title: Roman Empire

text: Urban elites throughout the Empire shared a literary culture embued with Greek educational ideals "(paideia)". Hellenistic cities sponsored schools of higher learning as an expression of cultural achievement. Young men from Rome who wished to pursue the highest levels of education often went abroad to study rhetoric and philosophy, mostly to one of several Greek schools in Athens. The curriculum in the East was more likely to include music and physical training along with literacy and numeracy. On the Hellenistic model, Vespasian endowed chairs of grammar, Latin and Greek rhetoric, and philosophy at Rome, and gave teachers special exemptions from taxes and legal penalties, though primary schoolmasters did not receive these benefits. Quintilian held the first chair of grammar. In the Eastern Empire, Berytus (present-day Beirut) was unusual in offering a Latin education, and became famous for its school of Roman law. The cultural movement known as the Second Sophistic (1st–3rd century AD) promoted the assimilation of Greek and Roman social, educational, and esthetic values, and the Greek proclivities for which Nero had been criticized were regarded from the time of Hadrian onward as integral to Imperial culture.


title: Roman Empire

text: Literate women ranged from cultured aristocrats to girls trained to be calligraphers and scribes. The "girlfriends" addressed in Augustan love poetry, although fictional, represent an ideal that a desirable woman should be educated, well-versed in the arts, and independent to a frustrating degree. Education seems to have been standard for daughters of the senatorial and equestrian orders during the Empire. A highly educated wife was an asset for the socially ambitious household, but one that Martial regards as an unnecessary luxury.


title: Roman Empire

text: The woman who achieved the greatest prominence in the ancient world for her learning was Hypatia of Alexandria, who educated young men in mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy, and advised the Roman prefect of Egypt on politics. Her influence put her into conflict with the bishop of Alexandria, Cyril, who may have been implicated in her violent death in 415 at the hands of a Christian mob.


title: Roman Empire

text: Literacy began to decline, perhaps dramatically, during the socio-political Crisis of the Third Century. After the Christianization of the Roman Empire the Christians and Church Fathers adopted and used Latin and Greek pagan literature, philosophy and natural science with a vengeance to biblical


title: Roman Empire

text: Julian, the only emperor after the conversion of Constantine to reject Christianity, banned Christians from teaching the classical curriculum, on the grounds that they might corrupt the minds of youth.


title: Roman Empire

text: While the book roll had emphasized the continuity of the text, the codex format encouraged a "piecemeal" approach to reading by means of citation, fragmented interpretation, and the extraction of maxims.


title: Roman Empire

text: In the 5th and 6th centuries, due to the gradual decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire, reading became rarer even for those within the Church hierarchy. However, in the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Byzantine Empire, reading continued throughout the Middle Ages as reading was of primary importance as an instrument of the Byzantine civilization.


title: Roman Empire

text: In the traditional literary canon, literature under Augustus, along with that of the late Republic, has been viewed as the "Golden Age" of Latin literature, embodying the classical ideals of "unity of the whole, the proportion of the parts, and the careful articulation of an apparently seamless composition." The three most influential Classical Latin poets—Virgil, Horace, and Ovid—belong to this period. Virgil wrote the "Aeneid", creating a national epic for Rome in the manner of the Homeric epics of Greece. Horace perfected the use of Greek lyric metres in Latin verse. Ovid's erotic poetry was enormously popular, but ran afoul of the Augustan moral programme; it was one of the ostensible causes for which the emperor exiled him to Tomis (present-day Constanța, Romania), where he remained to the end of his life. Ovid's "Metamorphoses" was a continuous poem of fifteen books weaving together Greco-Roman mythology from the creation of the universe to the deification of Julius Caesar. Ovid's versions of Greek myths became one of the primary sources of later classical mythology, and his work was so influential in the Middle Ages that the 12th and 13th centuries have been called the "Age of Ovid."


title: Roman Empire

text: The principal Latin prose author of the Augustan age is the historian Livy, whose account of Rome's founding and early history became the most familiar version in modern-era literature. Vitruvius's book "De architectura", the only complete work on architecture to survive from antiquity, also belongs to this period.


title: Roman Empire

text: Latin writers were immersed in the Greek literary tradition, and adapted its forms and much of its content, but Romans regarded satire as a genre in which they surpassed the Greeks. Horace wrote verse satires before fashioning himself as an Augustan court poet, and the early Principate also produced the satirists Persius and Juvenal. The "Satires" of Juvenal offers a lively curmudgeon's perspective on urban society.


title: Roman Empire

text: The period from the mid-1st century through the mid-2nd century has conventionally been called the "Silver Age" of Latin literature. Under Nero, disillusioned writers reacted to Augustanism. The three leading writers—Seneca the philosopher, dramatist, and tutor of Nero; Lucan, his nephew, who turned Caesar's civil war into an epic poem; and the novelist Petronius "(Satyricon)"—all committed suicide after incurring the emperor's displeasure. Seneca and Lucan were from Hispania, as was the later epigrammatist and keen social observer Martial, who expressed his pride in his Celtiberian heritage. Martial and the epic poet Statius, whose poetry collection "Silvae" had a far-reaching influence on Renaissance literature, wrote during the reign of Domitian.


title: Roman Empire

text: The so-called "Silver Age" produced several distinguished writers, including the encyclopaedist Pliny the Elder; his nephew, known as Pliny the Younger; and the historian Tacitus. The "Natural History" of the elder Pliny, who died during disaster relief efforts in the wake of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, is a vast collection on flora and fauna, gems and minerals, climate, medicine, freaks of nature, works of art, and antiquarian lore. Tacitus's reputation as a literary artist matches or exceeds his value as a historian; his stylistic experimentation produced "one of the most powerful of Latin prose styles." "The Twelve Caesars" by his contemporary Suetonius is one of the primary sources for imperial biography.


title: Roman Empire

text: Among Imperial historians who wrote in Greek are Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the Jewish historian Josephus, and the senator Cassius Dio. Other major Greek authors of the Empire include the biographer and antiquarian Plutarch, the geographer Strabo, and the rhetorician and satirist Lucian. Popular Greek romance novels were part of the development of long-form fiction works, represented in Latin by the "Satyricon" of Petronius and "The Golden Ass" of Apuleius.


title: Roman Empire

text: From the 2nd to the 4th centuries, the Christian authors who would become the Latin Church Fathers were in active dialogue with the classical tradition, within which they had been educated. Tertullian, a convert to Christianity from Roman Africa, was the contemporary of Apuleius and one of the earliest prose authors to establish a distinctly Christian voice. After the conversion of Constantine, Latin literature is dominated by the Christian perspective. When the orator Symmachus argued for the preservation of Rome's religious traditions, he was effectively opposed by Ambrose, the bishop of Milan and future saint—a debate preserved by their missives.


title: Roman Empire

text: In the late 4th century, Jerome produced the Latin translation of the Bible that became authoritative as the Vulgate. Augustine, another of the Church Fathers from the province of Africa, has been called "one of the most influential writers of western culture", and his "Confessions" is sometimes considered the first autobiography of Western literature. In "The City of God against the Pagans," Augustine builds a vision of an eternal, spiritual Rome, a new "imperium sine fine" that will outlast the collapsing Empire.


title: Roman Empire

text: In contrast to the unity of Classical Latin, the literary esthetic of late antiquity has a tessellated quality that has been compared to the mosaics characteristic of the period. A continuing interest in the religious traditions of Rome prior to Christian dominion is found into the 5th century, with the "Saturnalia" of Macrobius and "The Marriage of Philology and Mercury" of Martianus Capella. Prominent Latin poets of late antiquity include Ausonius, Prudentius, Claudian, and Sidonius Apollinaris. Ausonius (), the Bordelaise tutor of the emperor Gratian, was at least nominally a Christian, though, throughout his occasionally obscene mixed-genre poems, he retains a literary interest in the Greco-Roman gods and even druidism. The imperial panegyrist Claudian () was a "vir illustris" who appears never to have converted. Prudentius (), born in Hispania Tarraconensis and a fervent Christian, was thoroughly versed in the poets of the Classical tradition, and transforms their vision of poetry as a monument of immortality into an expression of the poet's quest for eternal life culminating in Christian salvation. Sidonius (), a native of Lugdunum, was a Roman senator and bishop of Clermont who cultivated a traditional villa lifestyle as he watched the Western empire succumb to barbarian incursions. His poetry and collected letters offer a unique view of life in late Roman Gaul from the perspective of a man who "survived the end of his world".


title: Roman Empire

text: Religion in the Roman Empire encompassed the practices and beliefs the Romans regarded as their own, as well as the many cults imported to Rome or practiced by peoples throughout the provinces. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety "(pietas)" in maintaining good relations with the gods "(pax deorum)". The archaic religion believed to have been handed down from the earliest kings of Rome was the foundation of the "mos maiorum", "the way of the ancestors" or "tradition", viewed as central to Roman identity. There was no principle analogous to "separation of church and state". The priesthoods of the state religion were filled from the same social pool of men who held public office, and in the Imperial era, the Pontifex Maximus was the emperor.


