Washington (eng. Washington, D.C., IPA: [ˈwɑʃɪŋtən ˌdiː ˌsiː]) is a city, the capital of the United States of America. Official name - the district of Columbia, is an independent territory, is not a member of any of the States. The city was founded in 1791 and was named after George Washington, the first American President. From 1871 Washington, along with Georgetown[en] and a number of other areas are combined in the district of Columbia (eng. District of Columbia, abbreviated D.C.), the borders of which coincide with the city, so the Americans not to confuse the city with the same state in the North-West of the country, in the spoken language commonly called the city "Di-si" or "Washington Di-si".
The city is located on the North Bank of the Potomac river, it borders with the state of Virginia in the South-West and Maryland from all other parties. The permanent population of the city is 601 723[1]; because of the arrival of commuters during the work week it increased to one million. The population of the Washington Metropolitan area, is part of the city, is 5.4 million people; by this indicator agglomeration ranks eighth in the country[2].
In Washington there are main offices of all three branches of the Federal government, including the residence of the US President in the White house, and many monuments and museums of national importance. In the city are located dozens of embassies, headquarters of the world Bank, the International monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, inter-American development Bank, the pan American health organization[en].
Washington manages the municipal Council of 13 persons, headed by the mayor. But the US Congress has Supreme authority over the city and can veto laws adopted by the Council. Therefore, residents have fewer rights in the municipality, than residents of the States. The district has a non-voting delegate in the House of representatives of the us Congress, but there are no their representatives in the Senate. Before the ratification of the twenty-third amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1961 County residents also had no right to vote at presidential elections[en].