Washington Metropolitan Area
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The Washington Metropolitan Area, formally known as the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA is a U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as of November 2004. It is also part of the larger Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. As of 2007, the population of the area is 5,290,400.[1] The federal government officially refers to the area as the "National Capital Region".[2]
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[edit] Composition
The Washington Metropolitan Area includes the District of Columbia and parts of the States of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is divided into two metropolitan divisions: the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division, consisting of Montgomery and Frederick counties; and the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division, comprising the majority of the metropolitan area.
The Virginia portion of the area is known as Northern Virginia.
[edit] Political subdivisions
The area includes the following counties, districts, and independent cities:
[edit] District of Columbia
[edit] Maryland
The following counties are categorized as part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area:
- Calvert County
- Charles County
- Frederick County
- Montgomery County
- Prince George's County
- Washington County
Though associated with the Washington Metropolitan Area, the following counties are categorized as part of the Baltimore-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area:
Though associated with the Washington Metropolitan Area, the following county is categorized as part of the Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan Statistical Area:
[edit] Virginia
Counties
- Arlington County
- Clarke County
- Fairfax County
- Fauquier County
- Loudoun County
- Prince William County
- Spotsylvania County
- Stafford County
- Warren County
Independent cities:
- City of Alexandria
- City of Fairfax
- City of Falls Church
- City of Fredericksburg
- City of Manassas
- City of Manassas Park
[edit] West Virginia
[edit] Principal Cities
The metropolitan area includes the following principal cities (not all of which are incorporated as cities):
- Washington, D.C.
- Arlington, Virginia
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Bowie, Maryland
- Frederick, Maryland
- Gaithersburg, Maryland
- Hagerstown, Maryland
- Herndon, Virginia
- Leesburg, Virginia
- Reston, Virginia
- Rockville, Maryland
- Silver Spring, Maryland
- Tysons Corner, Virginia
- Waldorf, Maryland
[edit] City definition in Virginia
Due to a state constitutional change in 1871, all cities in Virginia are independent cities and they are not legally located in any county. The OMB considers these independent cities to be county-equivalents for the purpose of defining MSAs in Virginia. Each MSA is listed by its counties, then cities, each in alphabetical order, and not by size.
[edit] See also
- List of famous people from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area
- List of U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) in Virginia
- National Capital Region
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metro_general/2006/CBSA-EST2006-01.csv
- ^ http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/content_multi_image_0019.shtm
