The District of Columbia or Washington, DC is the seat of government, and since 1800 the capital of the United States. DC stands for District of Columbia , which the city completely fills and with which it is geographically identical today.
The district is not a state and does not belong to, it is rather the Congress of the United States reports directly. Despite having the same name as the state of Washington, Washington, DC is usually just called “Washington” in German-speaking countries.
| Area | 177 km² |
| Residents | 681.170 |
| Residents per km² | 3,848.4 |
| Capital | |
| Postal Code | DC |
| ISO-3166-2 code | US DC |
| FIPS code | 11 |
The District of Columbia was formed from land ceded by Maryland and Virginia in order to remove the federal government and the Congress from the control of the then still very powerful individual states and to form a well-planned, modern and representative capital of the new republic.
T he original district was 100 square miles (258.9 km²), which is the upper limit prescribed by the United States Constitution. It was a square ten miles (16.1 km) long, the corners of which point exactly in the four cardinal directions.
The area on the western bank of the Potomac, which had originally been ceded by the state of Virginia, was returned to the state in 1846, as the city had grown less quickly than expected (now Arlington County and partially Alexandria). This reduced the area to 177 km². Since then, the district has only consisted of areas that originally came from Maryland.
The most famous buildings are the White House and the Capitol. The equally well-known Pentagon, however, is outside of the city in Arlington. There are no skyscrapers in Washington because no building can be taller than the width of the adjacent street plus 6.1 m. However, three buildings are not covered by this regulation because they were completed, or at least planned, before the law in the early 20th century entered into force: the Washington Monument, the tower of the Old Post Office and the Washington National Cathedral.
Economy
The gross domestic product per capita in the district was 160,472 US dollars in 2016, which is higher than in all states of the USA.
Washington DC owes its prosperity primarily to its status as the administrative and political center of the United States. Major areas of the local economy include tourism, finance, education, health, and research. The state employs a large proportion of Washington DC’s workforce. Diplomatic institutions and private foundations also employ large numbers of residents. The unemployment rate was 6.4% in November 2017 (national average: 4.1%).
Despite the high average income, the city is known for its social problems. In 2013, 18.9% of the population lived in poverty, which is due to extremely high income inequality. The rate of residents receiving food aid from the state was the highest in the country in the same year.
Washington DC has a high crime rate. also one of the most dangerous cities in the USA.
Climate
Washington is located in the subtropical climatic zone with continental influences in winter and, according to Köppen, has a humid subtropical climate (effective climate classification: Cfa).
The average annual temperature is 14 ° C, the total rainfall 981 mm. The greatest amounts of precipitation are reached in July and August. On average, 36.7 days are hotter than 32 ° C and 64.4 nights are colder than 0 ° C.
District of Columbia Flag
The district is not a state or a state, but reports directly to the United States Congress.
The flag of the District of Columbia was introduced on October 15, 1938 by a commission of the United States Congress of the United States. The current version was designed by Charles AR Dunn (based on a design from 1921).
It is based on a banner with the coat of arms of the George Washington family, the namesake of the city of Washington, DC It comes from England (County Durham) and dates back to 1592.
The flag consists of three red five-pointed stars (mullets) over two red parallel stripes that run the entire width. The basic cloth is white. The ratio is 3: 5.
