Richmond is the capital of Virginia, United States. A seaport at the head of navigation on the James River, Richmond is one of the largest cities in Virginia and serves as the manufacturing, distribution, commercial, financial, and cultural centre for the surrounding region. Government activities and tourism are also important to the economic base, and the city is a major tobacco market, manufacturing tobacco products, paper goods, processed foods, chemicals, metal and wood items, printed materials, and textiles. Richmond is served by Richmond International Airport.

Among the facilities of higher education in Richmond are the University of Richmond (1830), Virginia Commonwealth University (1838), Virginia Union University (1865), and the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (1812). Museums in the city include the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of the Confederacy, and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. Points of interest include St John's Episcopal Church (1741), where in 1775 the American statesman Patrick Henry made an impassioned speech for independence containing the famous words, “give me liberty or give me death”. Of special interest is the State Capitol (1785-1788), designed by Thomas Jefferson and modelled after the Maison Carrйe, a Roman temple in Nоmes, France. Richmond supports a symphony orchestra and a ballet company, and plays are produced at the Virginia Museum Theater. Richmond National Battlefield Park, commemorating American Civil War battles fought over possession of the Confederate capital, is near the city.

The area including the site of present-day Richmond was visited by the English colonizer Captain John Smith in 1607. The first permanent non-Native American settlement here was established at the falls of the James River in 1637, and Fort Charles was constructed in 1644 to protect the settlers from attack by Native Americans. The community developed as a trading centre, and in 1737 it was planned under the patronage of William Byrd, a colonial statesman. It was named after Richmond upon Thames in London.

Richmond became the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1780 and in 1861 was made the capital of the Confederate States of America; as such it was a major objective of Union forces during the American Civil War. On April 3, 1865, after many attempts, Union troops, led by General Ulysses S. Grant, succeeded in occupying the city, but only after it had been evacuated and principal sections burned by its own residents. Population (1980) 219,214; (1990) 203,056.

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