Abbreviated as DC by ABBREVIATIONFINDER, Washington D. C. is the capital of the United States of America and comprises the so-called District of Columbia (abbreviated as “DC”), an entity different from the 50 states that make up that nation. The city and district are located on the banks of the Potomac River and are bordered by the states of Virginia (to the west) and Maryland (to the north, east, and south).
Topography
Washington DC is located at 38 ° 53′42 ″ N 77 ° 02′11 ″ W (the coordinates of the Zero Milestone, on the Ellipse). According to the United States Census Department, the city has an area of 177 km².
Washington is surrounded by the states of Maryland (to the southeast, northeast and northwest) and Virginia (to the west); it interrupts the border between the two states, which follows the course of the Potomac River. This river as it passes through Washington is almost entirely within the border of the District of Columbia due to the colonial riparian rights between Maryland and Virginia.
- CountryAAH: Offers a full list of postal codes for Washington DC.
Climate
Washington is on the northern periphery of the subtropical humid climate zone. Its climate is typical of the areas of the Middle Atlantic far from bodies of water, with four different seasons. Summer tends to be hot and humid, with daily high temperatures in July and August averaging between 30 and 33 ° C.
The combination of heat and humidity in the summer attracts frequent thunderstorms, some of which occasionally produce tornadoes in the area. Spring and fall are mild, with high temperatures in April and October averaging 20 ° C. Winter features sustained cool temperatures and occasional snowfall. From mid-December to mid-February, the highest average temperatures tend to be around 6 to 8 ° C and the lowest between ¬ – 5 and –2 ° C.
The annual snowfall on average is 381 mm and the highest temperature in January on average is 5 ° C. In January, the average minimum temperature is –3 ° C. The maximum temperature recorded was 41 ° C, the 20 of July of 1930 and the minimum was -26 ° C on November of February of 1899.
Population
On July 1, 2015, 672,228 inhabitants were counted, which is an 11.7% increase compared to 2010. On weekdays, however, many people from the suburbs and surrounding villages come to work in the city and it becomes a population of about one million.
According to a 2007 survey, Washington’s population is 56.6% black or African American, 36.3% white American, 3.1% Asian, and 0.2% Native American.
Unique among cities with a large percentage of blacks, Washington has been populated by many blacks since its inception. As a result of the American Civil War, the black population jumped dramatically from 1% to 10% in 1810. Between 1810 and 1940, the black population made up 30% of the suburbs, but peaked in 1970 when it was as high as 70%. Since then, there has been a decline due to the exodus of some blacks to the suburbs or other cities due to cheaper rents. However, there is an influx of many African Americans, especially young and fresh students, because of better opportunities for realization.
In 2000, 33,000 people identified themselves as homosexual and bisexual – about 8.1% of the city’s adult population. Given the significant LGBT population and the liberal political climate, in December 2009 the Colombian Municipal Council passed a law on same-sex marriage, and in March 2010 marriage certificates between homosexual couples began to be issued.
Economics
Washington’s economy is growing and diversified, with a growing share of jobs in the professional and business services sector. The federal district’s gross domestic product in 2008 was $ 97.2 billion, ranking it 35th in the United States. As of January 2010, unemployment in the Washington metropolitan area was 6.9%, the second lowest among the country’s 49 largest agglomerations. At the same time, the unemployment rate in the city itself is 12%.
In 2008, about 27% of those employed in Washington worked for the United States federal government, which mitigated the effects of the global economic crisis because the US government did not limit its activities after it began. At the same time, as of January 2007, federal employees in the Washington area accounted for only 14% of all federal government employees. Many organizations, such as law firms, contractors, NGOs, lobbyists, unions, and industry organizations, have located their headquarters in or around Washington to be close to the federal government.
There is also a growing group of sectors in Washington that are not directly related to the government, especially in education, finance and science. The five largest private employers in the city are George Washington University, Georgetown University, Washington Hospital Center, Howard University and the government-funded financial corporation Fannie Mae. As of 2010, 4 of the 500 largest American corporations are based in the city – Fannie Mae, the instrumentation company Danaher Corporation, the electricity distribution company Pepco Holdings and the publishing house The Washington Post.
The main airport serving the city is the Washington-Dulles Airport, located in Virginia.
Media
Washington is a center for national and international media. The Washington Post, founded in 1877, is the oldest and most widely read local newspaper published daily in Washington. He is probably best known for his coverage of national and international politics, as well as for exposing the Watergate scandal. The Post, as it is popularly called, prints only three major publications, one each for the District of Columbia and the states of Maryland and Virginia. Even without expanded national publications, the newspaper is in fifth place in circulation among all dailies as of March 31, 2010.
The Washington Post publishes a daily free English-language Express newspaper for travelers, which summarizes information on events, sports and entertainment, as well as a Spanish edition of El Tempo Latino. The local dailies Washington Times and Washington Examiner, the alternate Washington City Paper, and the weekly Washington Business Journal also have significant readership. A large number of local and specialized newspapers focus on local issues and culture. These include: the weekly Washington Blade and Metro Weekly, covering LGBT issues ;Washington Informer and Washington African American, which cover topics related to the interests of blacks; and neighborhood newspapers published by the company Current Newspaper. The Hill and Roll Cole focus solely on topics related to Congress and the federal government.
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the ninth largest television media market in the United States with two million households (approximately 2% of the US population). Several media companies and cable TV channels are headquartered in the area, including: C-SPAN, Black Entertainment Television (BET), National Geographic Channel, Smithsonian Networks, XM Satellite Radio, National Public Radio (NPR), Travel Channel (in Chivi) Chase, Maryland, Discovery Communications (in Silver Spring, Maryland) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (in Arlington), Virginia). The headquarters of Voice of America (VOA), the national news service of the United States government, is located near the capital in southwestern Washington.
