Washington, D.C.

Welcome to Washington, D.C. – the hometown of the President of the USA!

The city stands on the Potomac River.

It doesn’t belong to any state. It’s a city and district – the District of Columbia (D.C.).

George Washington, the first President of the USA, after whom the city was named, chose an area for the capital in 1800.

Washington is one of the most beautiful and unusual cities in the United States. It has little industry, and only one million people.

There are no skyscrapers, as no building in the city may be more than 40 metres tall.

The heart of Washington is the Capitol, which is connected with the White House by Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Capitol is the seat of the American government. This is where laws are passed.

It houses the chambers of the Senate and the Houses of Representatives for almost two centuries.

The Library of Congress is not far from the Capitol. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. The Library of Congress is not far from the Capitol. It is one of the largest libraries in the world.

It takes about 500 kilometres of shelves to hold all the books!

The highest judges work here. The Supreme Court is also a very important government institution.

All the foreign embassies are here too All the foreign embassies are here too. This is a building of the Russian embassy.

The White House stands at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The White House has been the home of every president with the exception of George Washington The White House has been the home of every president with the exception of George Washington.

The North side of the White house.

More than 18 million tourists from all over the world visit Washington every year. They start sightseeing from the Mall – a long park-like area planted with trees.

The Mall is very broad and extends from the Capitol to the Potomac River.

All the official buildings, museums and memorials are concentrated along the Mall.

The main landmark in the centre of the Mall is the Washington Monument, the tallest stone structure in the US. It was opened to the public in 1888.

It honours the “Father of the Country”, General, and the first president of the USA – George Washington.

It is about 170 metres tall and is called the “Pencil” because of its shape.

The Lincoln Memorial in the west of the Washington Monument honours the sixteenth president of the USA.

He wrote the Emancipation Proclamation which freed the blacks in the South from slavery.

It looks like a Greek temple with a huge statue of Lincoln in the middle.

This is Jefferson Memorial built in honour of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the USA and the author of the Declaration of Independence.

Inside you can see a statue of Thomas Jefferson. There are extracts from his most famous works on the walls.

The World War II Memorial honours the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S., and more than 400,000 who died.

Washington takes pride in its world-class museums at the Smithsonian Institution called the “Castle”.

The National Air and Space Museum is located there.

Here you can see the history of flight from the first plane used by the Wright brothers to the Apollo space ship.

The Smithsonian Natural History museum is also worth visiting.

The Washington Metro is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C. and its surrounding suburbs.

Welcome to Washington, D.C. full of history,

wonders,

beauty

and life!