The District of Columbia is a federal district in the United States of America, containing the capital city of the United States, Washington. It is located on the Eastern coast, bordered by Maryland on the Northwest, Northeast, and Southeast, and by Virginia on the Southwest.
The capital of the district is the city of Washington, which makes up the entirety of the district. The city was given federal district status when it was founded in 1791, so the capital of the country would not be part of any state.
A number of tribes from the Piscataway people originally lived in the area of the District of Columbia, but were driven out of the area by European settlers and neighbouring tribes.
Early after the United States was founded, its Congress (governmental legislative body) would gather in the state of Philadelphia, but were attacked by soldiers. Congress then decided that it would need to be housed in a separate district, so that it would not have to rely on any one state for its own defence. Land was donated from Virginia and Maryland to form the district in 1791.
The flag of the District of Columbia was chosen from a competition in 1938. The flag is based on the coat of arms of George Washington, the namesake for the city within the district.
The name "District of Columbia" was chosen from "Columbia", the female personification of the United States.
When you want to dig for dino data!