The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the District of Columbia:
Washington, D.C., legally named the District of Columbia, in the United States of America, was founded on July 16, 1790, after the inauguration of City of Washington, the new capital of the country. The area given to District of Columbia, was originally 100 square miles (259 km2) ceded by the states of Maryland and Virginia in accordance with the Residence Act; however, in 1846, the retrocession of the District of Columbia, meant that the area of 31 square miles (80 km2) which was ceded by Virginia was returned, [1] leaving 69 square miles (179 km2) of territory originally ceded by Maryland as the current area of the District in its entirety. [2]
The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 effectively merged the City and the Territory into a single entity. It is for this reason that everything within its boundaries is legally the District of Columbia.
The District of Columbia is divided into eight wards and 37 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) within these wards.
Adams Morgan • Columbia Heights • Kalorama • LeDroit Park • Mount Pleasant • Park View • Pleasant Plains • Shaw
Burleith • Downtown • Dupont Circle • Foggy Bottom • Georgetown • Sheridan Kalorama • Logan Circle • Mount Vernon Square • Shaw • West End
American University Park • Berkley • Cathedral Heights • Chevy Chase • Cleveland Park • Colony Hill • Forest Hills • Foxhall • Friendship Heights • Glover Park • Kent • Massachusetts Heights • McLean Gardens • North Cleveland Park • Observatory Circle • The Palisades • Potomac Heights • Spring Valley • Tenleytown • Wakefield • Wesley Heights • Woodland-Normanstone Terrace • Woodley Park (Part of the neighborhood is also in Ward 1)
Barnaby Woods • Brightwood • Brightwood Park • Chevy Chase (Part of the neighborhood is also in Ward 3) • Colonial Village • Crestwood • Fort Totten • Hawthorne • Manor Park • Petworth • Riggs Park • Lamond-Riggs • Shepherd Park • Sixteenth Street Heights • Takoma
Arboretum • Bloomingdale • Brentwood • Brookland • Carver Langston • Eckington • Edgewood • Fort Lincoln • Fort Totten (Part of the neighborhood is also in Ward 4) • Gateway • Ivy City • Riggs Park (Part of the neighborhood is also in Ward 4) • Langdon • Michigan Park • North Michigan Park • Pleasant Hill • Stronghold/Metropolis View • Trinidad • Truxton Circle • Woodridge
Barney Circle • Capitol Hill • Chinatown • Judiciary Square • Kingman Park • Navy Yard/Near Southeast • Near Northeast • Penn Quarter • NoMa, Washington, D.C. • Southwest Federal Center • Southwest Waterfront • Sursum Corda • Swampoodle • Union Station
Benning Heights • Benning Ridge • Benning • Burrville • Capitol View • Civic Betterment • Deanwood • Dupont Park • Eastland Gardens • Fairfax Village • Fairlawn • Fort Davis • Fort Dupont • Good Hope • Grant Park • Greenway • Hillbrook • Hillcrest • Kenilworth • Kingman Park • Lincoln Heights • Mahaning Heights • Marshall Heights • Mayfair • Naylor Gardens • Penn Branch • Randle Highlands • River Terrace • Skyland • Summit Park • Twining
Anacostia • Barry Farm • Bellevue • Buena Vista • Congress Heights • Douglass • Fairlawn • Garfield Heights • Knox Hill • Shipley Terrace • Washington Highlands • Woodland