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واشنگتن دی .سی



واشینگتن دی.سی. (به انگلیسی: Washington, D.C.‎) پایتخت ایالات متحده آمریکا است. برای این‌که شهر واشنگتن با ایالت واشینگتن اشتباه نشود اغلب آن‌را "واشنگتن دی‌سی" می‌خوانند

نام 

نام شهر به افتخار جرج واشینگتن گذاشته شده است.
تلفظ صحیح، «واشینگتن» است. «واشنگتن» تلفظ فرانسوی است که بطور عامیانه وارد فارسی گردیده.

تاریخ و توسعه

این شهر از سال ۱۸۷۱ به‌نام جرج واشینگتن رهبر استقلال‌طلبان و اولین رییس جمهور دولت فدرال آمریکا نام‌گذاری شده است. برای اجرای مصوبه هفدهم بخش ۸ در اصل اول قانون اساسی آمریکا، در تاریخ ۱۶ ژوئیه ۱۷۹۰ بخش‌هایی از ایالت‌های مریلند و ویرجینیا برای ساخت پایتخت ایالات متحده در نظر گرفته شد که «ناحیه کلمبیا» نام گرفت. البته یک قرن بعد زمین‌های این ناحیه در جنوب رودخانه پوتوماک به ایالت ویرجینیا بازپس داده شد.
ساختمان کاپیتال محل استقرار کنگره ایالات متحده آمریکا بوده، در حالی‌که کاخ سفید و تمامی وزارتخانه‌های کشور نیز در اینجا قرار دارند.
این شهر در «ناحیه کلمبیا» (District of Columbia با سرنام "دی.سی") زیر نظر کنگره آمریکا و خارج از حاکمیت تمامی ۵۰ ایالت این کشور قرار دارد. این ناحیه مشترک و برای همگان است و لذا تمامی وزارتخانه‌ها و سازمان‌های فدرال همچون کتابخانه ملی کنگره آمریکا در این ناحیه مستقرند و از نظر قانونی این ناحیه یک ایالت نیست.
شهر واشینگتن و ناحیه کلمبیا از نظر گستره یکسان هستند و یک شهردار دارند. بنابراین از دید عملی هر دو نام به یک موجودیت اشاره دارد.
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ناحیه کلمبیا نماینده‌ای در کنگره آمریکا ندارد و سناتوری هم در مجلس سنا ندارد. به همین خاطر برخی از ساکنین این ناحیه بارها ناخشنودی خود را از این بابت ابراز کرده‌اند؛ چرا که با وجودِ نداشتن نماینده‌ای برای تصمیمات فدرال، ملزم به پرداخت مالیات‌های فدرال هستند. شعار «مالیات می‌پردازیم ولی نماینده نداریم»بطور غیررسمی برای اعتراض به این وضعیت بکار می‌رود. برخی از شهروندان در منطقه کلمبیا کمپینی برای تغییر این وضعیت و بدست آوردن حق رای به راه انداخته‌اند.
موسسه اِسمیتسونین و مرکز هنرهای نمایشی جان اِف کندی در شهر واشینگتن از برجسته‌ترین مراکز هنری آمریکا و جهان می‌باشند. یادبود لینکلن، یادبود جفرسون، و یادبود واشینگتن نیز در این شهر قرار دارند.
وقت محلی آن با نماد EST نمایش داده می‌شود که ۵ ساعت از زمان گرینویچ عقبتر است.

اقتصاد 

این شهر از نظر تولید ناخالص داخلی، با حدود ۷۵ میلیارد دلار تولید سالیانه[۴] به تنهایی از قدرت اقتصادی مشابهی با کشور مراکش برخوردار است.[۵]

حمل و نقل 

واشینگتن مترو نام قطار شهری واشنگتن است.
سه فرودگاه عمده در اطراف شهر واشنگتن دی.سی قرار دارد، گرچه هیچ یک در منطقه کلمبیا واقع نیستند:

ورزش

مراکز علمی ناحیه دی سی 

به غیر از ان آی اچ، که مرکز هدایت پژوهش‌های علوم پزشکی فدرال آمریکاست، در منطقه کلان-شهر واشینگتن دانشگاه‌های کیفیت مرغوب متعددی قرار دارند. دانشگاه مریلند در کالج پارک و دانشگاه جرج واشینگتن مشهورترین آنهاهستند. دانشگاه جرج میسون نیز در غرب شهر قرار دارد.
در داخل محوطه دی سی دانشگاه‌های دیگری نیز قرار دارند. از این میان می‌توان موسسات زیر را نام برد: دانشگاه جرج‌تاون، دانشگاه هوارد، دانشگاه گالودت، دانشگاه امریکن، و دانشگاه کاتولیک آمریکا.

English
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, founded on July 16, 1790. The U.S. Constitution allows for the creation of a special district to serve as the permanent national capital. The District is therefore not a part of any U.S. state and is instead directly overseen by the federal government.
Within the District, a new capital city named after George Washington was founded in 1791 to the east of a preexisting settlement at Georgetown. In 1871, the City of Washington, Georgetown, and other outlying areas were combined under a single, unified government, which formed Washington, D.C. as it exists today. The city shares its name with the U.S. state of Washington located on the country's Pacific coast.
Washington, D.C. is located on the north bank of the Potomac River and is bordered by the states of Virginia to the southwest and Maryland to the other sides. The city has a resident population of 601,723; because of commuters from the surrounding suburbs, its population rises to over one million during the workweek. The Washington Metropolitan Area, of which the District is a part, has a population of nearly 5.6 million, the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the country.
The centers of all three branches of the U.S. federal government are located in the District, as are many of the nation's monuments and museums. Washington, D.C. hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The headquarters of other institutions such as trade unions, lobbying groups, and professional associations are also located in the city.
The District is governed by a mayor and a 13-member city council. However, the United States Congress has supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. Residents therefore have less self-governance than residents of the states. The District has a non-voting, at-large Congressional delegate, but no senators. D.C. residents could not vote in presidential elections until the ratification of the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1961.

History

Main article: History of Washington, D.C.
An Algonquian-speaking people known as the Nacotchtank inhabited the area around the Anacostia River when the first Europeans arrived in the 17th century;[3] however, Native American people had largely relocated from the area by the early 18th century.[4] The Province of Maryland chartered a settlement at Georgetown on the north bank of the Potomac River in 1751. The busy port town would be included within the new federal territory established nearly 40 years later.[5] The City of Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1749, was also originally included within the District.[6]
In his "Federalist No. 43", published January 23, 1788, James Madison argued that a new national capital would need to be distinct from the states in order to provide for its own maintenance and security.[7] Five years earlier while meeting in Philadelphia, the Congress was besieged by a mob of angry soldiers, but the state government refused to use its militia to disperse the protesters. Known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the situation emphasized the need for the federal government to not rely on any particular state for security.[8]
Article One, Section Eight of the United States Constitution therefore grants Congress the authority to establish a "District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States".[9] The Constitution does not, however, specify a location for the new capital. In what later became known as the Compromise of 1790, Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson came to an agreement that the federal government would assume war debt carried by the states, on the condition that the new national capital would be located in the Southern United States.[a]
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On July 16, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a new national capital to be located on the Potomac River, the exact area to be selected by President Washington.[b] The initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side, totaling 100 square miles (260 km2), formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia. During 1791–92, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants, including Benjamin Banneker, surveyed the borders of the new federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point. Many of the stones are still standing.[10]
A new "federal city" was then constructed on the north bank of the Potomac, to the east of the established settlement at Georgetown. On September 9, 1791, the federal city was named in honor of George Washington and the district itself was named Columbia, which was a poetic name for the United States in use at that time.[11][12] Congress held its first session in Washington on November 17, 1800.[13]
Shortly after arriving in the new capital, Congress passed the Organic Act of 1801, which officially organized the District of Columbia and placed the entire area, including the cities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, under the exclusive control of the federal government. Further, the unincorporated territory within the District was organized into two counties: the County of Washington to the east of the Potomac and the County of Alexandria to the west.[14] Following the passage of this Act, citizens located in the District were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which therefore ended their representation in Congress.[15]
On August 24–25, 1814, in a raid known as the Burning of Washington, British forces invaded the capital during the War of 1812, following the sacking and burning of York (modern-day Toronto). The Capitol, Treasury, and White House were burned and gutted during the attack.[16] Most government buildings were quickly repaired, but the Capitol, which was at the time largely under construction, was not completed in its current form until 1868.[17]
Since 1800, various proposals have been offered to return the land donated to form the District back to the states of Maryland and Virginia. This process is known as retrocession.[18] In the 1830s, the District's southern county of Alexandria went into economic decline partly due to neglect by Congress.[18] Alexandria had been a major market in the American slave trade and rumors circulated that abolitionists in Congress were attempting to end slavery in the District; such an action would have further depressed Alexandria's slavery-based economy.[19] In 1840, Alexandria residents began to petition for the retrocession of the District's southern territory to Virginia. The state legislature voted in February 1846 to accept the return of Alexandria and on July 9, 1846, Congress agreed to return all the District's territory south of the Potomac River back to Virginia.[18]
Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the District, though not slavery itself.[20] By 1860, approximately 80% of the city's African American residents were free blacks. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 led to notable growth in the District's population due to the expansion of the federal government and a large influx of freed slaves.[21] In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, which ended slavery in the District of Columbia and freed about 3,100 enslaved persons, nine months prior to the Emancipation Proclamation.[22] By 1870, the District's population had grown to nearly 132,000.[23] Despite the city's growth, Washington still had dirt roads and lacked basic sanitation; the situation was so bad that some members of Congress proposed moving the capital elsewhere.[24]
With the passage of the Organic Act of 1871, Congress created a new government for the entire federal district.[25] This Act combined the City of Washington, Georgetown, and Washington County into a single municipality named the District of Columbia, which effectively formed present-day Washington, D.C.[26][c] Congress also appointed a Board of Public Works charged with modernizing the city.[25] In 1873, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed the board's most influential member, Alexander Robey Shepherd, to the new post of governor. That year, Shepherd spent $20 million on public works ($357 million in 2007),[27] which modernized the capital but also bankrupted the city. In 1874, Congress abolished Shepherd's office in favor of direct rule.[24] Additional projects to renovate the city were not executed until the McMillan Plan in 1901.[28]
The District's population remained relatively stable until the Great Depression in the 1930s when President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation expanded the bureaucracy in Washington. World War II further increased government activity, adding to the number of federal employees in the capital; by 1950, the District's population reached its peak of 802,178 residents. The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1961, granting the District three votes in the Electoral College for the election of President and Vice President, but still no voting representation in Congress.
After the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in the District, primarily in the U Street, 14th Street, 7th Street, and H Street corridors, centers of black residential and commercial areas. The riots raged for three days until over 13,000 federal and national guard troops managed to quell the violence. Many stores and other buildings were burned; rebuilding was not complete until the late 1990s.[31]
In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, providing for an elected mayor and city council for the District.[32] In 1975, Walter Washington became the first elected and first black mayor of the District.[33]
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and deliberately crashed the plane into the Pentagon in nearby Arlington, Virginia. United Airlines Flight 93, believed to be destined for Washington, D.C., crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers tried to recover control of the plane from hijackers.[34][35]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Washington, D.C.
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The District has a total area of 68.3 square miles (177 km2), of which 61.4 square miles (159 km2) is land and 6.9 square miles (18 km2) (10.16%) is water.[36] The District is no longer 100 square miles (260 km2) due to the retrocession of the southern portion of the District back to the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1846. The District's current area consists only of territory ceded by the state of Maryland. Washington is therefore surrounded by the states of Maryland to the southeast, northeast, and northwest and Virginia to the southwest. The District has three major natural flowing streams: the Potomac River and its tributaries the Anacostia River and Rock Creek.[37] Tiber Creek, a watercourse that once passed through the National Mall, was fully enclosed underground during the 1870s.[38]
Contrary to the urban legend, Washington was not built on reclaimed swampland.[39] While wetlands did cover areas along the two rivers and other natural streams, the majority of the District's territory consisted of farmland and tree-covered hills.[40] The highest natural point in the District of Columbia is Point Reno, located in Fort Reno Park in the Tenleytown neighborhood, at 409 feet (125 m) above sea level.[41] The lowest point is sea level at the Potomac River. The geographic center of Washington is located near the intersection of 4th and L Streets NW.[42]
The United States government owns about 23% of the land in the District. On average, the federal government owns about 29% of the land in each state.[43] Approximately 19.4% of Washington, D.C. is parkland, which ties New York City for largest percentage of parkland among high-density U.S. cities.[44] The large percentage of park area in the District contributes to high urban tree canopy coverage of 35%.[45] The U.S. National Park Service manages most of the natural habitat in Washington, D.C., including Rock Creek Park, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, the National Mall, Theodore Roosevelt Island, the Constitution Gardens, Meridian Hill Park, and Anacostia Park.[46] The only significant area of natural habitat not managed by the National Park Service is the U.S. National Arboretum, which is operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.[47] The Great Falls of the Potomac River are located upstream (northwest) of Washington. During the 19th century, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which starts in Georgetown, was used to allow barge traffic to bypass the falls.[48]

Climate

See also: List of Maryland and Washington, D.C. hurricanes (1980–present) and List of District of Columbia tornadoes
Washington is located in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen: Cfa), exhibiting four distinct seasons.[49] Its climate is typical of Mid-Atlantic U.S. areas removed from bodies of water. The District is located in plant hardiness zone 8a near downtown, and zone 7b elsewhere in the city, indicating a temperate climate.[50] Spring and fall are warm, while winter is cool with annual snowfall averaging 14.7 inches (37 cm). Winter temperatures average around 38 °F (3.3 °C) from mid-December to mid-February.[51] Blizzards affect Washington on average once every four to six years. The most violent storms are called "nor'easters", which typically feature high winds, heavy rains, and occasional snow. These storms often affect large sections of the U.S. East Coast.[52]
Summers are hot and humid with a July daily average of 79.2 °F (26.2 °C) and average daily relative humidity around 66%, which can cause medium to moderate personal discomfort The combination of heat and humidity in the summer brings very frequent thunderstorms, some of which occasionally produce tornadoes in the area.[54] While hurricanes (or their remnants) occasionally track through the area in late summer and early fall, they have often weakened by the time they reach Washington, partly due to the city's inland location. Flooding of the Potomac River, however, caused by a combination of high tide, storm surge, and runoff, has been known to cause extensive property damage in Georgetown.[55]
The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on July 20, 1930, and August 6, 1918, while the lowest recorded temperature was −15 °F (−26 °C) on February 11, 1899, during the Great Blizzard of 1899.[52] Over the year, the city averages 37 days hotter than 90 °F (32.2 °C) and 64 nights at or below freezing.]

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