Washington, D.C. + New York
Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) is the national capital of the United States, the seat of the President, federal government
and Congress and the political, cultural and economic center of the country. It spreads out on both banks of the Potomac River about 90 miles inland
from the Atlantic Ocean. It occupies an area of 180 square kilometers and has 3.8 million inhabitants. The city’s area was originally taken from the
states of Maryland and Virginia.
The District of Columbia was established by Act of Congress in 1790. The site for the capital was chosen by
President George Washington himself and the capital was designed by the French engineer Pierre L’Enfant. He was helped by Thomas Jefferson, later
the third President of the United States. The city was first used as the seat of Congress in 1800. But it took many more years before Washington could
be called a city.
The City’s most prominent landmark is the Capitol building. The Capitol extends along north‑south
axis, the Senate Wing is in the north, the House of Representatives Wing in the south. The building is topped by bronze Statue of Freedom which bears
the word: ”E Pluribus Unum” (Out of Many One). Another interesting buildings were built in the 20th century. For example: the Library of Congress,
now known as the Thomas Jefferson Building, Union Station and the City Post Office at the northern foot of Capitol Hill, the Folger Shakespeare
Library, the Supreme Court building and further extensions of the Capitol itself. Washington Monument is the most significant landmark of the capital.
It is the white marble obelisk which rises in the middle of the Mall. It’s about 555 feets hight and 15 feets wide at base.
Washington is world famous for its parks and green spaces. About 7 thousand acres of the District is currently devoted to public
parkland.
New York is the largest city in the USA and an industrial port. It lies on the east coast at the mouth of the Hudson and East River.
It occupies an area of 780 square kilometers and has 18 million inhabitants. The whole city consists of 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the
Bronx and Staten Island (Richmond). It’s one of the most important financial, commercial and cultural centres in the world.
It is not
exactly known when the site of New York was first populated. In the 16th century the area was occupied by Algonquian tribes. Giovanni da Verrazano was
the first European to enter New York Bay in 1524. Later one of the bridges (between Brooklyn and Staten Island) was named after him. However this
discovery was not followed up, and it was not untill 1609 that the Englisman Henry Hudson, entered the bay and sailed up the river which was later
named after him.
Later, in 1624, New Amsterdam, in the south of the island of Manhattan, was established by the Dutch, and in 1626 the
island was bought from the Indians. New Amsterdam’s prosperity was based on the sale of skins, and tobacco farming. Before 1630 the first African
slaves arrived in New Amsterdam. The english king Charles II. gave this territory to his brother, the Duke of York and that is why the town was
renamed New York.
As the city grew, it became more cosmopolitan. People were free to choose their religion and their culture and language
were respected. In 1886 the Statue of Liberty welcomed immigrants as they entered the harbor. At the turn of the 20th century the first skyscapers
began to appear. After the Wall Street crash in 1929 was built the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center.
Several new skyscapers were added to Manhattan, such as the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1973, or Battery Park City.
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