Richmond, Virginia is a village.
Richmond ( [ ˈrɪtʃmənd ] ) is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States . It was incorporated in 1742 , and has been an independent city since 1871 . As of the 2010 census , the population was 204,214 ; in 2016 , the population was estimated to be 223,170 , the fourth-most populous city in Virginia . The Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,260,029 , the third-most populous metro in the state . The city is home to both the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit , one of 13 United States courts of appeals , and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond , one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks .