Chesapeake Bay and James River

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the Chesapeake Bay is North America's largest estuary and has a shoreline of more than 8,000 miles. The bay is a long, narrow arm of the Atlantic Ocean that extends northward into Maryland and cuts the state into two parts. In addition to Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin includes parts of the states of West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and the entire District of Columbia. The cities of Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Annapolis, Maryland lie within its basin boundary.

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Commodities have been exported and imported through the Chesapeake Bay since the Jamestown settlers inhabited the area in the early eighteenth century. Exporting and importing a multitude of goods today is a competitive business. Important deep-water navigable ports on the bay include Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Newport News, and Portsmouth in Virginia.

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The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is 348 miles long, extending to 444 miles if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising 10,432 square miles.

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