of the small islands in the middle of the part of the river that runs through today's downtown area. Several attempts at English settlement were subsequently made, but each was abandoned, as the native inhabitants were not willing to give up their capital without a fight. In the 1610s, colonist John Rolfe began to grow a sweeter variety of tobacco at Henricus , and it became a lucrative commodity in the tidewater region, driving further expansion. In 1645, Fort Charles was erected at the falls of the James – the highest navigable point of the James River – as a frontier defense. New settlers moved in, and the community grew into a bustling trading post for furs, hides, and tobacco. [ 8 ] [ 9 ]

In 1737, planter William Byrd II commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid. Byrd named the city "Richmond" after the English town of Richmond near (and now part of) London, because the view of the James River was strikingly similar to the view of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in England, where he had spent time during his youth. The settlement was laid out in April 1737, and was incorporated as a town in 1742. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] Early trade grew rapidly, primarily in the agriculture sector, but also in the slave trade . Slaves were imported from Africa to Richmond's Manchester docks, and were bought and sold at the same market.