Washington, D.C., District of Columbia (DC), United States

Facts & Statistics
Place Name	Washington, D.C.
Place Status (Type)	city
Population	606,900 (1990)
Location	District of Columbia, United States, North America
Latitude	38°54'N
Longitude	77°01'W

Washington, D.C. , ( c.68 sq mi/177 sq km; 1990 pop. 606,900), U.S.; coextensive (since 1878, when Georgetown became a part of Washington) with the District of Columbia, on the Potomac R.; 38°54'N 77°01'W. Inc. 1802. It is the center of a metropolitan area (1990 pop. 4,222,880) extending into Md., Va., and W.Va. It is the legislative, administrative, and judicial center of the U.S. It has little industry; its business is govt., and hundreds of thousands of govt. employees work in the metropolitan area. Washington is also a major tourist attraction, drawing millions of visitors every year. In 1790 the rivalry of Northern and Southern states for the capital's location ended when Jefferson's followers supported Hamilton's program for Federal assumption of state debts in return for an agreement to situate the natl. capital on the banks of the Potomac R. George Washington selected the exact spot. The “Federal City” was designed by Pierre L'Enfant and laid out by Andrew Ellicott. Construction began on the White House in 1792 and on the Capitol the following year. John Adams was the 1st President to occupy the White House. Congress held its 1st session in Washington in 1800, moving from Philadelphia, and Thomas Jefferson was the first President to be inaugurated in the new capitol. In the War of 1812 the British captured and sacked (1814) Washington, burning most of the public bldgs., including the Capitol and the White House. The city grew slowly. Even after 1850 it was still “a sea of mud,” and not until the 20th cent. did it cease to be an unkempt, rural city and assume its present urban aspect. Though strongly manned during the Civil War, it was several times threatened by the Confederates, notably by Gen. Jubal A. Early in 1864. After 1901, Washington (WA) was developed on the basis of the resurrected L'Enfant plan—a gridiron arrangement of streets cut by diagonal avenues radiating from the Capitol and White House, with an elaborate system of parks. The city spreads out with broad tree-shaded thoroughfares and open vistas at frequent intervals, with 8 sq mi/20.7 sq km of water surface. The numerous impressive govt. bldgs. near the city's center are built of white or gray stone in the classical style, and there are also many fine homes. Among other attractive bldgs. are the embassies and legations of many foreign countries, many of them lining “Embassy Row” on Massachusetts Ave. The larger of the city's fine parks are W Potomac Park, which extends S from the Lincoln Memorial and includes the Tidal Basin, flanked by the famous Jap. cherry trees; E Potomac Park, an area of reclaimed land jutting S from the Jefferson Memorial; Rock Creek Park, with almost 1,800 acres/728 ha of natural woodlands and extensive recreation facilities, and the adjoining Natl. Zoological Park; and Anacostia Park, adjacent to the Natl. Arboretum. Besides the Capitol and the White House, some other important govt. bldgs. and places of historic interest are the Blair House for visiting heads of state, the Senate office bldgs. and the House of Representatives office bldgs., the Supreme Court Bldg., the Pentagon (in Va.), the Federal Bureau of Investigation bldg., the Library of Congress, the Natl. Archives Bldg., and Constitution Hall. Ford's Theatre, where Lincoln was shot, has been restored. Best known of the city's many statues and monuments are the Washington Monument, at the W end of the long grass Mall; the Lincoln Memorial, with its pool reflecting the marble shaft of the Washington Monument; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a V-shaped monument in polished black granite near the Lincoln Memorial; the Holocaust Memorial; and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, overlooking the Tidal Basin. The Arlington Memorial Bridge across the Potomac connects the capital with Arlington National Cemetery. Also in Arlington is the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, one of the largest statues ever cast in bronze. In the Potomac itself lies Theodore Roosevelt Island, a thickly wooded islet with many foot trails. Among Washington's famous churches are the Washington Natl. Cathedral (Protestant Episcopal) on Mt. St. Alban, which was completed in 1990 and contains the tomb of Woodrow Wilson; and the Natl. Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest R.C. church in the U.S. The city's many institutions of higher education include Amer. Univ., the Natl. Defense Univ., the Catholic Univ. of Amer., Georgetown Univ., George Washington Univ., Howard Univ., Univ. of D.C. and Trinity Col. Among the many cultural attractions of the capital are the Natl. Gall. of Art, the Freer Gall. of Art, and the other centers under the auspices of the Smithsonian Inst.; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Corcoran Gall. of Art; the Phillips Collection and the Phillips Gall. of Art; the Hiskhorn Mus. and Sculpture Garden; and the Folger Shakespeare Library. Site of Robert Francis Kennedy Stadium. The city's newest attraction is the Downtown Sports Arena, built in 1997. The U.S. Naval Observatory, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Smithsonian Inst., the Brookings Inst., the Natl. Institutes of Health, Natl. Acad. of Science, Pan-Amer. Univ., the Natl. Georaphic Society and Explorer's Hall, the Natl. Air and Space Mus., and the Carnegie Inst. of Washington are among the institutions dedicated to scientific research and education. Also in Washington are Walter Reed Army Medical Center, including the Army Medical School and Walter Reed Army Hosp., and the U.S. Soldiers Home (1851), the oldest in the country. Military installations in the area include Fort McNair, Fort Myer, Andrews Air Force Base, and Bolling Air Force Base. Of historic interest nearby in Md. is Fort Washington (built 1809, destroyed 1814, rebuilt by 1824). In the 1970s work was begun on the construction of a 103-mi/166-km subway system. The system was virtually complete by the mid-1990s. The capital's main transport hubs are Union Station and Washington Natl. and Dulles Internatl. airports (both in Va.). In 1974 the Admiral's House on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory was designated the temporary official residence of the Vice President. Through the years the city has been a focus for natl. political activity. In the 1960s and early 1970s over 200,000 demonstrated for civil rights and roughly 100,000 demonstrated against the war in Vietnam. Massive rallies in the 1980s and 1990s, some numbering up to 500,000 people, have been held concerning such issues as gay rights and abortion. Washington has long been a gateway for blacks emigrating from the South, and today its pop. is almost ⅔ Afr.-Amer. Many of these citizens live in poverty and, as in other urban areas, there are problems of homelessness, drug addiction, violent crime, failing schools, and limited law enforcement resources. Yet Washington is a city of contrasts—extensive areas of dilapidated row houses and apartments are only a short distance from beautifully refurbished town houses on Capitol Hill. The city's problems have been exacerbated by the transient nature of its workforce. Washington's pop. has declined 19% since 1970; much of the outmigration has been to the outlying, affluent suburbs in Va. and Md. In April 1968, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., touched off 6 days of violence, looting, and burning in Washington. Army troops were called in to quell the disorders and to protect important govt. bldgs. In 1871, Washington (WA) lost its charter as a city and a territorial govt. was inaugurated to govern the entire D.C. Congress took direct control of the dist.'s govt. in 1874, providing for a mayor appointed by the President and a commission chosen by Congress; the residents were disfranchised. The 23rd Amendment (1961) to the Constitution gave inhabitants the right to vote in presidential elections; the D.C. was accorded 3 electoral votes. In 1970 legislation was enacted authorizing election of a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives. The present system of govt., approved in a referendum in 1974, provides for an elected mayor and a 13-member city council but reserves for Congress the right to review the budget and legislation passed by the council and to retain direct control over an enclave containing most of the Federal bldgs. and monuments. The 1st elections were held in Nov. 1974. There have been numerous attempts by the D.C. to gain statehood and achieve full representation in Congress, but all of these have failed. The city ran enormous budget deficits throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, in part because of its lack of tax-paying industry, flight of middle-class residents to the suburbs, and poor fiscal management.