Washington Metropolitan Area road map
The Washington Metropolitan Area, formally known as the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA, is a U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as of November 2004[update]. It is also part of the larger Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2007 Census Bureau estimate[update], the population of the area was estimated to be 5,306,565.[1]
Other federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security refer to part of the area as the National Capital Region.[2] The Virginia portion of the area is known as Northern Virginia.
Composition
Aerial photo of Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area includes the District of Columbia and parts of the states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is divided into two metropolitan divisions:
- the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division, comprising the majority of the metropolitan area, and
- the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division, consisting of Montgomery and Frederick counties.
Political subdivisions
The area includes the following counties, districts, and independent cities:
District of Columbia
Map highlighting the metropolitan area
Maryland
The following counties are categorized as part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area:
Though associated with the Washington Metropolitan Area, the following counties are categorized as part of the Baltimore-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area:
Though associated with the Washington Metropolitan Area, the following county is categorized as part of the Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan Statistical Area:
Virginia
Counties
Independent cities:
West Virginia
Principal cities
The metropolitan area includes the following principal cities (not all of which are incorporated as cities):
- Washington, D.C.
- Arlington, Virginia
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Bowie, Maryland
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Falls Church, Virginia
- Frederick, Maryland
- Gaithersburg, Maryland
- Germantown, Maryland
- Herndon, Virginia
- Leesburg, Virginia
- Manassas, Virginia
- Reston, Virginia
- Rockville, Maryland
- Silver Spring, Maryland
- Tysons Corner, Virginia
- Waldorf, Maryland
Demographics
The racial composition of the area has changed in the past generation:[3]
- 2006
- 1980
- White : 67.8%
- Black : 26.0%
- Asian : 2.5%
- Hispanic : 2.8%
- "Mixed and Other" : 0.9%
See also
References
External links
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