It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallaceburg, Tilbury, Blenheim, Ridgetown, Wheatley and Dresden.

The current Municipality of Chatham-Kent was created in 1998 by the amalgamation of Blenheim, Bothwell, Camden, the City of Chatham, the Township of Chatham, Dover, Dresden, Erie Beach, Erieau, Harwich, Highgate, Howard, Orford, Raleigh, Ridgetown, Romney, Thamesville, Tilbury East, Tilbury, Wallaceburg, Wheatley and Zone.

[2] The area of Chatham-Kent is part of the traditional territory of the Odawa, Potawatomi, Ojibwe and Wyandot First Nations of Canada.

[3] After the Treaty of Paris in 1763 ceded control of the area from the French to the British, it became part of the Territory of Quebec.

European settlement of the former city of Chatham area began with a naval dockyard in 1792, at the fork of the Thames River with McGregor's Creek.

In England, the name Chatham came from the British root ceto and the Old English ham thus meaning a forest settlement.

[5] Following the American Revolution and the Gnadenhutten massacre, a group of Christian Munsee settled in what is now the Moraviantown reserve.

Josiah Henson Museum for African-Canadian History, formally known as Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is a museum of the Dawn Settlement, established in 1841 by Josiah Henson near Dresden as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States.

[7] The small village of North Buxton, part of the African Canadian Heritage Tour, also played an important role in the Underground Railroad.

[12] By 1869, the population was 3,000 in this industrial area with several mills, foundries, and breweries; a great deal of wood was being produced.

[15] It was also where the Hyslop and Ronald steam fire engine manufacturer was located; the factory would be taken over by Chatham Motor Car.

[17] In the U.S., former Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes proposed building a bridge across Lake Erie linking Cleveland to the southern coast of Kent County.

[18] Before 1998, Kent County consisted of the townships of Camden, Chatham, Dover, Harwich, Howard, Orford, Raleigh, Romney, Tilbury East and Zone.

Chatham Kent is also home to many historic buildings which are part of an annual ghost tour offered each year at Halloween.

[34] Although most of the population of Chatham-Kent is English-speaking, a few of its communities and Catholic parishes were settled by francophone (French-speaking) farmers in the mid-nineteenth century.

These include Pain Court, Tilbury and Grande Pointe, where French is still spoken by a significant percentage of the population.

A French socio-cultural organization, La Girouette, which is based in Chatham, promotes French-Canadian culture and language in the area.

Knowledge of official language statistics:[35] A breakdown of the total labour force in Chatham-Kent shows the leading industries (NAICS) are manufacturing, health care, and retail: [36] At the outskirts of Chatham is the headquarters for Corteva Agriscience (Formerly Pioneer ), a major agricultural seed breeding and biotechnology company.

Chatham's roots in the automotive sector go back to Gray-Dort Motors Ltd., one of Canada's earliest automobile manufacturers.

In the 21st century, auto industry plants in the municipality include Autoliv Canada in Tilbury (airbags), Mahle in Tilbury (emissions controls and plastics), in Ridgetown (automotive electronic pedal assembly and sensors), Dana Canada in Chatham (heat shields for thermal and acoustic management of exhaust manifolds, catalytic converters, and turbochargers), and Vitesco Technologies[37] (Powertrain Canada ULC) in Chatham (design, development, and testing of Actuators for clean, efficient vehicles).

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Disability Unit is housed in the Judy Lamarsh (see Notable Residents) Building in downtown Chatham.

The long, white sandy beaches, fishing, hiking trails and conservation areas make Erieau a popular vacation spot.

The Thames Art Gallery and ARTspace, located in the historic downtown, feature exhibitions showcasing local artists from the Chatham-Kent area, while also housing other Canadian and international works.

The Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit launched a campaign in fall 2007 to tackle other ailments prevalent throughout the community, including asthma, chronic allergies, sinus problems, many types of cancer, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, alcoholism, and obesity.

Chatham-Kent is situated just off Highway 401, connecting Montreal, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, and Windsor, Ontario; and Detroit, Michigan via the Ambassador Bridge.

Blenheim, Chatham and Wallaceburg are linked with Sarnia, Ontario and the Blue Water Bridge to the United States by Highway 40.

The first gas station in Canada to sell E85 fuel to the public is located on Park Avenue East in Chatham.

[57] Chatham station is served by Via Rail passenger services between Toronto and Windsor, part of the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor with four trips in each direction daily, and the community is served by both the Canadian National Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway for freight transportation.

Chatham-Kent has an intercity bus service, also provided by CK Transit, between all communities in the municipality except Wheatley.

There is a municipal airport located 14 km south east of Chatham featuring a 1500m paved, lighted runway, with refuelling facilities, tie-down services, pilot training and chartered flights.