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Washington, D.C. Overview
Home » Washington, D.C. » Washington, D.C. Overview » Washington, D.C. OverviewTo some people, it’s Washington, while to others it’s the District, Federal City, or simply DC. By any name, however, Washington, D.C. is, along with New York, the definitive American city. Rather than choose an existing city as the nation’s capitol, the framers of the constitution elected 220 years ago to build a new city, and Washington, D.C. is the fruit of that decision.
For such an important city, Washington is relatively small. The district only contains sixty-seven square miles of land, which was formerly part of northern Virginia and southern Maryland. New York City is only four hours away by car, and Philadelphia, Richmond, and Baltimore, are all within 150 miles as well.
DC is best known as the capitol of the United States, and each of the three branches of government, along with the Armed Forces and foreign embassies, are headquartered in the city. Approximately one-fourth of Washington workers receive their paychecks from the federal government. In addition, the vast majority of America’s political museums and memorials (e.g. the Smithsonian Museum and the Washington Monument) are in the district.
The seventy-five percent of Washington employees who do not work for Uncle Sam work for a variety of businesses. Unlike New York, Washington does not have a cluster of skyscrapers, largely because businesses often spread out into the Virginia and Maryland suburbs. America Online, US Air, Lockheed Martin and Exxon-Mobil are among the best-known Washington-based corporations. In addition, all of the world’s major broadcast and print journalism sources have Washington departments.
DC’s national and international prominence also contributes to its diversity. According to the 2000 Census, sixty percent of the city’s 572,059 residents were African-American, and foreign employees and recent immigrants often live in one of the city’s many ethnic neighborhoods.
There’s a reason Washington hosts millions of international tourists, families, business travelers, and school groups: it has something for everyone. If you enjoy American history or government, Washington has enough museums and memorials to keep you busy for weeks. If you want cultural activities, Washington has concerts, theater, food, and athletics. And if you want a new home, Washington has both the lifelong residents and the “here one year, gone the next” crowd.
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