Washington (2293)

the Potomac River [pou'tomək] – река Потомак

Pierre Charles L’Enfant [pjeə t∫a:lz 1ə 'fa:ŋ] – Пьер Шарль Лефант

Washington, the capital of the United States, is situated on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia. In 1790 the first President of the USA, General George Washington, personally chose the site for the capital of a new nation. The General drew a circle at his well-worn map, where the Potomac River divided the Virginia and Maryland States, and wrote inside it, "District Columbia. Federal city". Washington invited a famous French engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant, a supporter of the new American Republic to design the new city.

The District was named in honour of Columbus, the discoverer of America. The city was founded in 1791, became the capital of the United States in 1800, and was named after the first President, George Washington.

The centre of the city is the Capitol Building. Four geographical sections radiate out from the Capitol, dividing the District of Columbia into North-East, North-West, South-East and South-West. Broad Pennsylvania Avenue, about a mile and a half in length, connects the Capitol with the White House. Starting from the Capitol, the streets running north and south bear the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc., while the east and west streets are named А, В, С, etc. All the diagonal avenues are named after States of the Union, and the longest and straightest of them all is Massachusetts Avenue, which virtually cuts the city in half.

Washington is not the largest city in the United States, its population is about one million people, but it is one of the most beautiful and unusual cities in the country, the first carefully planned capital in the world. Washington's only big business has been the business of Government. All the official buildings, museums and memorials are mainly concentrated along the Mall, a long parkline area, broad and quiet, planted with trees, and extending from the Capitol to the Potomac River.

Washington is a large scientific and cultural centre, where many research institutes are concentrated. The Smithsonian Institution, the National Academy of Science and the Congres­sional Library are among them. The National Museum, the old and new National Galleries of art, the art museums of Concoran, Freer and Philips are also well known. Washington's skyline is dominated by the Capitol and the Washington Monument. The Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln memorials are among the city sights.

The Pentagon, the U.S. military department, was constructed in the suburbs, south of the Potomac. It has the shape of five huge regular concentric pentagons. Not far from here is the Arlington National Cemetery with the grave of the Unknown Soldier and that of John Kennedy, the US President assassinated in Dallas in November 1963, and his brother Robert, assassinated in 1968.

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