Coordinates: 36°58′N 76°22′W / 36.967°N 76.367°W
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in Virginia and the surrounding metropolitan region in Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina, United States. Comprising the Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC metropolitan area and an extended Combined Statistical Area that includes the Elizabeth City, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area and Kill Devil Hills, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, Hampton Roads is known for its large military presence, ice-free harbor, shipyards, coal piers, and miles of waterfront property and beaches, all of which contribute to the diversity and stability of the region's economy.
The body of water known as Hampton Roads is one of the world's largest natural harbors (more accurately a roadstead or "roads"). It incorporates the mouths of the Elizabeth River, Nansemond River, and James River with several smaller rivers and empties into the Chesapeake Bay near its mouth leading to the Atlantic Ocean.
South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States, and is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) with a population about 1.8 million.
Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name. The land portion of Hampton Roads has been historically divided into two regions, South Hampton Roads on the south side, and the Virginia Peninsula on the north side. (Locally, South Hampton Roads is commonly called "the Southside", which is not to be confused with "Southside Virginia", which is a separate region of the south central portion of Virginia located farther inland.)
As of the 2010 Census, the Hampton Roads MSA is the fifth largest metropolitan area by size in the southeastern United States, and is the second-largest (after the Charlotte metro area) between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia.
South Hampton may refer to: