Washington D.C. District of Columbia Foriegn land or not, if so, why is our nations capital on foreign land?
114113
When you say DC, you mean the District of Corruption !!
1101955
The President's Residence (first called the White House by Teddy Roosevelt) was placed in Washington, D.C. because of a deal made when the US was very young...\n\nAs I understand it, originally the two major candidates for the Capitol City of the new Republic were Philadelphia (where the Declaration of Independence was signed) and New York City (which was - and is - our largest city) - both in the North. At the same time, there was a problem concerning the war debts the Thirteen States had (remember, they considered themselves 13 COUNTRIES back then). So a deal was struck: in exchange for the rich states allowing national "assumption" of the war debt (and so helping the poorer states out), they would move the Capitol to a (then) brand new location in the South, on the Potomac River.
494675
Most disasters are caused from Washington DC, but they're not natural.
847973
Even one American life is too many to promote "democracy" in a foreign country - especially since the freedoms of Americans are taken away everyday.  Our country is becoming a lawless society while our military is busy in a foreign country - our military should be protecting our borders in OUR country!
606159
The initial plot of land authorized by the Constitution for the seat of the US government was a 100-square mile area. The first commissioners appointed to acquire the property for the new capital and construct the first government buildings made the obvious choice and named the city Washington. At the same time, they decided to call the entire 100 square-mile area the District of Columbia. Congress later went along with this decision through legislative references to the area. \n\nThe city of Washington as designed by L'Enfant did not, of course, fill the 100 square-mile area authorized by the Constitution for the seat of government. The area also included the cities of Georgetown (1751) and Alexandria (1749), which were already in existence. Congress designated the rest of the 10-mile by 10-mile portion outside the corporate limits of these three cities as the County of Alexandria, in the section given by Virginia, and the County of Washington, in the Maryland-ceded portion. \nIn 1846 Congress voted to give back to Virginia all the land that state had given to the government in 1790 for creation of the District of Columbia. This move returned about 32 square miles of territory to Virginia. Residents of Alexandria and what is now Arlington County, Virginia, thus lost District of Columbia residency and again became Virginia citizens. \n\nIf all this sounds confusing, think of Congress trying to enact legislation dealing with the local affairs of this area. Congress tried to clarify the jurisdictional muddle when it established a territorial form of government for the capital in 1871. It revoked the charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown and also abolished a levy court for the County of Washington. All legal municipal functions were given to the District of Columbia. \n\nThen Congress changed its mind again and decided that Georgetown and the County of Washington should be separate entities. In 1895, Congress legally ended Georgetown's status as a separate city by merging it with the City of Washington, yet this act said nothing about the County of Washington. Technically, this Maryland-ceded portion of the District of Columbia is still a part of that namesake even though it operates as a separate identity. The slip-up, moreover, has never been corrected. \n\nSo, today, a resident of the District of Columbia may be living either in the old County of Washington or in the merged section made up of L'Enfant's City of Washington and of Georgetown. Washington, D.C., however, is a city in name only - a mapmaker's designation and the established pseudonym for the District of Columbia.
535918
Washington, D.C.\n\nIf Canada continues to be nice, then the next time we invite them to the White House, we might let them sit on the couch.\n\nUPDATE -----------------------------------------------\n\nSo within minutes of posting my 'answer' to this dumb question from a kid from Canada asking what his country's capital was ... he's sent me like two nasty grams about my insulting Canada (sp?)\n\nOK Junior ... I am deeply sorry for having offended your sensitivities and your obvious intelligence by coming onto this site and asking us what the capital city of your own darn country is.\n\nI'm very sorry that you can't take a good natured joke.\n\nPlease, do what ever is in your power to ensure that the Canadian military does not try to overwhelm us poor folks in the states as a result of my obvious faux paux.\n\nWhatever, now please stop emailing me unless you have some real question that I can help you with.\n\nHammer:  I fixed my spelling here ... go boy go !  ;-)
460174
Americans don't question their right to live on stolen land.  Hmmm...do you think that's why we support Israel?  And we also conveniently forget that their ancestors had to struggle with language differences when they came over. And that many cities still have ethnic neighborhoods with signs/newspapers/etc in Polish or some other language besides English.  But we consider that a quaint reminder of our past, while we scorn people who have come over more recently, especially if they have darker skin.  Guess we should modify the Statue of Liberty, since we only accept the tired, poor, and hungry on a conditional basis, and we don't want too many of them!  Geez, you'd think we weren't one of the richest countries in the world!
272746
To steal the wealth of the invaded country. No national leaders really care about freedom, democracy and so on in other countries. USA now claims they want democracy in Iraq, but for a long time, they funded dictatorships in Latin America. They just find the best way to steal the wealth of all over the planet.