title: Roman Empire

text: Roman religion was practical and contractual, based on the principle of "do ut des", "I give that you might give." Religion depended on knowledge and the correct practice of prayer, ritual, and sacrifice, not on faith or dogma, although Latin literature preserves learned speculation on the nature of the divine and its relation to human affairs. For ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life. Each home had a household shrine at which prayers and libations to the family's domestic deities were offered. Neighbourhood shrines and sacred places such as springs and groves dotted the city. Apuleius (2nd century) described the everyday quality of religion in observing how people who passed a cult place might make a vow or a fruit offering, or merely sit for a while. The Roman calendar was structured around religious observances. In the Imperial era, as many as 135 days of the year were devoted to religious festivals and games ("ludi)". Women, slaves, and children all participated in a range of religious activities.


title: Roman Empire

text: In the wake of the Republic's collapse, state religion had adapted to support the new regime of the emperors. As the first Roman emperor, Augustus justified the novelty of one-man rule with a vast programme of religious revivalism and reform. Public vows formerly made for the security of the republic now were directed at the wellbeing of the emperor. So-called "emperor worship" expanded on a grand scale the traditional Roman veneration of the ancestral dead and of the "Genius", the divine tutelary of every individual. Upon death, an emperor could be made a state divinity ("divus") by vote of the Senate. Imperial cult, influenced by Hellenistic ruler cult, became one of the major ways Rome advertised its presence in the provinces and cultivated shared cultural identity and loyalty throughout the Empire. Cultural precedent in the Eastern provinces facilitated a rapid dissemination of Imperial cult, extending as far as the Augustan military settlement at Najran, in present-day Saudi Arabia. Rejection of the state religion became tantamount to treason against the emperor. This was the context for Rome's conflict with Christianity, which Romans variously regarded as a form of atheism and novel "superstitio".


title: Roman Empire

text: The Romans are known for the great number of deities they honoured, a capacity that earned the mockery of early Christian polemicists. As the Romans extended their dominance throughout the Mediterranean world, their policy, in general, was to absorb the deities and cults of other peoples rather than try to eradicate them. One way that Rome promoted stability among diverse peoples was by supporting their religious heritage, building temples to local deities that framed their theology within the hierarchy of Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record the side-by-side worship of local and Roman deities, including dedications made by Romans to local gods. By the height of the Empire, numerous cults of pseudo-foreign gods (Roman reinventions of foreign gods) were cultivated at Rome and in the provinces, among them cults of Cybele, Isis, Epona, and of solar gods such as Mithras and Sol Invictus, found as far north as Roman Britain. Because Romans had never been obligated to cultivate one god or one cult only, religious tolerance was not an issue in the sense that it is for competing monotheistic systems.


title: Roman Empire

text: Mystery religions, which offered initiates salvation in the afterlife, were a matter of personal choice for an individual, practiced in addition to carrying on one's family rites and participating in public religion. The mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy, conditions that conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of "magic", conspiracy ("coniuratio"), and subversive activity. Sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists who seemed to threaten traditional morality and unity. In Gaul, the power of the druids was checked, first by forbidding Roman citizens to belong to the order, and then by banning druidism altogether. At the same time, however, Celtic traditions were reinterpreted ("interpretatio romana") within the context of Imperial theology, and a new Gallo-Roman religion coalesced, with its capital at the Sanctuary of the Three Gauls in Lugdunum (present-day Lyon, France). The sanctuary established precedent for Western cult as a form of Roman-provincial identity.


title: Roman Empire

text: The monotheistic rigour of Judaism posed difficulties for Roman policy that led at times to compromise and the granting of special exemptions. Tertullian noted that the Jewish religion, unlike that of the Christians, was considered a "religio licita", "legitimate religion." Wars between the Romans and the Jews occurred when conflict, political as well as religious, became intractable. When Caligula wanted to place a golden statue of his deified self in the Temple in Jerusalem, the potential sacrilege and likely war were prevented only by his timely death. The Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD led to the sacking of the temple and the dispersal of Jewish political power (see Jewish diaspora).


title: Roman Empire

text: Christianity emerged in Roman Judea as a Jewish religious sect in the 1st century AD. The religion gradually spread out of Jerusalem, initially establishing major bases in first Antioch, then Alexandria, and over time throughout the Empire as well as beyond. Imperially authorized persecutions were limited and sporadic, with martyrdoms occurring most often under the authority of local officials.


title: Roman Empire

text: The first persecution by an emperor occurred under Nero, and was confined to the city of Rome. Tacitus reports that after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, some among the population held Nero responsible and that the emperor attempted to deflect blame onto the Christians. After Nero, a major persecution occurred under the emperor Domitian and a persecution in 177 took place at Lugdunum, the Gallo-Roman religious capital. A surviving letter from Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia, to the emperor Trajan describes his persecution and executions of Christians. The Decian persecution of 246–251 was a serious threat to the Church, but ultimately strengthened Christian defiance. Diocletian undertook what was to be the most severe persecution of Christians, lasting from 303 to 311.


title: Roman Empire

text: In the early 4th century, Constantine I became the first emperor to convert to Christianity. He supported the church financially and made laws that favored it, but the new religion had established itself as successful prior to Constantine. Critical mass had been reached in the hundred years between 150 and 250 when Christianity moved from less than 50,000 to over a million adherents. Growth in absolute numbers occurred in the third and the fourth centuries. Constantine and his successors banned public sacrifice while tolerating other pagan practices. Constantine never engaged in a purge, there were no pagan martyrs during his reign, and pagans remained in important positions at his court. The emperor Julian attempted to revive traditional public sacrifice and Hellenistic religion, but failed to garner support from the people. His reforms were met by Christian resistance and civic inertia.


title: Roman Empire

text: From the 2nd century onward, the Church Fathers had begun to condemn the diverse religions practiced throughout the Empire collectively as "pagan." Christians of the fourth century believed the conversion of Constantine showed that Christianity had triumphed over paganism (in Heaven) and little further action besides such rhetoric was necessary: everything was done but the sweeping up in the Christian view. As a result, the fourth century included a focus on heresy as a higher priority than paganism. According to Peter Brown, "In most areas, polytheists were not molested, and apart from a few ugly incidents of local violence, Jewish communities also enjoyed a century of stable, even privileged, existence". There were anti-pagan laws, but they were not generally enforced. Thus, up through the sixth century, there still existed centers of paganism in Athens, Gaza, Alexandria, and elsewhere.


title: Roman Empire

text: According to recent Jewish scholarship, the approach of toleration that the 'permitted religious' status of the Jews implied was maintained under Christian emperors. This did not extend to heretics. By the time of Theodosius I, there was still no requirement for pagans or Jews to convert to Christianity, but as a devout Nicene Christian, Theodosius made multiple laws and acted against all alternate forms of Christianity. Christian heretics were subject to persecution, coercion and death by both the Roman government and the church throughout Late Antiquity, however, non-Christians were not subject to exclusion from public life or persecution until the sixth century reigns of Justin and Justinian I. Rome's original religious hierarchy and many aspects of its ritual influenced Christian forms, and many pre-Christian beliefs and practices survived in Christian festivals and local traditions.


title: Roman Empire

text: Several states claimed to be the Roman Empire's successors after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire, an attempt to resurrect the Empire in the West, was established in 800 when Pope Leo III crowned Frankish King Charlemagne as Roman emperor on Christmas Day, though the empire and the imperial office did not become formalized for some decades. It maintained its title until its dissolution in 1806, with much of the Empire reorganized into the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon Bonaparte: crowned as Emperor of the French by Pope Pius VII. Still, his house would also lose this title after Napoleon abdicating and renouncing not only his own rights to the French throne and all of his titles, but also those of his descendants on 6 April 1814.


title: Roman Empire

text: After the fall of Constantinople, the Russian Tsardom, as inheritor of the Byzantine Empire's Orthodox Christian tradition, counted itself the Third Rome (Constantinople having been the second). These concepts are known as translatio imperii. After the succession of the Russian Tsardom by the Russian Empire, ruled by the House of Romanov, this ended in the Russian Revolution of 1917 when Bolshevik revolutionaries toppled the monarchy.


title: Roman Empire

text: After the sale of the Imperial Title by the last Eastern Roman titular, Andreas Palailogos, to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, and the Dynastic Union between these two that proclaimed the Kingdom of Spain, it became a direct successor to the Roman Empire until today, after three restorations of the Spanish Crown.


title: Roman Empire

text: When the Ottomans, who based their state on the Byzantine model, took Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II established his capital there and claimed to sit on the throne of the Roman Empire. He even launched an invasion of Otranto, located in Southern Italy, with the purpose of re-uniting the Empire, which was aborted by his death. Mehmed II also invited European artists to his capital, including Gentile Bellini.


title: Roman Empire

text: In the medieval West, "Roman" came to mean the church and the Pope of Rome. The Greek form Romaioi remained attached to the Greek-speaking Christian population of the Eastern Roman Empire and is still used by Greeks in addition to their common appellation.


title: Roman Empire

text: The Roman Empire's territorial legacy of controlling the Italian peninsula would influence Italian nationalism and the unification of Italy ("Risorgimento") in 1861. Further Roman imperialism was claimed by fascist ideology, particularly by the Italian Empire and Nazi Germany.


title: Roman Empire

text: In the United States, the founders were educated in the classical tradition, and used classical models for landmarks and buildings in Washington, D.C., to avoid the feudal and religious connotations of European architecture such as castles and cathedrals. In forming their theory of the mixed constitution, the founders looked to Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism for models, but regarded the Roman emperor as a figure of tyranny.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in "Playboy" magazine and for her appearances on the television series "Baywatch" (1992–1997).


