Washington,D.C. Jana Kročilová

Situation Nort-East part of the USA on a special area called District of Columbia between Virginia and Maryland, on the Potomac River area: 177 km2 population: 600 000 founded: 1790 started functioning as the capital: 1800 named in honour of the first American President George Washington

The capital city What we can find there: the administrative centre of the USA the seat of all three branches of the US federal government foreign embassies the seat of many international organisations ( the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation of American States etc.)

The White House the official residence of the US President constructed in 1792 by James Hoban present president Barack Obama lives there with his family, works there and invites official guests there

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial completed in 1943 dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third president of the USA a circular colonnade of Ionic columns with a bronze statue of Jefferson with extracts from the Declaration of Independence on the wall at the Potomac River

The US Capitol constructed in 1793 on Capitol Hill the meeting place of the US Congress, the legislature of the US Federal Government the House of Representatives Chamber the Senate Chamber the Supreme Court Chamber

The Lincoln Memorial completed in 1922 in honour to the 16th US President Abraham Lincoln it has the form of a Greek Doric temple with a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln inscriptions of two well-known Lincoln´s speeches on the walls open for public 24 hours a day

The Washington Memorial an obelisk to commemorate the first American President George Washington the world´s tallest stone structure (about 170m) completed in 1884 an elevator inside that travels up 90 seconds

The Smithsonian Institution an educational and research institute and an associated museum complex located not only in Washington,D.C., but also N.Y., Virginia etc. parts of it: National Air and Space Museum National Museum of American Indians Art Museum Zoological Park etc.

War Veterans Memorials the Vietnam Veterans´Memorial – a long black gabbro wall 75 m long with 58267 names of people who have died or are missing from the Vietnam War conflict the Korean Veterans´Memorial – a walled triangle with 19 steel statues larger than life-size that represent US armed forces among bushes simulating the terrain of Korea