Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. Formerly a county largely composed of farms and undeveloped lands, over the years the city has experienced explosive development and is now Virginia's fifth largest incorporated city by population. As of 2006, the estimated city population declined to 178,281 from the 2000 census of 180,150 with a former ranking of third largest city in Virginia.

Newport News was originally part of Warwick County, one of the eight original shires of Virginia then formed by the House of Burgesses in the British Colony of Virginia by order of King Charles I in the year 1634. In 1881, after 15 years of explosive development under the leadership of Collis P. Hungtinton, Newport News experienced a financial boom with the opening of a new pathway for the city's railroad. This new pathway opened up opportunities of bringing West Virginia bituminous coal to port for shipping and worldwide export. In 1896, Newport News became an independent city, separating from Warwick County. However, in 1958, Newport News consolidated with the former Warwick County by mutual consent of referendum

.Aside from the city's large boating industry, Newport News' economy is very much connected to the military. Many of the city's residents are employed at the Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding, the US Army base at Fort Eustis, as well as other military bases and suppliers. Newport News is also known for serving as a junction between the rails and the sea.