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson came to public prominence after being selected as the February 1990 Playmate of the Month for "Playboy". She went on to make regular appearances on the magazine's cover, holding the record for the most "Playboy" covers by any person. Anderson became known to a wider audience in 1991 when she appeared on the ABC sitcom "Home Improvement""," playing the role of Lisa for its first two seasons. She gained international recognition for her starring role as "C.J." Parker on the action drama series "Baywatch" (1992–1997), further cementing her status as a sex symbol. She played Vallery Irons on the syndicated series "V.I.P." (1998–2002) and starred as Skyler Dayton on the Fox sitcom "Stacked" (2005–2006).


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson's film credits include "Raw Justice" (1994), "Barb Wire" (1996), "Scary Movie 3" (2003), "Superhero Movie", "Blonde and Blonder" (both 2008), "The Institute", "Baywatch" (both 2017), and "City Hunter" (2018). She appeared in in 2008, which she also co-directed, and has since taken part in numerous reality television shows, such as "Dancing with the Stars" (2010, 2012), "VIP Brother" (2012), "Dancing on Ice" (2013), and "Danse avec les stars" (2018).


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson has publicly supported various charitable causes, particularly animal rights, and has endorsed PETA activities. She has also released two autobiographies and four novels. Anderson was the recipient of a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2006. She holds both American and Canadian citizenship.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson was born in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, the daughter of Barry Anderson, a furnace repairman, and Carol, a waitress. Her great-grandfather, , was a Finnish native of , and left the Grand Duchy of Finland (which was a part of the Russian Empire at the time) for Canada in 1908. He changed his name to Anderson when he arrived as an immigrant. Anderson also has Russian ancestry on her mother's side. Anderson received press coverage right after her birth as a "Centennial Baby", having been born on July 1, 1967, the 100th anniversary of Canada's official founding via the "Constitution Act, 1867".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: She has a younger brother, Gerry (born 1971), an actor and producer who worked in some of her movies and TV shows, which are "V.I.P.", "Stripperella", "Stacked" and "Blonde and Blonder".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson suffered sexual abuse as a child, a fact she revealed publicly in 2014. She said she was molested by a female babysitter from ages 6 to 10, raped by a 25-year-old man when she was age 12, and gang-raped by her boyfriend and six of his friends when she was 14.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson attended Highland Secondary School in Comox, British Columbia. At high school, she played on the volleyball team. She graduated in 1985. In 1988, Anderson moved to Vancouver and worked as a fitness instructor.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In 1989, Anderson attended a BC Lions Canadian Football League game at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, where she was featured on the Jumbotron while wearing a Labatt's Beer T-shirt. The brewing company hired Anderson briefly as a spokesmodel. Inspired by the event, her then-boyfriend Dan Ilicic produced a poster of her image, entitled the "Blue Zone Girl".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson appeared as the cover girl on "Playboy" magazine's October 1989 issue. She subsequently moved to the United States, settling in Los Angeles to further pursue a modeling career. "Playboy" subsequently chose her as Playmate of the Month in their February 1990 issue, in which she appeared in the centerfold photo. Anderson then elected to have breast implant surgery, increasing her bust size to 34D. She increased her bust size again, to 34DD, several years later.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson's "Playboy" career spans 22 years, and she has appeared on more "Playboy" covers than any other model. She has also made numerous appearances in the publication's newsstand specials. Anderson wrote the foreword in the "Playboy" coffee table book "Playboy's Greatest Covers".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: After Anderson moved to Los Angeles, she won a minor role as Lisa, the original "Tool Time Girl", on the ABC comedy series "Home Improvement". She left the show after two seasons and won the role of C. J. Parker on "Baywatch", which she played for five seasons between 1992 and 1997 making her one of the longest-serving cast members. This has been one of her best-known roles to date and has brought her popularity from international viewers. She reprised her role in a reunion movie, "" (2003), and also to star in commercials for DirecTV in 2007. Anderson was still modeling for "Outdoor Life" and appearing on the cover of the magazine each year. In 1993, Anderson appeared in a music video "Can't Have Your Cake" by Vince Neil to promote his first solo album, "Exposed".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In 1994, she was cast in her first starring film role, in "Raw Justice", also known as "Good Cop, Bad Cop", costarring with Stacy Keach, David Keith, and Robert Hays. Under the alternate title, the film won the Bronze Award at the Worldfest-Charleston in the category for dramatic theatrical films.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In 1996, she appeared in the film "Barb Wire", playing Barbara Rose Kopetski, which was later claimed by some sources to be Anderson's real name, although it is not. The movie, a thinly veiled futuristic remake of "Casablanca", was not a commercial success. During filming, she had a real barb wire tattoo put on her left upper arm as an alternative to having it painted on by make-up artists every day, but had it removed in 2016.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In April 1997, she guest hosted "Saturday Night Live". She appeared on one of two covers for the September issue of "Playboy".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In September 1998, Anderson starred as Vallery Irons in the Sony Pictures Television syndicated action/comedy-drama series "V.I.P." created by J. F. Lawton. Blending action and humor in a fast-paced adventure series, with Anderson often poking fun at her tabloid image, the show explored the exciting and sometimes treacherous lives of the rich and famous. The series lasted through a successful four-year run. In 1999, she appeared as a man-eating giantess in the music video for "Miserable" by California alternative rock band Lit. She appeared on "The Nanny" as Fran Fine's rival, Heather Biblow.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Sam Newman House, a pop architecture building constructed in 2003 in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia, features a large image of Anderson's face. Sam Newman commissioned local architect Cassandra Fahey to design the building, and used the image with Anderson's permission. Permits were issued retroactively when it became a major local landmark and won the award for Best New Residential Building in the RAIA Victorian Architecture Awards. Later that year, Anderson co-starred as herself in the Miller Lite TV commercial "Pillow Fight", the sequel to the brand's earlier commercial "Catfight", with the original's cast, models Tanya Ballinger and Kitana Baker, reprising their roles.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In May 2004, Anderson appeared nude on the cover of "Playboy" magazine. Later, she posed naked for "Stuff" and "GQ" magazines. Anderson was also featured on the cover of the fashion magazines "W", British "Marie Claire", "Flare", and "Elle" Canada and in editorials for Russian "Elle" and "V".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In 2004, she released the book "Star", co-written by Eric Shaw Quinn, about a teenager trying to become famous. After this, she began touring the United States, signing autographs for fans at Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Her second book, the sequel "Star Struck", released in 2005, is a thinly veiled look at her life with Tommy Lee and the trials of celebrity life. In April 2005, Anderson starred in a new Fox comedy series "Stacked" as Skyler Dayton, a party girl who goes to work at a bookstore. It was canceled on May 18, 2006, after two seasons, although some episodes were never aired. On August 14, 2005, Comedy Central created the "Roast of Pamela Anderson".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In December 2005, NBC cut off a video of Anderson pole dancing to Elton John's "The Red Piano". NBC said that the footage was inappropriate for prime time. The video was shown on huge screens during the event, while John played "The Bitch is Back". In March 2006, it was announced that Anderson would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame thanks to her many years as a model and actress. She is only the second model to receive a star. In April 2006, Anderson hosted Canada's Juno Awards, becoming the first non-singer and model to do so.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson appeared in the 2006 mockumentary, "", as the title character becomes obsessed with her, and plans to abduct and marry her. She appears as herself at a book signing at the end of the film, confronted by Borat in a staged botched abduction.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: She performed on February 13–14, 2008, in a Valentine's Day striptease act at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris. Anderson then starred in "", which debuted on August 3, 2008, on E! in the United States.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In December 2009, Anderson guest-starred as "Genie of the Lamp" in the pantomime "Aladdin" at the New Wimbledon Theatre in Wimbledon, in southwest London. Anderson took over the role from comedian Ruby Wax, with former "EastEnders" actress Anita Dobson and comedian Paul O'Grady also booked for the role. In 2010, she appeared in the short film "The Commuter" directed by the McHenry Brothers and shot entirely on the Nokia N8 smartphone as promotion for the phone in the UK. Anderson was featured in a beach-themed editorial, shot by Mario Testino for Brazilian "Vogue"s June 2013 "Body Issue".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In March 2022, it was announced that Anderson would make her Broadway debut portraying Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of "Chicago".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In November 2010, Anderson appeared on season 4 of "Bigg Boss", the Indian version of the "Big Brother" television franchise. She stayed as a guest in the house for three days for a reported sum of Rs. 2.5 crores (approx US$550,000). Furthering her involvement in the franchise, Anderson took part in the 12th season of "Big Brother" in the United Kingdom in 2011. In 2012, she appeared as a Special Houseguest on the fourth season of "VIP Brother", which is the celebrity spin-off of "Big Brother" in Bulgaria.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: On Day 12 for the "Promi Big Brother (season 1)" in Germany, she entered the house, as a Special Guest Star on the final day. David Hasselhoff, a former "Baywatch" co-star, was a contestant in Day 1 to Day 5.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson was a contestant on the tenth season of "Dancing with the Stars", partnered with professional dancer Damian Whitewood. The season premiered on March 22, 2010, and after seven weeks, Anderson was eliminated. She also took part in the 15th season all-star edition in 2012 with Tristan MacManus. Anderson and MacManus were eliminated in the first week of competition.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In May 2011, she was a contestant on the "Bailando 2011" (Argentina), partnered with professional dancer Damian Whitewood. She left the competition after 4 weeks.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In 2018, she was a contestant on the ninth season of French "Dancing with the Stars". The season premiered on September 29, 2018. After seven weeks, Anderson was eliminated, on November 8, 2018.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In 2013, Anderson appeared on the eighth series of the British reality TV show "Dancing on Ice", partnered with former winner Matt Evers.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson became the center of controversy when she posed for a PETA ad wearing a bikini with sections drawn on her body dividing it into ribs, rump, shoulder, etc., like a diagram of meat cuts; the ad's tagline was "All Animals Have the Same Parts". The ad was banned in Montreal, Quebec, on grounds that it was sexist. Anderson retorted, "In a city that is known for its exotic dancing and for being progressive and edgy, how sad that a woman would be banned from using her own body in a political protest over the suffering of cows and chickens. In some parts of the world, women are forced to cover their whole bodies with burqas – is that next? I didn't think that Canada would be so puritanical."


