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Color-enhanced USGS satellite image of Washington, DC, taken April 26, 2002. The Potomac River and its eastern branch, the Anacostia River, are visible. Virginia lies across the Potomac from Washington, while Maryland surrounds it on all other sides. The black "crosshairs" in the image mark the quadrant divisions of Washington, with the U.S. Capitol at the center of the dividing lines. To the west of the Capitol extends the National Mall, visible as a slight green band in the image. The Pentagon is also visible in Virginia, near the Potomac. Washington is located at 38°54'49" North, 77°0'48" West (38.913611, -77.013222) 1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 177.0 km² (68.3 mi²). 159.0 km² (61.4 mi²) of it is land and 18.0 km² (6.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 10.16% water.
Washington is surrounded by the states of Virginia (on its southwest side, and a small part of its northwest one) and Maryland (on its southeast and northeast sides, and most of its northwest one); it interrupts those states' common border, which is the Potomac River both upstream and downstream from the District. The city contains the historic federal city, the territory of which was formerly part of those two adjacent states before they respectively ceded it for the national capital. The land ceded from Virginia was returned by Congress in 1847, so what remains of the modern District was all once part of Maryland.
See also District of Columbia (geography).
The original street layout was designed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant at the time of the city's founding. Washington is divided into four quadrants, directly along the four compass directions: Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, and Southeast. Every street name has appended to it the abbreviation of the quadrant that it is in—e.g., Connecticut Ave., NW, New York Ave., NE. A street's quadrant is necessary to include in postal addresses, especially because much of the city's street layout repeats within each quadrant. The north-to-south numbered streets in Washington and count upwards from east to west in NW/SW (1st St NW, 2nd St NW, 3rd St NW, etc.); these streets repeat in NE/SE, counting upwards from west to the east. The east-to-west lettered streets (A St, B St, etc.) "count" upwards from south to north in NW/NE, and likewise repeat in the opposite direction in SW/SE. Street numbers count upwards traveling outward from the dividing lines of the quadrants.
The center of the north/south and east/west dividing lines is the U.S. Capitol, which is offset from the physical center of Washington's diamond shape making the quadrants unequal in size. Additionally, much of what was SW is now Arlington County, Virginia (or the Potomac River), making it by far the smallest quadrant; NW is the largest.
L'Enfant's plan also includes many diagonal avenues named after the states, such as Pennsylvania Avenue which connects the Capitol and the White House.
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 height limits. Thus, it has no skyscrapers and has a relatively modest skyline in comparison to the majority of American cities. But there are some high-rise buildings in many nearby suburbs like Arlington.
Washington includes many distinct and historic neighborhoods:
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(External link to DC neighborhood websites)
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