Virginia Beach

Sister cities

• Olongapo
• Bangor
• San Juan del Sur
• Miyazaki
• Moss Municipality

History

The Chesepian were the historic indigenous people of the area now known as Tidewater in Virginia at the time of European encounter. Little is known about them but archeological evidence suggests they may have been related to the Carolina Algonquian, or Pamlico people. They would have spoken one of the Algonquian languages. These were common among the numerous tribes of the coastal area, who made up the loose Powhatan Confederacy, numbering in the tens of thousands in population. The Chesepian occupied an area which is now defined as the independent cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach. In 1607, after a voyage of 144 days, three ships headed by Captain Christopher Newport, and carrying 105 men and boys, made their first landfall in the New World on the mainland, where the southern mouth of the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. They named it Cape Henry, after Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King James I of England. These English colonists of the Virginia Company of London moved on from this area, as they were under orders to seek a site further inland, which would be more sheltered from ships of competing European countries. They created their first permanent settlement on the north side of the James River at Jamestown. Adam Thoroughgood (1604–1640) of King's Lynn, Norfolk, England is one of the earliest Englishmen to settle in this area, which was developed as Virginia Beach. At the age of 18, he had contracted as an indentured servant to pay for passage to the Virginia Colony in the hopes of bettering his life. He earned his freedom after several years and became a leading citizen of the area. In 1629, he was elected to the House of Burgesses for Elizabeth Cittie , one of four "cities" (or incorporations) which were…

Geography

Virginia Beach is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (50.8%) is water. The Hampton Roads metropolitan area (officially the Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC Metropolitan Statistical Area) is the 37th largest in the United States, with a total population of 1.7 million. While Virginia Beach is the most populated city within the metropolitan area, it functions as a suburb. Virginia Beach is east of Norfolk, Virginia, northeast of Chesapeake, Virginia, south of Washington, D.C., southeast of Richmond, Virginia, and northeast of Raleigh, North Carolina. When the modern city of Virginia Beach was created in 1963, by the consolidation of the Princess Anne County with the City of Virginia Beach, the newly larger city was divided into seven boroughs: Bayside, Blackwater, Kempsville, Lynnhaven, Princess Anne, Pungo, and Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach has many distinctive communities and neighborhoods within its boundaries, including: Alanton, Aragona Village, the largest sub-division in Tidewater when completed, Bay Colony, Bayside, Cape Henry, Chesapeake Beach, Croatan Beach, Great Neck Point, Green Run, Kempsville, Larkspur, London Bridge, Lynnhaven, Newtown, The North End, Oceana, Ocean Park, Pembroke Manor, Princess Anne, Pungo, Red Mill Commons, Sandbridge, Shadowlawn, Thalia, and Thoroughgood. The climate of Virginia Beach is humid subtropical (Köppen: Cfa). For the Trewartha climate classification the climate is the northern limit of Cf (subtropical). Much of the year in Virginia Beach is mild to warm. The long summer season from late May through late September is often hot and humid, with frequent (but brief) late day thundershowers. Winters are cool with little frozen…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  26,081
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  24,816
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  22,686
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  19,821
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  19,689
• Yellow-rumped Warbler

  Setophaga coronata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  16,254
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  15,218
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,745

Largest nearby schools

• LANDSTOWN HIGH
  High · Virginia Beach · 2,226 students · 17.1:1 ratio
• KEMPSVILLE HIGH
  High · Virginia Beach · 2,006 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• BAYSIDE HIGH
  High · Virginia Beach · 1,983 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• FLOYD KELLAM HIGH
  High · Virginia Beach · 1,882 students · 17.6:1 ratio
• TALLWOOD HIGH
  High · Virginia Beach · 1,861 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• OCEAN LAKES HIGH
  High · Virginia Beach · 1,855 students · 15.2:1 ratio
• FIRST COLONIAL HIGH
  High · Virginia Beach · 1,797 students · 17.1:1 ratio
• PRINCESS ANNE HIGH
  High · Virginia Beach · 1,717 students · 14.4:1 ratio