title: Pamela Anderson

text: She became a company spokesperson for FrogAds, Inc. in March 2012. In February 2014, she stripped for a Valentine's Day-themed ad for PETA, urging dog lovers to cuddle up with their pets during winter.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: On July 8, 2015, Anderson wrote to Putin to save whales. On December 15, 2015, Anderson, representing the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), met with top Kremlin officials regarding animals rights in Russia. On December 15, 2016, Anderson and IFAW officials met with Kremlin officials to discuss animal welfare and conservation.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson has been critical of pornography. In 2016, she co-authored a viral "Wall Street Journal" opinion piece with Orthodox Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, in which they called online pornography a "public hazard of unprecedented seriousness." The two called for a "sensual revolution" to replace "pornography with eroticism, the alloying of sex with love, of physicality with personality, of the body's mechanics with imagination, of orgasmic release with binding relationships." They later gave a joint lecture at Oxford University to over 1,000 people. Boteach observed: "It can be intimidating to talk about pornography and eroticism alongside an international sex symbol, but I think Pamela has handled it extremely well." The two also wrote a book together, "Lust for Love" (2018), about how meaningful, passionate sex has been declining, and called for a new sensual revolution that emphasizes partners connecting in the bedroom.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In December 2016, in a statement to "People" magazine, Anderson called WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a "hero". She stated that he had done everyone "a great service" and that "[e]veryone in the world has benefited because of WikiLeaks," while decrying how "elaborate plots against him and made up sexual allegations could result in him being extradited to the US – where he would not be treated fairly – because of his exposure of truths." In April 2019, Anderson expressed anger on Twitter at Assange's expulsion from London's Ecuadorian embassy. In May 2019, Anderson visited Assange in HMP Belmarsh with Kristinn Hrafnsson and said she believed Assange to be innocent, saying, "He is a good man, he is an incredible person. I love him, I can't imagine what he has been going through."


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In October 2019, Anderson announced she would be traveling to Australia in November 2019 to challenge Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stand up for Assange. In her announcement, she referenced the 'disparaging remarks' he made about her in 2018 and challenged him to debate the matter "in front of the Australian people." She also wrote another letter to Morrison asking him to use his influence to secure Assange's release. Morrison replied with a letter, saying that his government would respect Britain's judicial process and Assange would not receive any special help. In the text of a speech she had intended to give at Parliament House, Canberra, Anderson claimed that Assange was suffering "psychological torture" in jail and that "every moment he is in there, he is in danger".


title: Pamela Anderson

text: On January 18, 2021, Anderson spoke on the Fox News show "Tucker Carlson Tonight", asking President Donald Trump to pardon Assange.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In March 2005, Anderson became a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics's MAC AIDS Fund, which helped people affected by AIDS and HIV. After becoming the official spokesmodel, Anderson raised money during events in Toronto, Tokyo, Dublin, and Athens. Anderson became the celebrity spokesperson for the American Liver Foundation, and served as the Grand Marshal of the SOS motorcycle ride fundraiser.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In 2009, Anderson wrote an open letter to President Barack Obama urging the legalization of cannabis.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In December 2015, Anderson, a close friend of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson and a longtime supporter and advisory board member of that organization, became a full board member in order to further its efforts in opposing the hunting of whales.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In November 2016, Anderson starred in a video public service announcement produced by the National Limousine Association and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center as part of the Ride Responsibly initiative, titled The Driving Game, which aimed to shed light on the lack of universal driver regulations in the private ground transportation industry.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson once again starred in a video public service announcement produced by the National Limousine Association in January 2018, this time in partnership with Promoting Awareness | Victim Empowerment (PAVE), as part of the Ride Responsibly initiative. Titled The Signs, the PSA aims to continue to push for passenger safety and universal driver regulations in the private ground transportation industry.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: After supporting the yellow vests movement in France, Anderson attended a meeting of the European Spring with Yanis Varoufakis and Benoît Hamon. She appeared as a supporter on election posters of the German DiEM25 campaign in the run-up to the 2019 European Elections.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson advocates for animal rights, and is an active member of the animal protection organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She gave up meat in her early teens when she saw a hanging dead deer that her father had hunted.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson has been married six times. She married her first husband, Tommy Lee, drummer of Mötley Crüe, on February 19, 1995, after only knowing him for four days. They wed on a beach, with Anderson in a white bikini. Anderson's mother did not know, and learned of the marriage from "People" magazine. During this time, she was known professionally as Pamela Anderson Lee. They have two sons together: Brandon Thomas (born June 5, 1996) and Dylan Jagger (born December 29, 1997). During their tumultuous marriage, Lee was arrested for spousal abuse after assaulting Anderson. He was sentenced to six months in the Los Angeles County Jail. The couple divorced in 1998. A long custody dispute over their sons followed, and was finalized when both were granted joint custody in October 2002.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In March 2002, Anderson publicly stated that she had contracted by sharing tattoo needles with Lee, and began writing a regular column for "Jane" magazine. In October 2003, Anderson jokingly said on Howard Stern's radio show that she does not expect to live more than 10 or 15 years, but this was misconstrued and taken seriously by many websites and tabloids. As of 2015, Anderson was cured of hepatitis C.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: After the divorce, Anderson became engaged to the model Marcus Schenkenberg; they broke up in 2001. She then became engaged to the singer Kid Rock; she broke up with him in 2003. On July 18, 2006, it was announced that she would marry Kid Rock on July 29, 2006, on a yacht near Saint-Tropez, France.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: There was extensive unconfirmed media speculation that the marriage was pregnancy-related, but the theory was based only on Anderson's representative's refusal to comment on the question.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: On November 10, 2006, it was announced that Anderson had miscarried while in Vancouver shooting a new film, "Blonde and Blonder". Seventeen days later, on November 27, 2006, Anderson filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. Some news reports had suggested that Kid Rock's outrage during a screening of , in which Anderson has a cameo role, led to filing for divorce two weeks later.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In February 2007, Anderson said that she often had sex with Lee since their divorce. In June 2008, Lee said that they were trying to reconcile.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In September 2007, Anderson stated on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that she was engaged. On September 29, Anderson and Rick Salomon applied for a marriage license in Las Vegas. On October 6, 2007, Anderson married Salomon in a small wedding ceremony at The Mirage, between her two nightly appearances at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Hans Klok's magic show. The couple separated on December 13, and on February 22, 2008, Anderson requested through the courts that the marriage be annulled, citing fraud.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: In October 2013, Anderson stated on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that she and Salomon were "friends with benefits". In January 2014, she announced that she had remarried Salomon on an unspecified date. Anderson filed for divorce from Salomon in February 2015. The divorce was finalized on April 29, 2015.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson began dating French footballer Adil Rami in 2017. In late June 2019, Anderson declared on an Instagram post that the relationship with Rami was over. On January 20, 2020 Anderson married Hollywood producer Jon Peters. On February 1, 2020, Anderson announced she and Peters had separated, and later claimed to have never been legally married to Peters. On December 24, 2020, Anderson married Dan Hayhurst, her bodyguard. On January 21, 2022, Anderson announced that she had split with Hayhurst.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: A sex tape of Anderson and Tommy Lee filmed on a houseboat on Lake Mead was stolen from their home in 1995 and was widely distributed on the Internet. Anderson sued the video distribution company, Internet Entertainment Group. Ultimately, the Lees entered into a confidential settlement agreement with IEG. Thereafter, the company began making the tape available to subscribers to its web sites again, resulting in triple the normal traffic on the sites. Another tape, which was made before the Tommy Lee tape, involving Anderson and musician Bret Michaels from Poison, was later announced, and an abridged version of less than 60 seconds appeared on the Internet. Frames of the video first appeared in "Penthouse" magazine in March 1998.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: The story of the sex tape was later documented in the miniseries "Pam & Tommy". Anderson was repeatedly contacted by the producers and the actress portraying her, Lily James, to get input and permission, but never answered their calls.


