The region, once occupied by Native Americans of the Chesapeake people, was settled by Europeans in the early 17th century. During the American Revolution, at the Battle of Great Bridge, the Virginia militia defeated forces of the British governor on December 9, 1775. The Dismal Swamp Canal, begun in 1793 and opened in 1805, is the oldest operating artificial waterway in the United States. Chesapeake incorporated in 1963, formed by the merger of the city of South Norfolk and the county of Norfolk. The city is named for the Chesapeake Bay, which in turn got its name from the original inhabitants of the area.

Chesapeake covers a land area of 341 sq mi, with a mean elevation of 17 ft. According to the 2000 census, whites are 66.9 percent of the population, blacks 28.5 percent, Asians 1.8 percent, Native Americans 0.4 percent, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.1 percent. The remainder are of mixed heritage or did not report ethnicity.

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