South Hampton Roads is a region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It in the most southeastern part of the state. The area is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area). About 1.7 million people live there.
Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area around the body of water of the same name. The land area of Hampton Roads is divided into two regions. These are South Hampton Roads on the south side and the Virginia Peninsula on the north side. People who live there commonly call South Hampton Roads "the Southside".
As of the 2010 Census, the Hampton Roads MSA is the fifth largest metropolitan area by size in the southeastern United States. It is the second-largest between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia.
The decision to call the region "Hampton Roads" was a political one. The area was called "Tidewater" for many years by the people who lived there. The local baseball team was called the Tidewater Tides for years. It is now called the Norfolk Tides. When they first came to Tidewater, they used the popular name to draw more fans.