title: Pamela Anderson

text: Anderson became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 2004, while retaining her Canadian citizenship. After moving to California in 1989, Anderson felt that it was important to become an American citizen in order to vote and one day petition to bring her parents to the U.S. and care for them when they were older. Anderson purchased a beach home in Malibu, California, for $1.8 million in 2008 and attempted to sell it in 2013 for $7.75 million, but later took it off the market. Since then, she has been renting out her Malibu home for $50,000 per month and has moved to the French Riviera, mainly because of her relationship with football player Adil Rami. Anderson previously lived in a mansion in Cassis, in the commune of Marseille, France. In 2019 Anderson said that she had recently returned to her native Canada, residing on Vancouver Island. Her move to Canada became permanent in 2021.


title: Chief executive officer

text: A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially an independent legal entity such as a company or nonprofit institution. CEOs find roles in a range of organizations, including public and private corporations, non-profit organizations and even some government organizations (notably state-owned enterprises). The CEO of a corporation or company typically reports to the board of directors and is charged with maximizing the value of the business, which may include maximizing the share price, market share, revenues or another element. In the non-profit and government sector, CEOs typically aim at achieving outcomes related to the organization's mission, usually provided by legislation. CEOs are also frequently assigned the role of main manager of the organization and the highest-ranking officer in the C-suite.


title: Chief executive officer

text: The term "chief executive officer" is attested as early as 1782, when an ordinance of the Congress of the Confederation used the term to refer to governors and other leaders of the executive branches of each of the Thirteen Colonies. In draft additions to the "Oxford English Dictionary" published online in 2011, the "Dictionary" says that the use of "CEO" as an acronym for a chief executive officer originated in Australia, with the first attestation being in 1914. The first American usage cited is from 1972.


title: Chief executive officer

text: The responsibilities of an organization's CEO are set by the organization's board of directors or other authority, depending on the organization's structure. They can be far-reaching or quite limited, and are typically enshrined in a formal delegation of authority regarding business administration. Typically, responsibilities include being an active decision-maker on business strategy and other key policy issues, leader, manager, and executor. The communicator role can involve speaking to the press and the rest of the outside world, as well as to the organization's management and employees; the decision-making role involves high-level decisions about policy and strategy. The CEO is tasked with implementing the goals, targets and strategic objectives as determined by the board of directors.


title: Chief executive officer

text: As an executive officer of the company, the CEO reports the status of the business to the board of directors, motivates employees, and drives change within the organization. As a manager, the CEO presides over the organization's day-to-day operations. The CEO is the person who is ultimately accountable for a company's business decisions, including those in operations, marketing, business development, finance, human resources, etc.


title: Chief executive officer

text: The use of the CEO title is not necessarily limited to describing the owner or the head of a company. For example, the CEO of a political party is often entrusted with fundraising, particularly for election campaigns.


title: Chief executive officer

text: In some countries, there is a dual board system with two separate boards, one executive board for the day-to-day business and one supervisory board for control purposes (selected by the shareholders). In these countries, the CEO presides over the executive board and the chairperson presides over the supervisory board, and these two roles will always be held by different people. This ensures a distinction between management by the executive board and governance by the supervisory board. This allows for clear lines of authority. The aim is to prevent a conflict of interest and too much power being concentrated in the hands of one person.


title: Chief executive officer

text: In the United States, the board of directors (elected by the shareholders) is often equivalent to the supervisory board, while the executive board may often be known as the executive committee (the division/subsidiary heads and C-level officers that report directly to the CEO).


title: Chief executive officer

text: In the United States, and in business, the executive officers are usually the top officers of a corporation, the chief executive officer (CEO) being the best-known type. The definition varies; for instance, the California Corporate Disclosure Act defines "executive officers" as the five most highly compensated officers not also sitting on the board of directors. In the case of a sole proprietorship, an executive officer is the sole proprietor. In the case of a partnership, an executive officer is a managing partner, senior partner, or administrative partner. In the case of a limited liability company, an executive officer is any member, manager, or officer.


title: Chief executive officer

text: Depending on the organization, a CEO may have several subordinate executives to help run the day-to-day administration of the company, each of whom has specific functional responsibilities referred to as senior executives, executive officers or corporate officers. Subordinate executives are given different titles in different organizations, but one common category of subordinate executive, if the CEO is also the president, is the vice president (VP). An organization may have more than one vice president, each tasked with a different area of responsibility (e.g., VP of finance, VP of human resources). Examples of subordinate executive officers who typically report to the CEO include the chief operating officer (COO), chief financial officer (CFO), chief strategy officer (CSO), and chief business officer (CBO). The public relations-focused position of chief reputation officer is sometimes included as one such subordinate executive officer, but, as suggested by Anthony Johndrow, CEO of Reputation Economy Advisors, it can also be seen as "simply another way to add emphasis to the role of a modern-day CEO – where they are both the external face of, and the driving force behind, an organisation culture".


title: Chief executive officer

text: In the US, the term chief executive officer is used primarily in business, whereas the term executive director is used primarily in the not-for-profit sector. These terms are generally mutually exclusive and refer to distinct legal duties and responsibilities. Implicit in the use of these titles, is that the public not be misled and the general standard regarding their use be consistently applied.


title: Chief executive officer

text: In the UK, chief executive and chief executive officer are used in local government, business, and the charitable sector. , the use of the term director for senior charity staff is deprecated to avoid confusion with the legal duties and responsibilities associated with being a charity director or trustee, which are normally non-executive (unpaid) roles. The term managing director is often used in lieu of chief executive officer.


title: Chief executive officer

text: Business publicists since the days of Edward Bernays (1891-1995) and his client John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) and even more successfully the corporate publicists for Henry Ford, promoted the concept of the "celebrity CEO". Business journalists have often adopted this approach, which assumes that the corporate achievements, especially in the arena of manufacturing, are produced by uniquely talented individuals, especially the "heroic CEO". In effect, journalists celebrate a CEO who takes distinctive strategic actions. The model is the celebrity in entertainment, sports, and politics - compare the "great man theory". Guthey "et al." argues that "...these individuals are not self-made, but rather are created by a process of widespread media exposure to the point that their actions, personalities, and even private lives function symbolically to represent significant dynamics and tensions prevalent in the contemporary business atmosphere". Journalism thereby exaggerates the importance of the CEO and tends to neglect harder-to-describe broader corporate factors. There is little attention to the intricately organized technical bureaucracy that actually does the work. Hubris sets in when the CEO internalizes the celebrity and becomes excessively self-confident in making complex decisions. There may be an emphasis on the sort of decisions that attract the celebrity journalists.


title: Chief executive officer

text: Research published in 2009 by Ulrike Malmendier and Geoffrey Tate indicates that "firms with award-winning CEOs subsequently underperform, in terms both of stock and of operating performance".


title: Chief executive officer

text: Executive compensation has been a source of criticism following a dramatic rise in pay relative to the average worker's wage. For example, the relative pay was 20-to-1 in 1965 in the US, but had risen to 376-to-1 by 2000. The relative pay differs around the world, and, in some smaller countries, is still around 20-to-1. Observers differ as to whether the rise is due to competition for talent or due to lack of control by compensation committees. In recent years, investors have demanded more say over executive pay.


