Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 238,005, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, and the 91st-largest city in the nation. The city was incorporated in 1705 and is one of the oldest cities in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, and is considered to be the historic, urban, financial, and cultural center of the region.