The official
OMB-designated Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area, based on the 2000 Census.
The 'Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area' is a consolidated
metropolitan area consisting of the overlapping labor market region of the cities of
Washington, D.C. and
Baltimore, Maryland. The region includes
Northern Virginia, Central
Maryland, and two counties in the
Eastern Panhandle of
West Virginia.
Officially, the area is designated by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the 'Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV
Combined Statistical Area' (CSA). The CSA is composed primarily of two major metropolitan areas, the ''
Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area'' (MSA) and the ''
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA''. In addition, three other smaller urban areas not contiguous to the main urban area but having strong commuting ties with the main area are also included in the metropolitan area. These are the ''Winchester, VA-WV MSA'', the ''Lexington Park, MD
Micropolitan area'' and the ''Culpeper, VA Micropolitan area''. Some counties and cities are not officially designated by the OMB as members of this metropolitan area, but still consider themselves members anyway. This is mostly due to their proximity to the area, the size of their commuter population, and by the influence of local broadcasting stations. The population of the entire Baltimore-Washington Metroplex as of 2006 is 8,207,040
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
The most populated city is
Baltimore, with a population of a little more than 630,000. The most populated county is
Fairfax County, at slightly more than 1 million. This is the only metropolitan area in the country in which the largest central city, Baltimore, comes second in the name.
Components of the metropolitan area
The counties and independent cities and their groupings that comprise the metropolitan area are listed below with 2004 Census Bureau estimates of their populations.
★ 'Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA (5,286,227)'
''Main Article:
Washington Metropolitan Area''
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★ ''Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division (1,287,005)''
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Frederick County
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Montgomery County
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Washington County
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★ ''Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division (4,131,158)''
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Washington, D.C.
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Calvert County, Maryland
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Charles County, Maryland
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Prince George's County, Maryland
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Arlington County, Virginia
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Clarke County, Virginia
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Fairfax County, Virginia
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Fauquier County, Virginia
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Loudoun County, Virginia
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Prince William County, Virginia
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Spotsylvania County, Virginia
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Stafford County, Virginia
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Warren County, Virginia
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Alexandria, Virginia
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Fairfax, Virginia
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Falls Church, Virginia
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Fredericksburg, Virginia
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Manassas, Virginia
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Manassas Park, Virginia
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Jefferson County, West Virginia
★ 'Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA (2,658,405)'
''Main Article:
Baltimore Metropolitan Area''
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Baltimore City
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Anne Arundel County
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Baltimore County
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Carroll County
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Harford County
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Howard County
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Queen Anne's County
★ 'Winchester, VA-WV MSA (118,932)'
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Frederick County, Virginia
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Winchester city, Virginia
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Hampshire County, West Virginia
★ 'Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan Area (98,854)'
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Saint Mary's County
★ 'Culpeper, VA Micropolitan Area (44,622)'
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Culpeper County
List of cities
''See
List of cities in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area for a full list.''
Washington area
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Washington, D.C.
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Arlington, Virginia
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Alexandria, Virginia
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Bethesda, Maryland
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Frederick, Maryland
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Fredericksburg, Virginia
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Gaithersburg, Maryland
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Herndon, Virginia
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Hagerstown, Maryland
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Martinsburg,
West Virginia
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Reston, Virginia
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Rockville, Maryland
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Silver Spring, Maryland
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Tysons Corner, Virginia
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Waldorf, Maryland
Baltimore area
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Baltimore, Maryland
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Catonsville, Maryland
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Columbia, Maryland
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Dundalk, Maryland
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Ellicott City, Maryland
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Glen Burnie, Maryland
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Towson, Maryland
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Westminster, Maryland
Economy
Company headquarters in the region
(Numbers denote
Fortune 500 company ranking.)
District of Columbia
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Bureau of National Affairs
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Calibre Energy
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Carlyle Group
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Danaher ''287''
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Federal National Mortgage Association - "Fannie Mae"
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Pepco Holdings, Inc. ''283''
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Washington Post Company
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XM Satellite Radio
Maryland
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ARINC (
Annapolis)
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BAE Systems (
Rockville)
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Black & Decker (
Towson) ''330''
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Choice Hotels (
Silver Spring)
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Constellation Energy (
Baltimore) ''125''
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Coventry Health Care (
Bethesda) ''328''
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Discovery Communications (
Silver Spring)
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Fila (
Sparks)
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GEICO (
Chevy Chase)
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Legg Mason (
Baltimore)
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Lockheed Martin (
Bethesda) ''52''
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Marriott International (
Bethesda) ''203''
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McCormick & Company (
Hunt Valley)
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Ritz Carlton (
Chevy Chase)
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T. Rowe Price (
Baltimore)
Virginia
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AOL (
Dulles)
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AES Corporation (
Arlington) ''221''
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BearingPoint (
McLean)
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Booz Allen Hamilton (
McLean)
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Capital One (
McLean) ''187''
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Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (
McLean) - "Freddie Mac"
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Gannett Company (
McLean) ''296''
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General Dynamics (
Falls Church) ''100''
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Kellogg Brown and Root (
Arlington)
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Mars, Incorporated (
McLean)
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New Enterprise Associates (
Reston)
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NVR Incorporated (
Reston) ''410''
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Orbital Sciences (
Dulles)
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SLM Corporation (
Reston) ''331'' - "Sallie Mae"
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Sprint Nextel Corporation (
Reston) ''59''
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USA Today (
McLean)
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Volkswagen of America (
Herndon)
Local industries
Biotechnology industry
Not limited to its proximity to the
National Institutes of Health, Maryland's Washington suburbs are a major center for
biotechnology. Prominent local biotech companies include
MedImmune,
Celera Genomics,
The Institute for Genomic Research,
Human Genome Sciences and the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Defense contracting
Many defense contractors are located in Northern Virginia to be close to
the Pentagon in Arlington. Local defense contractors include
Lockheed Martin,
General Dynamics,
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), and
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and
Orbital Sciences Corporation.
IT industry
In 1993,
Fortune magazine named Northern Virginia the
"Netplex" referring to the area's concentration of network technology companies and infrastructure. The region is home to the
Internet Society and formerly the
mainframe that contained the master list of all Internet domains.
Transportation
Major airports
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Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (
Anne Arundel County, Maryland - closest to Baltimore)
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Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (
Arlington County, Virginia - directly adjacent to Washington DC)
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Washington Dulles International Airport (
Chantilly, Virginia -
busiest in the region)
Rail transit systems
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Amtrak
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Washington Metro
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Virginia Railway Express
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MARC Train
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Baltimore Light Rail
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Baltimore Metro Subway
Major highways
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Interstate 270
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Interstate 70
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Interstate 66
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Interstate 83
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Interstate 95
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Interstate 81
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Interstate 395
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Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)
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Interstate 695 (Baltimore Beltway)
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Interstate 895
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Interstate 97
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U.S. Route 1
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U.S. Route 50
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U.S. Route 29
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U.S. Route 15
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U.S. Route 340
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U.S. Route 40
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Virginia Route 267
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Virginia Route 28
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Virginia Route 7
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Virginia Route 9
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Maryland Route 2
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Maryland Route 4
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Maryland Route 26
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Maryland Route 32
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Maryland Route 100
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Baltimore-Washington Parkway/
Maryland Route 295
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Maryland Route 355
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West Virginia Route 9
See also
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United States metropolitan area
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National Capital Region
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List of parks in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
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