Washington, D.C. is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States at 38.895°N -77.0364°W, the coordinates of the Zero Milestone, on The Ellipse. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a geographical area of 68.3sqmi, 61.4sqmi of which is land, and the remaining 6.9sqmi (10.16%) of which is water. The Anacostia River and the smaller Rock Creek flow into the Potomac River in Washington.
Washington, D.C. is surrounded by Northern Virginia on its southwest side and Maryland on its southeast, northeast, and northwest sides; it interrupts those states' shared border, which is the south shore of the Potomac River both upstream and downstream from the city. The portion of the Potomac River that passes Washington, D.C. is virtually entirely within the city's border, as Washington, D.C. extends to the south bank. The city contains the remaining federal district, which was formerly part of those two adjacent states before they respectively ceded it for the national capital in the 1790s. The land ceded from Virginia was returned by Congress in 1847, so what remains of the modern District was all once part of Maryland.
The topography of Washington, D.C. is highly similar to the physical geography of much of Maryland. The city has three significant natural flowing bodies of water: the Potomac River and two tributaries, the Anacostia River and Rock Creek. The confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia forms the historic peninsula known as Arsenal Point. The District also includes the Washington Channel, which flows into the junction of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers. There are also three artificial reservoirs: Dalecarlia Reservoir, which crosses over the northwest border of the District from Maryland, McMillan Reservoir near Howard University, and Georgetown Reservoir upstream of Georgetown. A fourth, minor reservoir is at Fort Reno in Tenleytown.
Washington, D.C. is situated in a topographic bowl. The bottom of the bowl, where the White House and United States Capitol are located, is in the floodplain of the junction of the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers. Extending out from the floodplain is a series of rising river terraces. These high ridges nearly surround the city. The highest of these terraces is 200 feet above sea level and is fronted by an escarpment that is very prominent along the east side of the Anacostia River. Steep-sided ravines and small streams cut through the upper terrace east of the Anacostia River at frequent intervals. Examples of these stream valleys can be found at Forts Dupont and Stanton.[1]
Washington, D.C. is located on the fall line, the border of two considerably different geological terrains or provinces; the hard rock of the Piedmont Plateau to the north and west and the soft sediments of the Atlantic Coastal Plain to the east. The Piedmont Plateau is located north and west of the city. Deeply cut valleys and prominent ridges characterize this area.[1]
The highest point in Washington, D.C. is 410 feet (125 m) above sea level at Reno Reservoir in Tenleytown.[2] The lowest point is sea level, which occurs along all of the Anacostia shore and all of the Potomac shore except the uppermost 100 meters (the Little Falls-Chain Bridge area). The sea level in the Tidal Basin rose eleven feet during Hurricane Isabel on September 18, 2003. The geographic center of Washington, D.C. is on the site of the Organization of American States headquarters.[3] The U.S. Capitol marks the intersection of the city's four administrative quadrants.
Other prominent geographical features of Washington, D.C., include Theodore Roosevelt Island, Columbia Island, the Three Sisters, and Hains Point.
Some areas, especially around the National Mall and parts of Foggy Bottom, were marshes or parts of the river that have been filled in.
During the 18th century, significant portions of the region were forested, with species including rabbits, turkey, pheasants, woodcocks, turtles, and quail, as well as numerous bird species including mockingbirds, bluebirds, hummingbirds, and orioles. Other indigenous species include black snake, garter snake, rattlesnake, copperhead, bullfrog and other types of frogs, ground squirrels, flying squirrels, skunks, opossums, raccoons, foxes, beavers, deer, wolves, and bears. Snipes and various types of ducks inhabited swampy areas, as well as soruses.[4]
Native tree species include willow, birch, cedar, and oak. Other plant species found along the Potomac during the early 19th century include yellow jessamine, prickly pear cactus, white horehound, sweet fennel, wild cherries, and wild strawberries. The large percentage of parkland contributes to a high urban tree canopy coverage of 35%.[5]
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson called the Potomac River a "national disgrace" and used the river to illustrate the need for the Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966.[6] The river is now home to a vibrant warm-water fishery and naturally reproducing bald eagles have returned to its banks.[7] Despite its intensely urbanized landscape, the District of Columbia is a center for research on urban wildlife management, invasive species management, urban stream restoration, and the aquatic ecology of urban streams.[8] The National Park Service's Center For Urban Ecology is a regional source of expertise and applied science for the region.[9]
Earthquake activity in the District of Columbia is low. No earthquakes have been centered within the District, nor are there any faults. However, it has felt earthquakes centered in Virginia, Maryland, and other surrounding states and large earthquakes in Canada and New England.
The District felt the 1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes, and according to old records, residents were "badly frightened". In March 1828, President John Quincy Adams felt a "violent" earthquake in the White House and wrote it in his journal. The 1886 Charleston earthquake (magnitude 6.6 to 7.3) was felt in DC. The strongest earthquake in Virginia happened in 1897 and was felt in the District. An earthquake in 1925 in Canada, estimated about magnitude 7, was felt over 2 million square miles. Another 6.2 earthquake in 1935 caused damage in New York and shook residents from Maine to Wisconsin.[10]
The 2011 Virginia earthquake was felt in Washington and caused damage to landmarks and monuments such as the Washington Monument and the Washington National Cathedral.
See also: List of Maryland hurricanes (1950–present) and List of tornadoes in Washington, D.C..
