Unique among cities with a high percentage of African Americans, Washington has had a significant bl

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a federal district to become the national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution. The District is therefore not a part of any U.S. state. It was formed from land along the Potomac River donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia; however, the Virginia portion was returned by Congress in 1846.
A new capital city named after George Washington was founded hampton inns and suites in 1791 to the east of the preexisting port of Georgetown. hampton inns and suites Congress consolidated the City of Washington, Georgetown, and the remaining unincorporated area within the District under a single municipal government in 1871. The city shares its name with the U.S. state of Washington, located hampton inns and suites on the country's Pacific coast.
Washington, D.C., had an estimated population of 617,996 in 2011. The city was the 24th most populous place in the United States as of 2010. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's population hampton inns and suites to over one million during the workweek. The Washington Metropolitan hampton inns and suites Area, of which the District is a part, has a population of nearly 5.6 million, the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the country.
The centers hampton inns and suites of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are located in the District, as are many of the nation's monuments and museums. Washington, D.C., hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The headquarters of many other institutions such as trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations are also located in the city.
The District is governed by a locally elected mayor and 13-member city council. However, the United States Congress has supreme authority over the city and may overturn hampton inns and suites local laws. Residents therefore have less self-governance than residents of the U.S. states. The District has a non-voting, at-large hampton inns and suites Congressional delegate, but no senators. D.C. residents could not vote in presidential elections until the ratification of the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution hampton inns and suites in 1961.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the District's population was 617,996 on July 1, 2011, a 2.7% increase since the 2010 United States Census. The increase continues a growth trend since 2000, following a half-century of population decline.  The city was the 24th most populous place in the United States as of 2010. According to data from 2009, commuters from the suburbs increase hampton inns and suites the District's daytime population to over one million hampton inns and suites people. If the District were a state it would rank 50th in population, ahead of Wyoming.
The Washington hampton inns and suites Metropolitan Area, which includes the District and surrounding suburbs, is the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the United States hampton inns and suites with approximately 5.6 million residents as of the 2010 Census. When the Washington area is included with Baltimore and its suburbs, the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area had a population exceeding 8.5 million residents in 2010, the fourth-largest combined hampton inns and suites statistical area in the country.
According to the 2010 Census, the population of Washington, D.C., was 50.7% Black or African American, 38.5% White (34.8% non-Hispanic White), 3.5% Asian, and 0.3% Native American. Individuals from other races made up 4.1% of the District's population hampton inns and suites while individuals from two or more races made up 2.9%. Hispanics of any race made up 9.1% of the District's population.
About 16% of D.C. residents were age 18 or younger as of 2010; lower than the U.S. average of 24%. However, at 34 years old, the District also had the lowest median age when compared to the 50 states. As of 2010, there were an estimated 81,734 foreign hampton inns and suites immigrants living in Washington, D.C. Major sources of immigration hampton inns and suites include individuals from El Salvador, Vietnam, and Ethiopia, with a concentration of Salvadorans in the Mount Pleasant hampton inns and suites neighborhood.
Unique hampton inns and suites among cities with a high percentage of African Americans, hampton inns and suites Washington has had a significant black population since the city's creation. This is partly a result of the manumission of slaves in the Upper South after the American Revolutionary War. The free black population in the region climbed hampton inns and suites from an estimated 1% before the war to 10% by 1810. By 1860, approximately 80% of the city's 11,000 African American residents were free persons. Black residents composed about 30% of the District's total population between 1800 and 1940.
Washington's African American population reached a peak of 70% by 1970. Since then, however, the percentage of black residents has steadily declined due to many African Americans leaving the city for the surrounding suburbs. At the same time, the city's white population has steadily increased, due in part to the effects of gentrification in many of Washington's traditionally African American neighborhoods. This is evident in an 11.5% decrease in the black population and a 31.4% increase in the non-Hispanic white population since 2000. Even still, Washington, D.C., is a top destination for African hampton inns and suites American professionals who are moving to the area in a "New Great Migration."
Researchers using data from the 2010 Census revealed that there were 4,822 same-sex couples in the District of Columbia, about 2% of total households. The city council passed legislation in 2009 authorizing same-sex marriage and the District hampton inns and suites began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in March 2010.
A report published in 2007 found that about one-third of District residents are functionally illiterate, compared to a national hampton inns and suites rate of about one in five. This is attributed in part to immigrants who are not proficient in English. In contrast to the high rate of functional illiteracy, 50% of D.C. residents have at least a four-year hampton inns and suites college degree. In 2006, D.C. residents had a personal income per capita of $55,755, higher than any of the 50 U.S. states. However, 19% of residents were below the poverty level in 2005, higher than any state except Mississippi. According to data from 2008, more than half of District residents identify as Christian: 28% of residents are Baptists, 13% are Roman Catholic, and 31% are members of other Christian hampton inns and suites denominations. Residents who practice other faiths make up 6% of the population and 18% do not adhere to a religion.
Over 90% of D.C. residents have health insurance coverage; the second-highest hampton inns and suites rate in the nation. This is due in part to city programs that help provide insurance to low-income individuals who do not qualify for other types of coverage. A 2009 report found that at least 3% of District residents have HIV or AIDS, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) characterizes as a "generalized and severe" epidemic.