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Fast Facts. Nickname: Our Nation’s Capital. Statehood: Washington, D.C., isn’t a state or a city. It’s a federal district that was formed in 1790. Population (as of July 2015): 672,228. Capital: Washington, D.C., is a capital—of the United States of America! Biggest City: There are no cities within Washington, D.C. Abbreviation: DC.
- Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh
- 7 min
The city of Washington is the capital of the United States, a country in North America. It was named after George Washington, the country’s first president. Washington is not part of a state. Rather, it is in a separate district called the District of Columbia. The city is thus known as Washington, D.C. The city and the district take up the ...
Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C. 20540-4650, USA. Washington appointed Pierre L’Enfant to plan the new city and three commissioners to be in charge. The commissioners dubbed the city Washington. In 1793 the president laid the cornerstone for the Capitol.
- History
- Geography
- Cityscape
- Demographics
- Economy
- Culture
- Parks
- Sports
- Education
- Media
Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people (also known as the Conoy) inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century. One group known as the Nacotchtank (also called the Nacostines by Catholic missionaries) maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the pres...
Climate
Washington is in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen: Cfa). The Trewartha classification is defined as an oceanic climate (Do). Winters are cool to cold with light snow more common but heavy snow not uncommon, and summers are hot and humid. The district is in plant hardiness zone8a near downtown, and zone 7b elsewhere in the city, indicating a humid subtropical climate. Spring and fall are mild to warm, while winter is cool to cold with annual snowfall averaging 15.5 inches (39 cm). Su...
Washington, D.C., was a planned city, and many of the city's street grids were developed in that initial plan. In 1791, President George Washington commissioned Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a French-born military engineer and artist, to design the new capital. He enlisted the help of Isaac Roberdeau, Étienne Sulpice Hallet and Scottish surveyor Alexand...
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the district's population was 705,749 as of July 2019, up more than 100,000 people since the 2010 United States Census. When measured decade-over-decade, this shows growth since 2000, following a half-century of population decline. But year-over-year, the July 2019 census count shows a decline of 16,000 people ...
As of 2023, the Washington metropolitan area, including District of Columbia as well as parts of Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia, was one of the nation's largest metropolitan economies. Its growing and diversified economy has an increasing percentage of professional and business service jobs in addition to more traditional jobs rooted in tour...
Arts
Washington, D.C., is a national center for the arts, home to several concert halls and theaters. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is home to the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera, and the Washington Ballet. The Kennedy Center Honors are awarded each year to those in the performing arts who have contributed greatly to the cultural life of the United States. This ceremony is often attended by the sitting U.S. president and other dignitaries and celebri...
Music
Columbia Records, a major music record label in the US, was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1889. The city grew into being one of America's most important music cities in the early jazz age. Duke Ellington, among the most prominent jazz composers and musicians of his time, was born and raised in Washington, and began his music career in the city. The center of the city's jazz scene during those years was U street and Shaw. Among the city's major jazz locations were the Lincoln Theatre and the...
Cuisine
Washington, D.C., is rich in fine and casual dining; some consider it among the country's best cities for dining. The city has a diverse range of restaurants, including a wide variety of international cuisines. The city's Chinatown, for example, has more than a dozen Chinese-style restaurants. The city also has many Middle Eastern, European, African, Asian, and Latin American cuisine options. D.C. is known as one of the best cities in the world for Ethiopian cuisine, due largely to Ethiopian...
There are many parks, gardens, squares, and circles throughout Washington. The city has 683 parks and greenspaces, comprising almost a quarter of its land area. Consequently, 99% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. According to the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, Washington ranked first among the 100 largest U.S. cities for its pu...
Washington, D.C. is one of 13 cities in the United States with teams from the primary four major professional men's sports and is home to two major professional women's teams. The Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball are the most popular sports team in the District, as of 2019. They play at Nationals Park, which opened in 2008. The Washing...
District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), the sole public school district in the city, operates the city's 123 public schools. The number of students in DCPS steadily decreased for 39 years until 2009. In the 2010–11 school year, 46,191 students were enrolled in the public school system. DCPS has one of the highest-cost, yet lowest-performing sch...
Washington, D.C., is a prominent center for national and international media. The Washington Post, founded in 1877, is the city's oldest and most-read local daily newspaper. "The Post", as it is popularly called, is well known as the newspaper that exposed the Watergate scandal. It had the sixth-highest readership of all news dailies in the country...
The Friendship Archway over H St. and 7th St. in Chinatown was built in 1986 to celebrate the friendship between Washington and sister city, Beijing, China. Georgetown is the oldest part of the city, dating back to 1751 — 40 years before Washington, DC was founded. DC averages 39 inches of rainfall a year — more than Seattle!
President George Washington hired a man by the name of Pierre Charles L'Enfant to design the city. It was the first time a city was specifically planned to be a nation's capital. L'Enfant's design ...
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Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) is the capital city of the United States. Not to be confused with the state of Washington, Washington, D.C. is its own district. With a population of over 650 thousand, Washington, D.C. is one of the top 20 most populated cities in America. Download FREE teacher-made resources covering 'Washington, D.C.'.
