Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
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The Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area is a consolidated metropolitan area consisting of the overlapping labor market region of the cities of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. The region includes Northern Virginia, Central Maryland, and two counties in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
Officially, the area is designated by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The CSA is composed primarily of two major metropolitan areas, the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA. In addition, three other smaller urban areas not contiguous to the main urban area but having strong commuting ties with the main area are also included in the metropolitan area. These are the Winchester, VA-WV MSA, the Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan area and the Culpeper, VA Micropolitan area. Some counties and cities are not officially designated by the OMB as members of this metropolitan area, but still consider themselves members anyway. This is mostly due to their proximity to the area, the size of their commuter population, and by the influence of local broadcasting stations. The population of the entire Baltimore-Washington Metroplex as of 2006 is 8,207,0401, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The most populated city is Baltimore, with a population of a little more than 630,000. The most populated county is Fairfax County, at slightly more than 1 million. This is the only metropolitan area in the country in which the largest central city, Baltimore, comes second in the name.
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[edit] Components of the metropolitan area
The counties and independent cities and their groupings that comprise the metropolitan area are listed below with 2004 Census Bureau estimates of their populations.
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA (5,286,227)
- Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division (1,287,005)
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division (4,131,158)
- Washington, D.C.
- Calvert County, Maryland
- Charles County, Maryland
- Prince George's County, Maryland
- Arlington County, Virginia
- Clarke County, Virginia
- Fairfax County, Virginia
- Fauquier County, Virginia
- Loudoun County, Virginia
- Prince William County, Virginia
- Spotsylvania County, Virginia
- Stafford County, Virginia
- Warren County, Virginia
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Falls Church, Virginia
- Fredericksburg, Virginia
- Manassas, Virginia
- Manassas Park, Virginia
- Jefferson County, West Virginia
- Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA (2,658,405)
Main Article: Baltimore Metropolitan Area
- Winchester, VA-WV MSA (118,932)
- Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan Area (98,854)
- Culpeper, VA Micropolitan Area (44,622)
[edit] List of cities
See List of cities in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area for a full list.
[edit] Washington area
- Washington, D.C.
- Arlington, Virginia
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Frederick, Maryland
- Fredericksburg, Virginia
- Gaithersburg, Maryland
- Herndon, Virginia
- Hagerstown, Maryland
- Martinsburg, West Virginia
- Reston, Virginia
- Rockville, Maryland
- Silver Spring, Maryland
- Tysons Corner, Virginia
- Waldorf, Maryland
[edit] Baltimore area
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Catonsville, Maryland
- Columbia, Maryland
- Dundalk, Maryland
- Ellicott City, Maryland
- Glen Burnie, Maryland
- Towson, Maryland
- Westminster, Maryland
- Brooklyn Park, Maryland
[edit] Economy
[edit] Local industries
[edit] Biotechnology industry
Not limited to its proximity to the National Institutes of Health, Maryland's Washington suburbs are a major center for biotechnology. Prominent local biotech companies include MedImmune, Celera Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research, Human Genome Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
[edit] Defense contracting
Many defense contractors are located in Northern Virginia to be close to the Pentagon in Arlington. Local defense contractors include Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and Orbital Sciences Corporation.
[edit] IT industry
In 1993, Fortune magazine named Northern Virginia the "Netplex" referring to the area's concentration of network technology companies and infrastructure. The region is home to the Internet Society and formerly the mainframe that contained the master list of all Internet domains.
[edit] Notable company headquarters in the region
(Numbers denote Fortune 500 company ranking.)
