CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Washington metropolitan area

metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., United States of America

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ2367175 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Washington metropolitan area (also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV, short for District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) is the metropolitan area comprising Washington, D.C., the federal capital of the United States, and its surroundings. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C., and parts of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

The United States federal government defines the area as the Washington–DC, VA–MD–WV metropolitan statistical area. It anchors the southern end of the densely populated Northeast megalopolis and is part of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area, the country's third-largest. The area's estimated total population of 6,304,975 (as of 2023) makes it the country's seventh-most populous metropolitan area. It is one of the country's most educated and affluent metropolitan areas.

Nomenclature

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines the area as the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metropolitan statistical area, a metropolitan statistical area used for statistical purposes by the United States Census Bureau and other agencies. The region's three largest cities are the federal city of Washington, D.C., the county (and census-designated place) of Arlington, and the independent city of Alexandria. The Office of Management and Budget also includes the metropolitan statistical area as part of the larger Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, which has a population of 9,546,579 as of the 2014 Census Estimate.

The Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia portions of the metropolitan area are sometimes referred to as the National Capital Region, particularly by federal agencies such as the military, Department of Homeland Security, and some local government agencies.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Washington metropolitan area” as metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., United States of America. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Washington, metropolitan and area.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2023, 2014—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Washington, metropolitan and area providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Washington metropolitan area”, the useful work is to connect “metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., United States of America” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2367175. VIAF identifies the subject as 315526671. The Library of Congress control number is sh85145387. Authority coordinates are 38.890, -77.047. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2023 and 2014.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Washington metropolitan area”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Washington metropolitan area primary sources, Washington metropolitan area archive and Washington research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Washington metropolitan area”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Washington metropolitan area” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.