DC · District of Columbia · 689,545 (2020) · 20th-largest US city · national capital
Washington, District of Columbia
Washington is on the north bank of the Potomac River, carved out of Maryland in 1791 to be the capital of the United States. It is the twentieth-largest city in the country and the only one that is not in a state.
- State
- District of Columbia
- County
- None – the District is not part of any state
- Population (2020)
- 689,545
- Rank
- 20th in the US
- Coordinates
- 38.91°N, 77.04°W
- Time zone
- Eastern
- Metro area
- about 6.4 million
- State capital
- Capital of the United States (not of any state)
Where Washington is
Washington is at 38.91°N, 77.04°W on the Potomac River, which forms its entire southwest boundary with Virginia; Maryland surrounds it on the other three sides. The District of Columbia covers 68 square miles — the original 100-square-mile diamond lost its Virginia portion in 1847 — and the city and District have been the same unit since 1871, so there is no county. Downtown and the National Mall are on the coastal plain at about 25 feet above sea level; the northwest of the District climbs across the fall line to about 410 feet at Fort Reno. Baltimore is 40 miles northeast and Philadelphia 140 miles.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 689,545 residents, the District's highest total since the 1970s and enough for 20th place among US cities, just 98 people ahead of Nashville. Washington is larger than the populations of Wyoming and Vermont. The Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metropolitan area extends across Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and holds about 6.4 million people, the sixth-largest metro in the US; combined with Baltimore it approaches ten million. Only about a tenth of the metro population lives in the District itself.
Geography
- Potomac River — tidal below Georgetown, where the river drops over the fall line at Little Falls and Great Falls; it reaches Chesapeake Bay 100 miles downstream.
- Anacostia River — joins the Potomac at Hains Point and divides the southeast of the city.
- Rock Creek — a wooded valley running the length of the District from Maryland to the Potomac, protected as a national park since 1890.
- Terrain — the Mall and the federal core are on filled river flats; the Capitol stands on a low rise once called Jenkins Hill, and the ring of Civil War forts marks the higher ground to the north.
Nearest large cities
Baltimore is under an hour away and Philadelphia about two and a half; Richmond, the Virginia capital, is 110 miles south. Distances are approximate road miles from the Capitol.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | MD | 40 | NE |
| Philadelphia | PA | 140 | NE |
| New York | NY | 225 | NE |
| Pittsburgh | PA | 245 | NW |
| Raleigh | NC | 280 | SW |
Is Washington a state capital?
No — Washington is the capital of the United States and is not in any state, so it has no state capital. Congress has met here since 1800. The nearest state capitals are Annapolis, Maryland, 30 miles east on Chesapeake Bay, and Richmond, Virginia, 110 miles south. The District has a mayor and council but no voting representation in Congress, and its residents have voted for president only since 1961.
Related maps
- Maryland map and Virginia map — the two states that border the District.
- Annapolis and Richmond — the nearest state capitals; see all state capitals.
- US cities map.
- Mason–Dixon Line map.
- Nearby cities: Baltimore, Philadelphia.
- Mid-Atlantic region · Eastern Time Zone.