Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia
Top left: Georgetown University; top right: U.S. Capitol;
middle: Washington Monument; bottom left: African
American Civil War Memorial; bottom right: National
Shrine
Flag
Seal
Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All)
Location of Washington, D.C. in the United States and in
relation to the states of Maryland and Virginia.
Coordinates: 38°53′42.4″N 77°02′12.0″W /
38.895111°N 77.036667°W / 38.895111;
-77.036667Coordinates: 38°53′42.4″N
77°02′12.0″W / 38.895111°N 77.036667°W /
38.895111; -77.036667
Country
United States
Federal district
District of Columbia
Government
- Mayor
Adrian Fenty (D)
- D.C. Council
Chairman: Vincent
Gray (D)
Area
- City
68.3 sq mi (177.0 km2)
- Land
61.4 sq mi (159.0 km2)
- Water
6.9 sq mi (18.0 km2)
Elevation
0–409 ft (0–125 m)
Population (2008)[1][2]
- City
591,833
- Density
9,639.0/sq mi (3,722.2/
km2)
- Metro
5.3 million
Time zone
EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Website
www.dc.gov
Washington, D.C. (pronounced /ˈwɒʃɪŋtən
ˌdiːˈsiː/), formally the District of Columbia
and commonly referred to as Washington,
the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of
the United States, founded on July 16, 1790.
The City of Washington was originally a sep-
arate municipality within the Territory of
Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 ef-
fectively merged the City and the Territory
into a single entity called the District of
Columbia. It is for this reason that the city,
while legally named the District of Columbia,
is known as Washington, D.C. The city is loc-
ated on the north bank of the Potomac River
and is bordered by the states of Virginia to
the southwest and Maryland to the other
sides. The District has a resident population
of 591,833; however, because of commuters
from the surrounding suburbs, its population
rises to over one million during the work-
week. The Washington Metropolitan Area, of
which the District is a part, has a population
of 5.3 million, the eighth-largest metropolitan
area in the country.
Article One of the United States Cons