title: Chief executive officer

text: Lack of diversity amongst chief executives has also been a source of criticism. In 2018, 5% of "Fortune" 500 CEOs were women. The reasons for this are explained or justified in various ways, and may include biological sex differences, male and female differences in Big Five personality traits and temperament, sex differences in psychology and interests, maternity and career breaks, hypergamy, phallogocentrism, the existence of old boy networks, tradition, and the lack of female role models in that regard. Some countries have passed laws mandating boardroom gender quotas.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia, also known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. It is located on the east bank of the Potomac River, which forms its southwestern and southern border with the U.S. state of Virginia, and it shares a land border with the U.S. state of Maryland on its other sides. The city was named for George Washington, a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, and the federal district is named after Columbia, the female personification of the nation. As the seat of the U.S. federal government and several international organizations, the city is an important world political capital. It is one of the most visited cities in the U.S. with over 20 million annual visitors as of 2016.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The U.S. Constitution provides for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress; the district is not a part of any U.S. state (nor is it one itself). The signing of the Residence Act on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of the capital district located along the Potomac River near the country's East Coast. The City of Washington was founded in 1791, and Congress held its first session there in 1800. In 1801, the territory, formerly part of Maryland and Virginia (including the settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria), officially became recognized as the federal district. In 1846, Congress returned the land originally ceded by Virginia, including the city of Alexandria; in 1871, it created a single municipal government for the remaining portion of the district. There have been efforts to make the city into a state since the 1880s, a movement that has gained momentum in recent years, and a statehood bill passed the House of Representatives in 2021.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The city is divided into quadrants centered on the Capitol, and there are as many as 131 neighborhoods. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 689,545, which makes it the 23rd most populous city in the U.S. as of 2020, the third most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and gives it a population larger than that of two U.S. states: Wyoming and Vermont. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during the workweek. Washington's metropolitan area, the country's sixth largest (including parts of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia), had a 2020 estimated population of 6.3 million residents; and over 54 million people live within of the District.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The three branches of the U.S. federal government are centered in the district: Congress (legislative), the president (executive), and the Supreme Court (judicial). Washington is home to many national monuments and museums, primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 177 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many international organizations, trade unions, non-profits, lobbying groups, and professional associations, including the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, AARP, the National Geographic Society, the American Red Cross, and others.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: A locally elected mayor and a 13-member council have governed the district since 1973. Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. The District of Columbia does not have representation in Congress, although D.C. residents elect a single at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives who has no vote. District voters choose three presidential electors in accordance with the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people (also known as the Conoy) inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century. One group known as the Nacotchtank (also called the Nacostines by Catholic missionaries) maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: On October 6, forced by the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 to Princeton, New Jersey, Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into consideration, respecting a place for the permanent residence of Congress. The following day, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts moved "that buildings for the use of Congress be erected on the banks of the Delaware near Trenton, or of the Potomac, near Georgetown, provided a suitable district can be procured on one of the rivers as aforesaid, for a federal town".


title: Washington, D.C.

text: In his Federalist No. 43, published January 23, 1788, James Madison argued that the new federal government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance and safety. The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: , of the Constitution permits the establishment of a "District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States". However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital. In what is now known as the Compromise of 1790, Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson agreed that the federal government would pay each state's remaining Revolutionary War debts in exchange for establishing the new national capital in the Southern United States.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, who signed the bill into law on July 16. Formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring on each side, totaling .


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory: the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, and the port city of Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1749. During 1791–92, a team under Andrew Ellicott, including Ellicott's brothers Joseph and Benjamin and African-American astronomer Benjamin Banneker, surveyed the borders of the federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point. Many of the stones are still standing.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: A new federal city was then constructed on the north bank of the Potomac, to the east of Georgetown. On September 9, 1791, the three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the city in honor of President Washington. The same day, the federal district was named Columbia (a feminine form of "Columbus"), which was a poetic name for the United States commonly in use at that time. Congress held its first session there on November 17, 1800.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Congress passed the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 which officially organized the district and placed the entire territory under the exclusive control of the federal government. Further, the area within the district was organized into two counties: the County of Washington to the east (or north) of the Potomac and the County of Alexandria to the west (or south). After the passage of this Act, citizens living in the district were no longer considered residents of Maryland or Virginia, which therefore ended their representation in Congress.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: On August 24–25, 1814, in a raid known as the Burning of Washington, British forces invaded the capital during the War of 1812. The Capitol, Treasury, and White House were burned and gutted during the attack. Most government buildings were repaired quickly; however, the Capitol was largely under construction at the time and was not completed in its current form until 1868.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: In the 1830s, the district's southern territory of Alexandria went into economic decline partly due to neglect by Congress. The city of Alexandria was a major market in the domestic slave trade, and pro-slavery residents feared that abolitionists in Congress would end slavery in the district, further depressing the local economy. Alexandria's citizens petitioned Virginia to take back the land it had donated to form the district, through a process known as retrocession.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The Virginia General Assembly voted in February 1846 to accept the return of Alexandria. On July 9, 1846, Congress agreed to return all the territory that Virginia had ceded. Therefore, the district's area consists only of the portion originally donated by Maryland. Confirming the fears of pro-slavery Alexandrians, the Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the District, although not slavery itself.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 led to the expansion of the federal government and notable growth in the district's population, including a large influx of freed slaves. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act in 1862, which ended slavery in the district of Columbia and freed about 3,100 enslaved persons, nine months prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1868, Congress granted the district's African American male residents the right to vote in municipal elections.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: By 1870, the district's population had grown 75% from the previous census to nearly 132,000 residents. Despite the city's growth, Washington still had dirt roads and lacked basic sanitation. Some members of Congress suggested moving the capital further west, but President Ulysses S. Grant refused to consider such a proposal.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Congress passed the Organic Act of 1871, which repealed the individual charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown, abolished Washington County, and created a new territorial government for the whole District of Columbia.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: After the reorganization, President Grant appointed Alexander Robey Shepherd to the position of Governor of the District of Columbia in 1873. Shepherd authorized large-scale projects that greatly modernized the City of Washington, but ultimately bankrupted the district government. In 1874, Congress replaced the territorial government with an appointed three-member Board of Commissioners.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The city's first motorized streetcars began service in 1888. They generated growth in areas of the district beyond the City of Washington's original boundaries. Washington's urban plan was expanded throughout the district in the following decades. Georgetown's street grid and other administrative details were formally merged to those of the legal City of Washington in 1895. However, the city had poor housing conditions and strained public works. The district was the first city in the nation to undergo urban renewal projects as part of the "City Beautiful movement" in the early 1900s.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Increased federal spending as a result of the New Deal in the 1930s led to the construction of new government buildings, memorials, and museums in the district, though the chairman of the House Subcommittee on District Appropriations Ross A. Collins from Mississippi justified cuts to funds for welfare and education for local residents, saying that "my constituents wouldn't stand for spending money on niggers."


title: Washington, D.C.

