Richmond (, RITCH-mənd) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city since 1871. It is the fourth-most populous city in Virginia, with a population of 226,610 at the 2020 census. The Richmond metropolitan area, with over 1.37 million residents, is the third-most populous metropolitan area in Virginia and 44th-largest in the United States. Richmond is located at the James River's fall line. Richmond was an important village in the Powhatan Confederacy and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown from 1609 to 1611. Founded in 1737, it replaced Williamsburg as the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in …