| TLHKnight: "Washington, D.C. (pronounced /ˈwɒʃɪŋtən ˌdiːˈsiː/), formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States founded on July 16, 1790." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C. "With the Organic Act of 1871, Congress created a new government for the entire federal territory. This Act effectively combined the City of Washington, Georgetown, and Washington County into a single municipality officially named the District of Columbia.[23] Even though the City of Washington legally ceased to exist after 1871, the name continued in use and the whole city became commonly known as Washington, D.C." Accordingly the CIA World Factbook seems to think the capital of the US is Washington, DC. Washington is a nickname for the District of Columbia. DC is commonly referred to as Washington, and Sporcle properly recognizes the capital of the US as Washington. However, the fact remains that this is a nickname for DC, that is, an alternative name replacing the actual name of a place. I don't see how someone can be criticized for accepting DC or District of Columbia for the capital of the US when after all it is the formal, legal, name of the city. I've never argued that someone shouldn't accept Washington as the name of the US Capital. I've also never argued that Washington shouldn't be displayed as the capital of the US. By the way, as someone who spends a great deal of time in the district, I can tell you that it is almost universally known there as the district or DC by the people who live and work there, it is almost never called Washington. |
US Executive Departments 
Chief Justices (U.S.) 
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