text: World War II further increased government activity, adding to the number of federal employees in the capital; by 1950, the district's population reached its peak of 802,178 residents.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1961, granting the district three votes in the Electoral College for the election of president and vice president, but still no voting representation in Congress.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: After the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in the district, primarily in the U Street, 14th Street, 7th Street, and H Street corridors, centers of black residential and commercial areas. The riots raged for three days until more than 13,600 federal troops and D.C. Army National Guardsmen stopped the violence. Many stores and other buildings were burned; rebuilding was not completed until the late 1990s.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, providing for an elected mayor and thirteen-member council for the district. In 1975, Walter Washington became the first elected and first black mayor of the district.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Washington, D.C., is located in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. East Coast. Due to the District of Columbia retrocession, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (10.67%) is water. The district is bordered by Montgomery County, Maryland to the northwest; Prince George's County, Maryland to the east; Arlington County, Virginia to the west; and Alexandria, Virginia to the south. Washington, D.C., is from Baltimore, from Philadelphia, from New York City, from Pittsburgh, from Charlotte and from Boston.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The south bank of the Potomac River forms the district's border with Virginia and has two major tributaries: the Anacostia River and Rock Creek. Tiber Creek, a natural watercourse that once passed through the National Mall, was fully enclosed underground during the 1870s. The creek also formed a portion of the now-filled Washington City Canal, which allowed passage through the city to the Anacostia River from 1815 until the 1850s. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal starts in Georgetown and was used during the 19th century to bypass the Little Falls of the Potomac River, located at the northwest edge of Washington at the Atlantic Seaboard fall line.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The highest natural elevation in the district is above sea level at Fort Reno Park in upper northwest Washington. The lowest point is sea level at the Potomac River. The geographic center of Washington is near the intersection of 4th and L Streets NW.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The district has of parkland, about 19% of the city's total area and the second-highest percentage among high-density U.S. cities. This factor contributed to Washington, D.C., being ranked as third in the nation for park access and quality in the 2018 ParkScore ranking of the park systems of the 100 most populous cities in the United States, according to the nonprofit Trust for Public Land.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The National Park Service manages most of the of city land owned by the U.S. government. Rock Creek Park is a urban forest in Northwest Washington, which extends through a stream valley that bisects the city. Established in 1890, it is the country's fourth-oldest national park and is home to a variety of plant and animal species, including raccoon, deer, owls, and coyotes. Other National Park Service properties include the C&O Canal National Historical Park, the National Mall and Memorial Parks, Theodore Roosevelt Island, Columbia Island, Fort Dupont Park, Meridian Hill Park, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, and Anacostia Park. The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation maintains the city's of athletic fields and playgrounds, 40 swimming pools, and 68 recreation centers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture operates the U.S. National Arboretum in Northeast Washington.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Washington is in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen: "Cfa"). The Trewartha classification is defined as an oceanic climate ("Do"). Winters are cool to cold with light snow more common but heavy snow not uncommon, and summers are hot and humid. The district is in plant hardiness zone 8a near downtown, and zone 7b elsewhere in the city, indicating a humid subtropical climate.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Summers are hot and humid with a July daily average of and average daily relative humidity around 66%, which can cause moderate personal discomfort. Heat indices regularly approach at the height of summer. The combination of heat and humidity in the summer brings very frequent thunderstorms, some of which occasionally produce tornadoes in the area.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Blizzards affect Washington, on average, once every four to six years. The most violent storms are called "nor'easters", which often affect large sections of the East Coast. From January 27 to 28, 1922, the city officially received of snowfall, the largest snowstorm since official measurements began in 1885. According to notes kept at the time, the city received between from a snowstorm in January 1772.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Hurricanes (or their remnants) occasionally track through the area in late summer and early fall. However, they are often weak by the time they reach Washington, partly due to the city's inland location. Flooding of the Potomac River, however, caused by a combination of high tide, storm surge, and runoff, has been known to cause extensive property damage in the neighborhood of Georgetown.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The highest recorded temperature was on August 6, 1918, and on July 20, 1930. The lowest recorded temperature was on February 11, 1899, right before the Great Blizzard of 1899. During a typical year, the city averages about 37 days at or above and 64 nights at or below the freezing mark (). On average, the first day with a minimum at or below freezing is November 18 and the last day is March 27.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The City of Washington was a planned city. In the present day, many of the District's streets are on a grid extending from that of the original city. In 1791, President Washington commissioned Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant, a French-born architect and city planner, to design the new capital. He enlisted Scottish surveyor Alexander Ralston to help lay out the city plan. The L'Enfant Plan featured broad streets and avenues radiating out from rectangles, providing room for open space and landscaping. He based his design on plans of cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, Karlsruhe, and Milan that Thomas Jefferson had sent to him. L'Enfant's design also envisioned a garden-lined "grand avenue" approximately in length and wide in the area that is now the National Mall. President Washington dismissed L'Enfant in March 1792 due to conflicts with the three commissioners appointed to supervise the capital's construction. Andrew Ellicott, who had worked with L'Enfant surveying the city, was then tasked with completing the design. Though Ellicott made revisions to the original plans—including changes to some street patterns—L'Enfant is still credited with the overall design of the city.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: By the early 20th century, L'Enfant's vision of a grand national capital had become marred by slums and randomly placed buildings, including a railroad station on the National Mall. Congress formed a special committee charged with beautifying Washington's ceremonial core. What became known as the McMillan Plan was finalized in 1901 and included re-landscaping the Capitol grounds and the National Mall, clearing slums, and establishing a new citywide park system. The plan is thought to have largely preserved L'Enfant's intended design.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: By law, the District's skyline is low and sprawling. The federal Height of Buildings Act of 1910 allows buildings that are no taller than the width of the adjacent street, plus . Despite popular belief, no law has ever limited buildings to the height of the United States Capitol or the Washington Monument, which remains the district's tallest structure. City leaders have criticized the height restriction as a primary reason why the district has limited affordable housing and traffic problems caused by suburban sprawl.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The district is divided into four quadrants of unequal area: Northwest (NW), Northeast (NE), Southeast (SE), and Southwest (SW). The axes bounding the quadrants radiate from the U.S. Capitol. All road names include the quadrant abbreviation to indicate their location and house numbers generally correspond with the number of blocks away from the Capitol. Most streets are set out in a grid pattern with east–west streets named with letters (e.g., C Street SW), north–south streets with numbers (e.g., 4th Street NW), and diagonal avenues, many of which are named after states.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The City of Washington was bordered by Boundary Street to the north (renamed Florida Avenue in 1890), Rock Creek to the west, and the Anacostia River to the east. Washington's street grid was extended, where possible, throughout the district starting in 1888. Georgetown's streets were renamed in 1895. Some streets are particularly noteworthy, such as Pennsylvania Avenue—which connects the White House to the Capitol, and K Street—which houses the offices of many lobbying groups. Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue, located on the north and south sides of the National Mall, respectively, are home to many of Washington's iconic museums, including the Smithsonian Institution buildings and the National Archives Building. Washington hosts 177 foreign embassies, constituting approximately 297 buildings beyond the more than 1,600 residential properties owned by foreign countries, many of which are on a section of Massachusetts Avenue informally known as Embassy Row.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The architecture of Washington varies greatly but is generally popular among tourists and locals. Six of the top 10 buildings in the American Institute of Architects' 2007 ranking of "America's Favorite Architecture" are in the District of Columbia: the White House, the Washington National Cathedral, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the United States Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The neoclassical, Georgian, gothic, and modern architectural styles are all reflected among those six structures and many other prominent edifices in Washington.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Many of the government buildings, monuments, and museums along the National Mall and surrounding areas are heavily inspired by classical Roman and Greek architecture. For examples, the designs of the White House, Capitol, Supreme Court Building, Washington Monument, National Gallery of Art, Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial, are all heavily drawn from these classical architectural movements, consisting of large pediments, domes, columns in the classical order, and heavy walls made of stone. Notable exceptions to the city's classical-style architecture include buildings constructed in the French Second Empire style, such as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The Thomas Jefferson Building, which serves as the main building for the Library of Congress, is built in the style of Beaux-Arts architecture, as is the historic Willard Hotel. Meridian Hill Park contains a cascading waterfall with Italian renaissance-style architecture.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Modern, Postmodern, contemporary and other non-classical architectural styles are also seen throughout the city. The National Museum of African American History and Culture deeply contrasts the stone-based neoclassical buildings on the Mall, as its design combines modern engineering with heavy inspiration from African Art. Additionally, the interior of the Washington Metro stations are designed with strong influence from the twentieth-century architectural movement of Brutalism, as is the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The Smithsonian Institution Building, often called the "castle", is built of Seneca red sandstone in the Norman Revival style. The Old Post Office building, located along Pennsylvania Avenue, was completed in 1899 and was the first building in the city to have a steel frame structure and the first to utilize electrical wiring into its design.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Contemporary residential buildings, restaurants, shops, and office buildings have been built extensively throughout the city in new developments. Among the most notable examples are the Wharf, located on the Southwest Waterfront; Navy Yard, located along the Anacostia River; and CityCenterDC, located Downtown. The Wharf, given its proximity to the Potomac River, has seen the construction of many high-rise modern office and residential buildings overlooking the river, with restaurants located at the bottom of the buildings on street level. Many of these buildings have a modern glass exterior with heavy curvature. CityCenterDC is home to Palmer Alley, a pedestrian-only walkway, and houses numerous apartment buildings, restaurants, and luxury-brand storefronts with streamlined glass and metal facades.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Outside Downtown D.C., architectural styles are even more varied. Historic buildings are designed primarily in the Queen Anne, Châteauesque, Richardsonian Romanesque, Georgian revival, Beaux-Arts, and a variety of Victorian styles. Rowhouses are especially prominent in areas developed after the Civil War and typically follow Federalist and late Victorian designs. Georgetown's Old Stone House was built in 1765, making it the oldest-standing original building in the city. Founded in 1789, Georgetown University features a mix of Romanesque and Gothic Revival architecture. The Ronald Reagan Building is the largest building in the district with a total area of approximately 3.1 million square feet (288,000 m). Washington Union Station is designed from a combination of different architectural styles. Its Great Hall, which serves as the main hall within the building, has elaborate gold leaf designs along the ceilings, as well as decorative classical-style statues.