The Capital Beltway is a 64-mile (103 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase "inside the Beltway", used when referring to issues dealing with US federal government and politics. The highway is signed as Interstate 495 (I-495) for its entire length, and its southern and eastern half runs concurrently with I-95.
I-495/Capital Beltway signage in Virginia
The Woodrow Wilson Bridge carrying I-95/I-495 over the Potomac River between Alexandria, Virginia, and Oxon Hill, Maryland, April 2007
"Maryland Welcomes You" sign on the Outer Loop over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge
I-95/I-495 and I-295 interchange in Maryland seen from the air above the Potomac River, 2012
Washington metropolitan area
The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the DC area, Greater Washington, the National Capital Region, or locally as the DMV, is the metropolitan area centered around Washington, D.C., the federal capital of the United States. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is part of the larger Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area, which is the third-largest combined statistical area in the country.
Image: Tidal Basin panorama
Image: Old Town, Alexandria (50688287918)
Image: Bethesda Maryland
Image: Clark Construction The BORO in Tysons VA Looking Northeast