[edit] Washington, District of Columbia
- Bureau of National Affairs
- Calibre Energy
- Carlyle Group
- Danaher 287
- Federal National Mortgage Association - "Fannie Mae"
- Pepco Holdings, Inc. 283
- Washington Post Company
- XM Satellite Radio
[edit] Maryland
- ARINC (Annapolis)
- BAE Systems (Rockville)
- Black & Decker (Towson) 330
- Choice Hotels (Silver Spring)
- Constellation Energy (Baltimore) 125
- Coventry Health Care (Bethesda) 328
- Discovery Communications (Silver Spring)
- Fila (Sparks)
- GEICO (Chevy Chase)
- Legg Mason (Baltimore)
- Lockheed Martin (Bethesda) 52
- Marriott International (Bethesda) 203
- McCormick & Company (Hunt Valley)
- Ritz Carlton (Chevy Chase)
- T. Rowe Price (Baltimore)
[edit] Virginia
- AES Corporation (Arlington) 221
- BearingPoint (McLean)
- Booz Allen Hamilton (McLean)
- Capital One (McLean) 187
- Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (McLean) - "Freddie Mac"
- Gannett Company (McLean) 296
- General Dynamics (Falls Church) 100
- Kellogg Brown and Root Services (Arlington)
- Mars, Incorporated (McLean)
- New Enterprise Associates (Reston)
- NVR Incorporated (Reston) 410
- Orbital Sciences (Dulles)
- SLM Corporation (Reston) 331 - "Sallie Mae"
- Sprint Nextel Corporation (Reston) 59
- USA Today (McLean)
- Volkswagen of America (Herndon)
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Major airports
- Washington Dulles International Airport (Chantilly, Virginia - busiest in region)
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (Arlington County, Virginia - closest to Washington)
- Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (Anne Arundel County, Maryland - closest to Baltimore)
[edit] Rail transit systems
- Amtrak
- Washington Metro
- Virginia Railway Express
- MARC Train
- Baltimore Light Rail
- Baltimore Metro Subway
[edit] Major highways
- Image:I-270.svgInterstate 270
- Image:I-370.svgInterstate 370
- Image:I-70.svgInterstate 70
- Image:I-66.svgInterstate 66
- Image:I-83.svgInterstate 83
- Image:I-95.svgInterstate 95
- Image:I-81.svgInterstate 81
- Image:I-195.svgInterstate 195
- Image:I-295.svgInterstate 295
- Image:I-395.svgInterstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)
- Image:I-395.svgInterstate 395 (Maryland)
- Image:I-495.svgInterstate 495 (Capital Beltway)
- Image:I-695.svgInterstate 695 (Baltimore Beltway)
- Image:I-795.svgInterstate 795
- Image:I-895.svgInterstate 895
- Image:I-97.svgInterstate 97
- Image:US 1.svg U.S. Route 1
- Image:US 50.svgU.S. Route 50
- Image:US 29.svg U.S. Route 29
- Image:US 15.svgU.S. Route 15
- Image:US 11.svgU.S. Route 11
- Image:US 340.svg U.S. Route 340
- Image:US 40.svg U.S. Route 40
- Image:Virginia 267.svgVirginia Route 267
- Image:Virginia 28.svgVirginia Route 28
- Image:Virginia 7.svgVirginia Route 7
- Image:Virginia 9.svgVirginia Route 9
- Image:MD Route 2.svg Maryland Route 2
- Image:MD Route 4.svg Maryland Route 4
- Image:MD Route 26.svg Maryland Route 26
- Image:MD Route 32.svgMaryland Route 32
- Image:MD Route 100.svgMaryland Route 100
- Image:MD Route 295.svgBaltimore-Washington Parkway/Maryland Route 295
- Image:MD Route 355.svg Maryland Route 355
- Image:WV-9.svgWest Virginia Route 9
[edit] See also
- United States metropolitan area
- National Capital Region
- List of parks in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
| Image:Flag of Maryland.svg | State of Maryland Annapolis (capital) |
|---|---|
| Topics | |
| Regions |
Allegheny Mountains | Atlantic Coastal Plain | Baltimore‑Washington Metro Area | Blue Ridge | Chesapeake | Cumberland Valley | Delaware Valley | Delmarva Peninsula | Eastern Shore | Piedmont | Ridge and Valley | Southern Maryland | Western Maryland | Western Shore |
| Cities |
Annapolis | Baltimore | Bethesda | Bowie | College Park | Columbia | Cumberland | Ellicott City | Frederick | Gaithersburg | Germantown | Greenbelt | Hagerstown | Laurel | Rockville | Salisbury | Silver Spring | Takoma Park | Towson | Waldorf | Westminster |
| Counties |
Allegany | Anne Arundel | Baltimore City | Baltimore County | Calvert | Caroline | Carroll | Cecil | Charles | Dorchester | Frederick | Garrett | Harford | Howard | Kent | Montgomery | Prince George's | Queen Anne's | St. Mary's | Somerset | Talbot | Washington | Wicomico | Worcester |
