Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area

The official OMB-designated Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area, based on the 2000 Census.

A general map of the counties that are a part of the area, based on the 1990 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

- Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division (1,287,005)
  - Frederick County
  - Montgomery County
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division (4,131,158)

Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA (2,658,405)

Main Article: Baltimore Metropolitan Area

Winchester, VA-WV MSA (118,932)

Lexington Park, MD Micropolitan Area (98,854)
- Saint Mary's County

Culpeper, VA Micropolitan Area (44,622)
- Culpeper County

List of cities

See List of cities in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area for a full list.

Washington area

Baltimore area

Economy

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.

Notable company headquarters in the region

(Numbers denote Fortune 500 company ranking.)

Transportation

Major airports

Washington Dulles International Airport (Chantilly, Virginia - busiest in region)
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (Arlington County, Virginia - closest to Washington)
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (Anne Arundel County, Maryland - closest to Baltimore)

Rail transit systems

Major highways

Interstate 270
Interstate 370
Interstate 70
Interstate 66
Interstate 83
Interstate 95
Interstate 81
Interstate 195
Interstate 295
Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)
Interstate 395 (Maryland)
Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)
Interstate 695 (Baltimore Beltway)
Interstate 795
Interstate 895
Interstate 97
U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 29
U.S. Route 15
U.S. Route 11
U.S. Route 340
U.S. Route 40
Virginia Route 267
Virginia Route 28
Virginia Route 7
Virginia Route 9
Maryland Route 2
Maryland Route 4
Maryland Route 26
Maryland Route 32
Maryland Route 100
Baltimore-Washington Parkway/Maryland Route 295
Maryland Route 355
West Virginia Route 9

	State of Maryland Annapolis (capital)
Topics	Cities \| Government \| History \| Congressional Delegations
Regions	Allegheny Mountains \| Atlantic Coastal Plain \| Baltimore‑Washington Metro Area \| Blue Ridge \| Chesapeake \| Cumberland Valley \| Delaware Valley \| Delmarva Peninsula \| Eastern Shore \| Piedmont \| Ridge and Valley \| Southern Maryland \| Western Maryland \| Western Shore
Cities	Baltimore \| Bethesda \| Bowie \| College Park \| Columbia \| Cumberland \| Ellicott City \| Frederick \| Gaithersburg \| Germantown \| Greenbelt \| Hagerstown \| Laurel \| Rockville \| Salisbury \| Silver Spring \| Takoma Park \| Towson \| Waldorf \| Westminster
Counties	Allegany \| Anne Arundel \| Baltimore City \| Baltimore County \| Calvert \| Caroline \| Carroll \| Cecil \| Charles \| Dorchester \| Frederick \| Garrett \| Harford \| Howard \| Kent \| Montgomery \| Prince George's \| Queen Anne's \| St. Mary's \| Somerset \| Talbot \| Washington \| Wicomico \| Worcester

	Commonwealth of Virginia Richmond (capital)
Topics	Rivers \| Governors \| Colony \| Rights \| Homes \| Colleges and universities \| Counties \| People
Regions	Allegheny Mountains \| Atlantic Coastal Plain \| Blue Ridge \| Chesapeake Bay \| Delmarva Peninsula \| Eastern Shore \| Hampton Roads \| Middle Peninsula \| Northern Neck \| Northern Virginia \| Piedmont \| Ridge‑and‑valley Appalachians \| Shenandoah Valley \| South Hampton Roads \| Southside \| Southwest Virginia \| Tennessee Valley \| Tidewater \| Tri-Cities \| Virginia Peninsula
Metro areas	Alexandria \| Arlington \| Blacksburg \| Bluefield \| Bristol \| Christiansburg \| Charlottesville \| Culpeper \| Danville \| Harrisonburg \| Lynchburg \| Martinsville \| Newport News \| Norfolk \| Radford \| Richmond \| Roanoke \| Staunton \| Virginia Beach \| Warrenton \| Waynesboro \| Winchester \|
Counties	Accomack \| Albemarle \| Alleghany \| Amelia \| Amherst \| Appomattox \| Arlington \| Augusta \| Bath \| Bedford \| Bland \| Botetourt \| Brunswick \| Buchanan \| Buckingham \| Campbell \| Caroline \| Carroll \| Charles City \| Charlotte \| Chesterfield \| Clarke \| Craig \| Culpeper \| Cumberland \| Dickenson \| Dinwiddie \| Essex \| Fairfax \| Fauquier \| Floyd \| Fluvanna \| Franklin \| Frederick \| Giles \| Gloucester \| Goochland \| Grayson \| Greene \| Greensville \| Halifax \| Hanover \| Henrico \| Henry \| Highland \| Isle of Wight \| James City \| King and Queen \| King George \| King William \| Lancaster \| Lee \| Loudoun \| Louisa \| Lunenburg \| Madison \| Mathews \| Mecklenburg \| Middlesex \| Montgomery \| Nelson \| New Kent \| Northampton \| Northumberland \| Nottoway \| Orange \| Page \| Patrick \| Pittsylvania \| Powhatan \| Prince Edward \| Prince George \| Prince William \| Pulaski \| Rappahannock \| Richmond \| Roanoke \| Rockbridge \| Rockingham \| Russell \| Scott \| Shenandoah \| Smyth \| Southampton \| Spotsylvania \| Stafford \| Surry \| Sussex \| Tazewell \| Warren \| Washington \| Westmoreland \| Wise \| Wythe \| York
Independent cities	Alexandria \| Bedford \| Bristol \| Buena Vista \| Charlottesville \| Chesapeake \| Colonial Heights \| Covington \| Danville \| Emporia \| Fairfax \| Falls Church \| Franklin \| Fredericksburg \| Galax \| Hampton \| Harrisonburg \| Hopewell \| Lexington \| Lynchburg \| Manassas \| Manassas Park \| Martinsville \| Newport News \| Norfolk \| Norton \| Petersburg \| Poquoson \| Portsmouth \| Radford \| Richmond \| Roanoke \| Salem \| Staunton \| Suffolk \| Virginia Beach \| Waynesboro \| Williamsburg \| Winchester
Towns	Abingdon \| Blacksburg \| Bluefield \| Christiansburg \| Culpeper \| Front Royal \| Herndon \| Leesburg \| Marion \| Pulaski \| Richlands \| