Washington Dc

[Oleanda]

We were watching a TV show based in Washington DC and it made me wonder which US state it is in. I looked it up on Google Maps, and it doesn't appear to be in any of them, being sandwiched between Virginia and Maryland, yet it doesn't seem to be a state in its own right either. How does that work?

[jim360]

Not sure I've forgotten, partly because I can't pretend to know everything about the history of DC's status, and partly because it doesn't matter what squabbles led to this situation: it's fundamentally wrong that people in the country are denied federal representation. It's also sad that the issue has become increasingly partisan -- there is no denying that DC voters are overwhelmingly Democrat, but that just makes it even more shameful that Republicans in Congress have been blocking the Statehood calls.

[jno]

Mexico City too, PP - it used to be a distrito federal, now it's more or less autonomous but it isn't allowed to be a state.