is washington dc a city or state????
2006-09-10 12:51:04 · 19 answers · asked by hamtaro 2 in Travel ➔ United States ➔ Washington, D.C.
A lot of bad answers here. It is a CITY. The District of Columbia is a FEDERAL DISTRICT. Washington happens to be a city (and the only city) residing in the District of Columbia.
Washington is incorporated as a CITY, has a CITY council, etc.
Whoever bet it was a city wins the bet.
2006-09-13 01:56:14 · answer #1 · answered by AF 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technically it is a district. However it is closer to a city since the district is pretty much synonomous with the city of Washington. It is not a part of any state, although its suburbs are all in Maryland and Virginia. Its government is essentially a city - there's a DC public works department, school system, fire and police departments, library system, etc. They have a mayor and city council, and own local property taxes. But the government also has some powers that a state has - i.e., a department of motor vehicles (they issue their own drivers licenses). And they get a lot of Federal money as well since so much property there is owned by the Feds (and also the high cost of the "security" there). Congress also has quite a bit of control over DC, and a huge local issue is that DC residents pay Federal income taxes but they don't have full representation in Congress. (They have "non-voting representative" who can argue cases in front of committees but can't vote in Congress.... not fait in my opinion).
So essentially, the short answer is that it's technically a district. But closer to a city than a state even though it's not part of a state.
2006-09-12 02:45:01 · answer #2 · answered by Mike R 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
DC is neither a city or a state. It's a "federal district" - I've lived here for 10 years and wished that other Americnas knew that we don't have the same voting rights and representation as they do. Even though we live in a "democracy," the District of Columbia is the only jurisdiction in the world -- whose residents of the capital are denied representation in their national legislature.
Yes - it's really true - we have no voting rights in congress (yet we pay taxes, serve in the military and everything else). Please - I beg others in the rest of the country to help us fight for our voting rights. Check out http://www.dcvote.org/ for more information and to take action.
Here is some text from wikipedia about the history as well - "The 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 square miles or about 100 km²) was returned, or "retroceded", to Virginia in 1847 and now is incorporated into Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. After 1847, the remaining land that formed the area now known as the District of Columbia was formed exclusively from land that once belonged to Maryland."
2006-09-10 13:15:09 · answer #3 · answered by ALLaboutDC 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Washington, DC is a city. It is the capital so that no state can claim more importance than any other, as they could if they had the capital of the nation in their state.
2006-09-11 07:59:44 · answer #4 · answered by Leah 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Washington D.C. is the District of Columbia. If it was a state we would have 51 states. It is considered a city.
2006-09-10 12:54:35 · answer #5 · answered by Scarlet 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
properly i'm sorry to assert your grade is F considering which you're posting this question interior the Seattle section that's in Washington STATE a pair thousand miles faraway from Washington DC. Washington DC isn't a state - it rather is a DISTRITCT for this reason the DISTRICT of Columbia.
2016-11-07 01:45:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As the name says, it's a district.
The blocks of 10 square miles which both Maryland and Virginia ceded in 1791 were melded into the tiled square which sits astride the Potomac River.
President George Washington chose the land in the District of Columbia, between Maryland and Virginia, because of its close proximity to his own property in the Northern part of Virginia.
2006-09-11 07:13:52 · answer #7 · answered by poppet 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is not by any means a state.
It is a city ... without a state .... thus ...
it is a district, both technically and literally .... meaning that it has its own government policies, and is not under any other except federal.
So, out of the two choices, it is more closely a city, except it doesnt answer to any state government.
2006-09-10 13:04:11 · answer #8 · answered by Pichi 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Its a city actually a district, not a state
2006-09-10 12:59:03 · answer #9 · answered by opsaop 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Washington, District of Columbia is our nation's capital city.
Washington State is a state.
It's confusing.
2006-09-11 02:10:22 · answer #10 · answered by Bobbie 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