415234
The term "District of Columbia" is derived from an old poetic name for the United States, Columbia, which has fallen out of common use since the early 20th century.\n\nFederal districts are subdivisions of a federal system of government. Often, these districts are not one of the countries' component subdivisions, and should not be confused with them, but are rather separate entities under the direct control of the federal government. The seat of the federal government is often located in a Federal District, so that no single individual component can exercise undue influence over federal affairs.
86482
DC residents are just that, residents.  They are not citizens of DC.  They are citizens of other states where they receive representation.
668410
It is easy to bash the United States because we tend to be arrogant and uninformed in matters about other parts of the world.\n\nIn reference to your comment about stealing land, people have been migrating from one area to another since the last ice age.  Sometimes force is involved, sometimes not.\n\nAs for the place that has not been previously occupied by another race:  the dark side of the moon.
9531
A capital is usually the seat of a Government, as in "Washington DC is the capital of the USA" or "Sacramento is the capital of California."\n\nA headquarters is the location of the administrative offices of a business or the staff of a military unit, such as "Ford Motor Company headquarters is in Dearborn."  or "General Patton's Headquarters was in Paris during WWII."
301672
Washington, D.C. is the capital city of the United States of America. "D.C." stands for the "District of Columbia", the federal district containing the city of Washington. The city is named after George Washington, military leader of the American Revolution and the first President of the United States. The District of Columbia and the city of Washington are coextensive and are governed by a single municipal government, so for most practical purposes they are considered to be the same entity (this was not always the case, though, as Georgetown was a separate city within the District until 1871). However, although there is a municipal government and a mayor, as per Article I, Section VIII, of the United States Constitution, Congress has the sole authority over this federal district and thus the municipal government and mayor exist in the shadows of Congress. It is commonly known as the District, D.C., or simply Washington. Historically, it was called the Federal City or Washington City.\n\nThe District of Columbia, founded on July 16, 1790, is a federal district as specified by the United States Constitution. The U.S. Congress has ultimate authority over the District of Columbia, though it has delegated limited local rule to the municipal government. The land forming the original District came from the states of Virginia and Maryland. However, the area south of the Potomac River (39 mi² or about 100 km²) was returned, or "retroceded", to Virginia in 1847 and now is incorporated into Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. The term "District of Columbia" is derived from an old poetic name for the United States, Columbia, which has fallen out of common use since the early 20th century.\n\nThe centers of all three branches of the U.S. federal government are in Washington, D.C., as well as the headquarters of most federal agencies. Washington also serves as the headquarters for the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organization of American States, among other international (and national) institutions. All of this has made Washington the frequent focal point of massive political demonstrations and protests, particularly on the National Mall. Washington is also the site of numerous national landmarks, museums, and sports teams, and is a popular destination for tourists.\n\nThe population of the District of Columbia, as of 2003 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, is 563,384. The Greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area includes the District of Columbia and parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, with a population surpassing 4.7 million. If Washington, D.C., were considered a state, it would rank last in area behind Rhode Island, 50th in population ahead of Wyoming, and 36th in Gross State Product, ahead of 15 states, and its GSP per capita would be #1 by far compared to other states.
65949
Washington, D.C. I believe.
1141580
Washington DC, but it is technically not a state
1019465
A number of cases exist where states or other entities have multiple capitals. In South Africa, for example, the administrative capital is Pretoria, the legislative capital is Cape Town, and the judicial capital is Bloemfontein, the outcome of the compromise that created the Union of South Africa in 1910.\n\nIn others, the "effective" and "official" capital may differ for pragmatic reasons, resulting in a situation where a city known as "the capital" is not, in fact, host to the seat of government:\n\n-Yamoussoukro was designated the national capital of Côte d'Ivoire in 1983, but as of 2004 most government offices and embassies were still located in Abidjan \n-Sucre is still the constitutional capital of Bolivia, but most of the national government long abandoned that region for La Paz \n-Amsterdam is the nominal national capital of the Netherlands even though the Dutch government and supreme court are both located in The Hague.\n-Kuala Lumpur is the nominal capital of Malaysia even though the Malaysian government is located in Putrajaya.\n \nIn such cases, the city housing the administrative capital is usually understood to be the "national capital" among outsiders. For instance, Santiago is understood to be the capital of Chile even though its Congress is in Valparaiso.\n\nHey, this is REALLY REALLY COOL and really answers your question! Click here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiple_capitals
193837
First in the early days of this country we only had 13 states and where Washington, D.C. is located it fits into the center of what the country was then.  They wanted to build a Capital City so that it would be a city that was built with the express purpose of being the Capital of the New Country.  The Capital had been previously placed in New York City and in Philadelphia.  The capital was placed into an area that was on the Border of Maryland and Virginia and was Named the District Of Columbia, it bordered the two states however was not part of either one.  The City became the Capital in 1800 when John Adams was president.  The city has no representatives in Congress, it does however have 3 Electoral Votes for Presidential elections.  While Washington the City has it's own City Government the District Of Columbia falls under Federal Law.