Norfolk is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in both the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area and in Virginia after its neighbors Virginia Beach and Chesapeake and 100th-most populous city in the United States. The city holds a strategic position as the historical, urban, financial, and cultural center of the Hampton Roads Area, which has more than 1.8 million inhabitants and is the 37th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.