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the district's population was 705,749 as of July 2019, an increase of more than 100,000 people compared to the 2010 United States Census. When measured on a decade-over-decade basis, this continues a growth trend since 2000, following a half-century of population decline. But on a year-over-year basis, the July 2019 census count shows a population decline of 16,000 individuals over the preceding 12-month period. Washington was the 24th most populous place in the United States . According to data from 2010, commuters from the suburbs increase the district's daytime population to over a million. If the district were a state it would rank 49th in population, ahead of Vermont and Wyoming.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The Washington metropolitan area, which includes the district and surrounding suburbs, is the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with an estimated six million residents. When the Washington area is included with Baltimore and its suburbs, it forms the vast Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. With a population exceeding 9.8 million residents in 2020, it is the third-largest combined statistical area in the country.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: According to 2017 Census Bureau data, the population of Washington, D.C., was 47.1% Black or African American, 45.1% White (36.8% non-Hispanic White), 4.3% Asian, 0.6% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Individuals from two or more races made up 2.7% of the population. Hispanics of any race made up 11.0% of the district's population.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Washington has had a significant African American population since the city's foundation. African American residents composed about 30% of the district's total population between 1800 and 1940. The black population reached a peak of 70% by 1970, but has since steadily declined due to many African Americans moving to the surrounding suburbs. Partly as a result of gentrification, there was a 31.4% increase in the non-Hispanic white population and an 11.5% decrease in the black population between 2000 and 2010. According to a study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, D.C. has experienced more "intense" gentrification than any other American city, with 40% of neighborhoods gentrified.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: About 17% of D.C. residents were age 18 or younger in 2010, lower than the U.S. average of 24%. However, at 34 years old, the district had the lowest median age compared to the 50 states. , there were an estimated 81,734 immigrants living in Washington, D.C. Major sources of immigration include El Salvador, Vietnam, and Ethiopia, with a concentration of Salvadorans in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Researchers found that there were 4,822 same-sex couples in the District of Columbia in 2010, about 2% of total households. Legislation authorizing same-sex marriage passed in 2009, and the district began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in March 2010.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: A 2007 report found that about a third of district residents were functionally illiterate, compared to a national rate of about one in five. This is attributed in part to immigrants who are not proficient in English. , 85% of D.C. residents age5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language. Half of residents had at least a four-year college degree in 2006. In 2017, the median household income in D.C. was $77,649; also in 2017, D.C. residents had a personal income per capita of $50,832 (higher than any of the 50 states). However, 19% of residents were below the poverty level in 2005, higher than any state except Mississippi. In 2019, the poverty rate stood at 14.7%.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: , more than 90% of D.C. residents had health insurance coverage, the second-highest 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 three percent of district residents have HIV or AIDS, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) characterizes as a "generalized and severe" epidemic.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Of the district's population, 17% is Baptist, 13% is Catholic, 6% is evangelical Protestant, 4% is Methodist, 3% is Episcopalian/Anglican, 3% is Jewish, 2% is Eastern Orthodox, 1% is Pentecostal, 1% is Buddhist, 1% is Adventist, 1% is Lutheran, 1% is Muslim, 1% is Presbyterian, 1% is Mormon, and 1% is Hindu. The city is populated with many religious buildings, including the Washington National Cathedral, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (which comprises the largest Catholic church building in the United States), and the Islamic Center of Washington, which was the largest mosque in the Western Hemisphere when opened in 1957. St. John's Episcopal Church is located off Lafayette Square and has held services for every U.S. president since James Madison. The Sixth & I Historic Synagogue is a synagogue located in Chinatown and was completed in 1908. The Washington D.C. Temple is a large Mormon temple located just outside the city in Kensington, Maryland. It can be viewed when driving south on the Capital Beltway. It is the tallest Mormon temple in existence, and third-largest by floor area.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: In 2021, the annual murders continued on an upward trend, totaling 226, a significant rise from previous lows. In 2012, D.C.'s annual murder count had dropped to 88, the lowest total since 1961. The city was once described as the "murder capital" of the United States during the early 1990s. The number of murders peaked in 1991 at 479, but the level of violence then began to decline significantly.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: In 2016, the district's Metropolitan Police Department tallied 135 homicides, a 53% increase from 2012 but a 17% decrease from 2015. Many neighborhoods such as Columbia Heights and Logan Circle are becoming safer and vibrant. However, incidents of robberies and thefts have remained higher in these areas because of increased nightlife activity and greater numbers of affluent residents. Even still, citywide reports of both property and violent crimes have declined by nearly half since their most recent highs in the mid-1990s.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States held in "District of Columbia v. Heller" that the city's 1976 handgun ban violated the right to keep and bear arms as protected under the Second Amendment. However, the ruling does not prohibit all forms of gun control; laws requiring firearm registration remain in place, as does the city's assault weapon ban.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: In addition to the district's own Metropolitan Police Department, many federal law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction in the city as well—most visibly the U.S. Park Police, founded in 1791.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The Washington, D.C. region has one of the country's largest and most advanced economies. Currently, it is the fourth largest metropolitan economy, as measured by Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP), in the United States. Its growing and diversified economy has an increasing percentage of professional and business service jobs in addition to more traditional jobs rooted in tourism, entertainment, and government.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Between 2009 and 2016, GDP per capita in Washington has consistently ranked on the very top among U.S. states. In 2016, at $160,472, its GDP per capita is almost three times as high as that of Massachusetts, which was ranked second in the nation. , the Washington Metropolitan Area had an unemployment rate of 6.2%; the second-lowest rate among the 49 largest metro areas in the nation. The District of Columbia itself had an unemployment rate of 9.8% during the same time period. In 2019, D.C. had the highest median household income in the United States at $92,266.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: In July 2022, 25% of D.C. employees were employed by the federal government. The vast majority of these government employees serve in various Executive Branch departments, agencies, and institutions, while only a small percentage serve as temporary staff for presidents, Congress members, or in the Judicial Branch.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Many of the region's residents work for companies and organizations that sign contracts with the federal government or work on issues directly related to the work of the federal government, such as law firms, defense contractors, civilian contractors, nonprofit organizations, lobbying firms, trade unions, industry trade groups, and professional associations, many of which have their headquarters in or near D.C. in order to be close to the federal government. The largest U.S. government agencies located in or near D.C. are: (1) the United States Department of Defense (headquartered in the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia), (2) the United States Postal Service, (3) the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, (4) the United States Department of Homeland Security, and (5) the United States Department of Justice.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The city also hosts nearly 200 foreign embassies and international organizations. Embassy Row is the informal name given to a stretch of Massachusetts Avenue which is occupied by many of the city's foreign embassies. In 2008, the foreign diplomatic corps in Washington employed about 10,000 people and contributed an estimated $400 million annually to the local economy.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Additionally, many prominent global financial and diplomatic institutions are headquartered in the city. These include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Pan American Health Organization. These institutions seek to use money lending and other financial and economic tools to improve the state of a country's economy and level of development. The Federal Reserve, which is the central bank for the United States of America, is located along Constitution Avenue. Commonly called "the Fed," this institution's policies are made by the members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Through monetary policy, the Board adjusts various interest rates in the United States, which heavily impacts the U.S. economy as well as the economies for many countries across the world. Because of the power of the U.S. dollar, the actions of the Board are closely watched by world leaders as well as economic and diplomatic experts across the globe.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Washington, D.C. is a leading center for national and international research organizations, especially as it relates to think tanks that engage heavily with questions about education, finance, domestic policy, foreign policy, as well as science and technology. Some leading think tanks and research organizations headquartered in the city are partisan in nature, while many others work as non-partisan centers for research and policy formation. Among notable research organizations headquartered in the city are the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Brookings Institution, Atlantic Council, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Center for American Progress, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the US Institute of Peace, and the Wilson Center, among many others. As of 2020, 8% of the country's think tanks are headquartered in Washington. Many non-think tanks are also leading research centers, such as the Washington Hospital Center, the Children's National Medical Center, and the National Institutes of Health, located in nearby Bethesda, Maryland.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The city is also home to many other non-profits that engage with issues of domestic and global importance by conducting advanced research, running programs, or advocating on behalf of people. Many of these organizations are headquartered in the city or have major offices in Washington. Among these organizations are the UN Foundation, Human Rights Campaign, Amnesty International, and the National Democratic Institute. The city is also the country's primary location for international development firms, many of whom find funding by contracting with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is the U.S. federal government's aid agency and is itself located in Washington. Additionally, the American Red Cross, which is a humanitarian agency focused on emergency relief, is headquartered in the city.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The Washington region has one of the country's largest private sectors. According to statistics compiled in 2011, four of the largest 500 companies in the country were headquartered in the district. In the 2021 Global Financial Centres Index, Washington was ranked as having the 14th most competitive financial center in the world, and fourth most competitive in the United States (after New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles). Among the largest companies headquartered in Washington, D.C. are Fannie Mae, Amtrak, Lockheed Martin, Marriot International, Danaher Corporation, FTI Consulting, and Hogan Lovells.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: Neighboring Maryland and Northern Virginia serve as a base of operations for several large companies, including some Fortune 500 companies. Due to the building height restrictions in place within the District of Columbia, many of these companies are able to build taller buildings in the suburban financial centers of Maryland and Virginia. Capital One Bank, which is one of the largest banks in the country, is headquartered in nearby Tysons, Virginia, a large and growing financial center located in Fairfax County. The headquarter building for Capital One Bank, known as Capital One Tower, is the tallest occupied building in the Washington region. Additionally, in 2018 Amazon announced it would build a second headquarters building (known as "HQ2") in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia, which sits just across the Potomac River from Washington. In addition to Capital One, some of the largest companies headquartered in Northern Virginia include Hilton, Navy Federal Credit Union, Mars, Freddie Mac, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics.


title: Washington, D.C.

text: The Washington economy also benefits from being home to many prominent news and media organizations. Among these are "The Washington Post", "The Washington Times", "Politico", and "The Hill". There are also many television and radio media organizations either headquartered in or near the city or with large offices in the region, such as CNN, PBS, C-SPAN, CBS, NBC, Discovery, and NPR, among others. The Gannett Company is a mass media holding company headquartered in Tysons, Virginia which owns numerous national and local newspapers that publish across the country. Gannett is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Most notably, it is the owner of USA Today, which itself is headquartered in Tysons, and which is by far the largest newspaper in the United States by circulation.