The Port of Norfolk (Port Code:USORF) lies on the banks of the Elizabeth River in Tidewater Virginia at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Located about seven nautical miles from another Virginia Port, the Port of Newport News, it is about 150 nautical miles south of the Port of Baltimore via the Chesapeake Bay. The Port of Norfolk is part of an urban area that also contains Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, Newport News, and Hampton. The Port of Norfolk is the site for the grave and memorial for U.S. General Douglas MacArthur.
Because the Port of Norfolk is the heart of the cultural and commercial center of a unique region called Hampton Roads, it is difficult to identify a distinct separate economic profile for the city. Shipping, shipbuilding, and light industry are important economic activities in the Port of Norfolk. The surrounding waterways, its location at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and its protected deep-water channels make the Port of Norfolk an important trade center for goods traveling between the North American Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions as well as for international goods.