City

Washington, D.C.

Also Known As D.C.

Northern America

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States, on the northeast bank of the Potomac River. The Residence Act, adopted 16 July 1790, authorized a permanent federal capital along the Potomac and is treated as the city's founding date; Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the surrounding District of Columbia, a name recalling Columbia, a poetic name for the United States then in common use. On 9 September 1791 the commissioners overseeing construction named the new city in honor of President George Washington. The city held 689,545 residents at the 2020 census and is coextensive with the federal district itself, a status that leaves it with no independent state government.

Facts

Population

689,545 1

2020 census figure.

Area (sq km)

177 1

Founding Year

1790 1

The Residence Act establishing the federal capital district.

Population Estimate Year

2020 1

Elevation (m)

72 2

Latitude

38.90472 degrees north 1

Longitude

77.01639 degrees west 1

Elevation Band

Lowland 3

Climate Zone

Temperate 4

Time Zone

UTC-05:00 5

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A Capital Built to Belong to No State

This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.

The United States capital exists on land that belongs to no state at all, and that was the point from the start. The Residence Act of 16 July 1790 authorized a federal district along the Potomac River precisely so the seat of government would not sit inside, or owe anything to, any single state; Maryland and Virginia each donated land to build it. The commissioners overseeing construction named the new city Washington, after the sitting president, on 9 September 1791, while the surrounding federal district took the name Columbia, a poetic name for the country then in wide use. The arrangement still holds: Washington, D.C. remains coextensive with the District of Columbia today, a status that gives its residents no voting representation in Congress and no state government of their own, a tradeoff built into the capital design from the beginning rather than an oversight discovered later.

Named After a President Who Never Lived There

This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.

George Washington chose the site along the Potomac that would eventually carry his name, but he never occupied the city built there. Construction was still underway when his second term ended in 1797, and he died in 1799, a year before the federal government actually moved from Philadelphia to the new capital in 1800. John Adams became the first president to live in the building that would later be called the White House, moving in before it was even finished. Washington did, however, personally select the exact site along the Potomac under the authority the 1790 Residence Act gave him, so the city that bears his name is one he sited but never inhabited.

Connections

Associated With

United States

Washington, D.C. is the United States' capital, coextensive with the District of Columbia.

Source Washington, D.C. (Wikipedia)

United States

Source Washington, D.C. (Wikipedia)

Capital Of

United States

Washington, D.C. is the federal capital of the United States.

Source Washington, D.C. (Wikipedia)

Long-Form Articles

A Capital Built to Belong to No State

Named After a President Who Never Lived There

In the Other Atlases

Origin Of

Edward Albee

Also in Arts and Music Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Joe Rosenthal

Also in Arts and Music Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Joe Rosenthal (Wikipedia)Infobox: birth_place

Quote, Infobox: birth_place

Washington, D.C., U.S.

Adams-Onis Treaty

Also in History Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Antarctic Treaty

Also in History Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Lacy-Zarubin Agreement

Also in History Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Lansing-Ishii Agreement

Also in History Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Rush-Bagot Treaty

Also in History Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Georgetown University

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Georgetown University (Wikipedia)English Wikipedia, intro text

Quote, English Wikipedia, intro text

Georgetown University is a private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States.

Location Of

Beltway Snipers Case

Also in Crime and Justice Atlas: which took place in this subject.