Washington, D.C., is located in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen climate classification: Cfa), exhibiting four distinct seasons.[11] Its climate is typical of the mid-Atlantic states. The District is located in USDA plant hardiness zone 8a near downtown, and zone 7b elsewhere in the city, indicating a temperate climate.[12] As implied in the previous sentence, the downtown area exhibits an urban heat island (UHI) build-up that can especially exacerbate the sultriness of summer nights.
The highest recorded temperature was 106°F on July 20, 1930, and August 6, 1918, while the lowest recorded temperature was -15°F on February 11, 1899, right before the Great Blizzard of 1899.[20] [21] The extreme low daily high temperature was 4°F, occurring one day before the all-time minimum, while the extreme high daily low temperature was 84°F on July 23–24, 2011 and July 16, 1983. Monthly mean temperatures have ranged from 23.7°F in January 1918 to 84.5°F in July 2011, while the corresponding range for the annual mean is 52.2°F in 1904 to 61.5°F in 2012.
Washington, D.C. was created to serve as the national capital from its inception. The Residence Act of 1790 required that the capital's territory would be located along the Potomac River within an area that Maryland and Virginia would cede to the federal government. However, it permitted the nation's first president, George Washington, to select the territory's precise location. President Washington then chose for the territory a square whose sides were 10miles in length and whose corners were directly north, east, south, and west of its center. The area of the square contained the existing towns of Georgetown and Alexandria, as well as two small villages, Hamburgh in the Foggy Bottom area and Carrollsburg near the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers.[22] [23]
The Residence Act had granted the president the authority to locate the federal capital's territory only as far south and east as the mouth of the Anacostia River in Maryland. However, President Washington wanted to expand the territory's area southward so that its boundaries could encompass the town of Alexandria. In 1791, Congress amended the Residence Act to approve President Washington's selected site, which included the portion of the territory that Virginia would cede.[24]
The location of the capital had many natural advantages: the Potomac was navigable up to the territory, allowing for boat traffic; the established ports at Alexandria and Georgetown could provide an important economic base for a major city; and the territory's inland location was close to the Northwest Territory. During 1791–1792, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants, including Benjamin Banneker, surveyed the boundary between the federal territory and the states of Virginia and Maryland, placing marker stones at every mile point. Many of the stones are still standing.[25]
A new federal city, named in 1791 as the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia, was then laid out in a largely undeveloped area at the center of the 100 square-mile federal territory. This city, which Pierre (Peter) L'Enfant designed, was bounded to the north by Boundary Street (now Florida Avenue) at the base of the escarpment of the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line, to the southeast by the Anacostia River, to the southwest by the Potomac River and to the west by Rock Creek.[26] [27] Although L'Enfant designed the city's original layout in 1791, surveyor Andrew Ellicott revised it in 1792 (see Streets and highways of Washington, D.C.).[26] The remainder of the territory was designated as Washington County (on the Maryland side of the Potomac) and Alexandria County (on the Virginia side).
The land from Virginia was eventually returned to the state in 1846, effective 1847. This land in Virginia makes up the modern area of Arlington County and the old part of Alexandria, Virginia, both of which are Washington, D.C. suburbs. Arlington National Cemetery and The Pentagon are both located in Arlington, though the Pentagon has a Washington DC mailing address. Between 1790 and 1846, Alexandria was referred to as Alexandria, D.C.
Georgetown was originally part of Maryland and was the only significant population in the area that would become part of Washington, D.C. when the federal city was first created but which remained an independent city then referred to as Georgetown, D.C., until 1871 when it was merged with Washington City and Washington County, completing the process of Washington and the District of Columbia occupying the same geographic borders.
The monumental core of the city includes the National Mall and many key federal buildings, monuments, and museums, including the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the National Air and Space Museum. Its layout is based on that proposed by the McMillan Commission report in 1901.
See main article: Height of Buildings Act of 1910.
See also: List of tallest buildings in Washington, D.C. and Architecture of Washington, D.C..
To preserve the grandeur of the National Mall, the White House, the Capitol, and various other key locations, the entire city is subject to strict building height limits. This limitation was placed in effect just before the 20th century when government officials realized that structural steel "skyscrapers" could overwhelm the city. In 1899, Congress enacted a height limit for the District prohibiting private buildings from rising more than 130 feet. Contrary to popular belief, no law has ever restricted buildings to the height of the United States Capitol or Washington Monument.[28] [29]
A revised height law in 1910 did away with that fixed maximum. The newer legislation, still in effect today, states that no new building may be more than 20 feet taller than the width of the street in front of it.[30] The current law is codified as D.C. CODE ANN. § 6-601.05. Thus, Washington has a relatively modest skyline in comparison to the majority of American cities. However, the District is ringed by high-rise buildings in many nearby suburbs like Arlington, Silver Spring, and Bethesda.
Washington, D.C. is divided into eight wards and 37 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) within these wards. The total number of named neighborhoods is 127. The ANCs serve to advise the Washington, D.C. city council on neighborhood matters. The council is required by law to give their opinions great weight, though what that means is up to the Council to decide. Since 2000, the demographics of many neighborhoods have changed markedly.
The District of Columbia is bordered by various cities, towns, villages, and unincorporated CDPs in Maryland and Virginia. Following is a list of those adjacent communities.
In addition to the places named above, there are other small unincorporated parts of Prince George's County, Maryland, which also border Washington, D.C.