Is DC a part of Maryland or Virginia?

No. Washington, D.C. is neither part of Maryland nor part of Virginia. It is the District of Columbia - a federal district that sits completely outside any state's borders. Both Maryland and Virginia donated land to create it in 1790, but DC has operated as its own separate jurisdiction, under the authority of Congress, ever since.

The land came from both states - then DC became neither

On July 16, 1790, George Washington signed the Residence Act, which decreed that the new national capital would be established along the Potomac River on land donated by Maryland and Virginia. The whole point was to give the federal government a home that no single state could control.

Under the 1790 Residence Act, the district originally consisted of 100 square miles of land ceded by Maryland and Virginia, and it straddled the Potomac River. That 100-square-mile block was made up of 69 square miles of territory from Maryland and another 31 square miles from Virginia.

The U.S. Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, and the District is therefore not a part of any U.S. state. The 1801 Organic Act formally placed the territory under congressional control and removed the right of residents to vote in federal elections.

Virginia got its land back in 1846

Here's where it gets interesting. The district did not stay at 100 square miles.

President James Polk signed the legislation returning Alexandria to Virginia on July 9, 1846. The House passed the retrocession bill 96-65, and the Senate concurred with a 32-14 vote. What had been the Virginia side of DC - including the city of Alexandria - went back to Virginia. After that retrocession, the 31 square miles originally ceded by Virginia were returned, leaving 69 square miles of territory originally ceded by Maryland as the entire area of the District.

That is why today, geographically, DC sits entirely on what was once Maryland soil - but it is still not Maryland. It is DC.

DC's borders today

DC sits on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares a land border with Maryland. The boundary between Maryland and Virginia - and later DC - was drawn at roughly the high-water mark on the Virginia side of the river, meaning Maryland, and later DC, owns the river itself and its islands, while Virginia owns what is connected to its mainland.

So who governs DC?

Washington, D.C. isn't a state; it's a district. DC stands for District of Columbia. Its creation comes directly from the U.S. Constitution, which provides that the district, "not exceeding 10 Miles square," would "become the Seat of the Government of the United States."

Congress addressed the practical question of local governance in 1973 with the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which established an elected mayor and an elected 13-member council for the District - though Congress retained ultimate authority over DC's laws.

On the federal representation side, the picture is starker. DC residents pay federal taxes and serve in the armed forces, yet they cannot vote for senators or voting members of Congress. Since the 23rd Amendment granted DC representation in presidential elections, the capital has had three electoral votes in each election since 1964. Three. That is the same number as the least-populous state - the constitutional floor, not a reflection of DC's actual population.

The District of Columbia has been separate from Maryland and Virginia for over 200 years. DC license plates have carried the phrase "Taxation Without Representation" for years - a pointed reference to the fact that roughly 700,000 residents fund the federal government without a single vote in the legislature that governs them.

Sources

• DC Statehood Office - FAQ
• Wikipedia - District of Columbia Retrocession
• WETA Boundary Stones - The Alexandria Retrocession of 1846
• American Battlefield Trust - Early Capitals of the United States
• National Archives - Unratified Amendments: DC Voting Rights
• Statista - DC Electoral Votes 1964-2024