Washington

Capital of United States: population, location, elevation, climate and landmarks.

Aerial view of White House and downtown, Washington, D.C LCCN2010630891

Aerial view of White House and downtown, Washington, D.C LCCN2010630891: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Overview

Washington is the capital of United States, in District of Columbia. About 689,545 people live in the city proper, making it the 16th largest city of United States in our atlas.

It lies at 38.90° N, 77.04° W, about 7 m (23 ft) above sea level, and keeps time on the America/New_York time zone.

Location

Red dot: Washington. Green dots: other major cities of United States. Map data: Natural Earth.

Climate

Washington has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa). The warmest month is usually Jul, with average highs near 31°C (87°F); the coolest nights come in Jan at about -4°C (25°F). Around 1,152 mm (45 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, spread fairly evenly through the year.

4°-4°Jan676°-3°Feb7011°1°Mar8418°7°Apr9223°12°May10928°18°Jun11831°21°Jul11630°20°Aug10926°16°Sep10720°9°Oct10513°3°Nov807°-1°Dec95mm

Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.

Landmarks and places to see

National Mall
National MallPark in Washington, D.C.
Ford's Theatre
Ford's TheatreTheater in Washington, DC
National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of the American IndianMuseum in Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution
National Zoological Park
National Zoological ParkZoological park in Washington, D.C., United States
National Museum of African Art
National Museum of African ArtMuseum about African Art located in Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery
National Portrait GalleryArt museum in Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution
Nationals Park
Nationals ParkBaseball park in Washington, D.C., United States
Freer Gallery of Art
Freer Gallery of ArtArt museum in Washington, D.C.

Popular sights within a few kilometres of the city centre, ranked by how widely they are documented on Wikipedia.

What to eat in United StatesNational dishes, street food, desserts and drinks on Intercontinental Chef.

Nearby major cities

← United StatesAll cities

Sources

Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources.

Photo credits
  • Aerial view of White House and downtown, Washington, D.C LCCN2010630891: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Aerial of the U.S. Capitol under restoration, Washington, D.C LCCN2010630859: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
  • USA-Ford Theatre0: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • National Museum of the American Indian: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Washington Zoo entrance: Quadell, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • National Museum of African Art DC 2007 003: Gryffindor, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
  • 2008-0601-DC-NatlPortGall: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Nationals Park Panorama 2011.05.02 - Washington Nationals v San Francisco Giants: Something Original (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Freer Gallery of Art - desc-front of building closeup - from-DC1: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)