Geography
Virginia Beach is located at 36°50′4″N, 76°5′13″W (36.834498, -76.087179)GR1.
1,288.1 km² (497.3 mi²). 643.1 km² (248.3 mi²) of it is land and 645.0 km² (249.0 mi²) of it (50.07%) is water. The average elevation is 12 feet (4 meters) above sea level. A major portion of the city drains to the Chesapeake Bay by way of the Lynnhaven River and its tributaries.
The city is located at the southeastern corner of the tidewater region of Virginia (also known as Hampton Roads), bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The Hampton Roads Metropolitan Statistical Area (officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA) is the 34th largest in the United States, with a total population of 1,576,370. The area includes the Virginia cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Williamsburg, and the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Surry, and York, as well as the North Carolina county of Currituck. While Virginia Beach is the most populated city within the MSA, it actually currently functions more as a suburb. The city of Norfolk is recognized as the central business district, while the Virginia Beach oceanside resort district and Williamsburg are primarily centers of tourism.
The Virginia tidewater area has grown faster than the local freshwater supply. The river water has always been salty, and the fresh groundwater is no longer available in most areas. Currently, water for the tidewater area is pumped from Lake Gaston, which straddles the Virginia-North Carolina border. The pipeline is 76 miles long and 60 inches in diameter. Much of its follows the former right-of-way of an abandoned portion of the the Virginian Railway. It is capable of pumping 60 million gallons of water per day(60MGD), Chesapeake is a partner in the project and is allotted 10 MGD.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
