The Washington Octopus

The District of Columbia, the capital city and seat of government for the United States, contains a population of roughly 700,000 in a condensed area of sixty square miles. That population has remained steady over the post-war decades as the reach of the capital city has expanded outward into adjacent counties in Maryland and Virginia. The population of the metropolitan region has swollen to more than six million residents and has been growing by double-digit percentages in nearly every decade of the post-war era, fueled by federal spending and employment. Most employees in the district work for the federal government, as do large numbers in the greater metropolitan region.