Theme Week Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, 27 November 2013 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: North America / Nordamerika Category/Kategorie: General , Bon voyage , Theme Weeks
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Lincoln Memorial by night © flickr.com – CrashingWaves/cc-by-2.0
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Washington, D.C., formally the
District of Columbia and commonly referred to as
Washington ,
“the District” , or simply
D.C. , is the capital of the United States. The signing of the
Residence Act on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of a
capital district located along the
Potomac River on the country’s
East Coast . As permitted by the
U.S. Constitution , the District is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the
United States Congress and is therefore not a part of any U.S. state. The states of
Maryland and
Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, which included the preexisting settlements of
Georgetown and
Alexandria ; however,
Congress returned the Virginia portion in 1846. Named in honor of
George Washington , the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. Congress created a
single municipal government for the whole District of Columbia after the
American Civil War .
Washington, D.C., had an estimated population of 632,323 in 2012, the 24th most populous place in the United States. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city’s population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington Metropolitan Area , of which the District is a part, has a population of 5.7 million, the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the country. The centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President , and Supreme Court. Washington is home to many national monuments and museums , which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall . The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations.
Aerial view showing the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, with East Capitol Street on the left and the James Madison Building on the right © flickr.com - Library of Congress
The architecture of Washington varies greatly. Six of the top 10 buildings in the
American Institute of Architects ‘ 2007 ranking of “
America’s Favorite Architecture ” are in the District of Columbia: the
White House ; the
Washington National Cathedral ; the
Thomas Jefferson Memorial ; the
United States Capitol ; the
Lincoln Memorial ; and the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial . The neoclassical, Georgian, gothic, and modern architectural styles are all reflected among those six structures and many other prominent edifices in Washington. Notable exceptions include buildings constructed in the French
Second Empire style such as the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building .
Outside downtown Washington, architectural styles are even more varied. Historic buildings are designed primarily in the
Queen Anne ,
Châteauesque ,
Richardsonian Romanesque , Georgian revival,
Beaux-Arts , and a variety of
Victorian styles . Rowhouses are especially prominent in areas developed after the Civil War and typically follow
Federalist and late Victorian designs. Georgetown’s
Old Stone House was built in 1765, making it the oldest-standing original building in the city. Founded in 1789,
Georgetown University features a mix of Romanesque and
Gothic Revival architecture . The
Ronald Reagan Building is the largest building in the District with a total area of approximately 3.1 million square feet (288,000 m2).
Read more on
District of Columbia ,
Washington, D.C. Travel Website ,
LonelyPlanet.com – Washington, D.C. ,
Wikitravel Washington, D.C. ,
Wikivoyage Washington, D.C. and
Wikipedia Washington, D.C. (
Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State -
Weather report by weather.com -
Global Passport Power Rank -
Travel Risk Map -
Democracy Index -
GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank -
Global Competitiveness Report -
Corruption Perceptions Index -
Press Freedom Index -
World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index -
UN Human Development Index -
Global Peace Index -
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at
comment@wingsch.net . Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
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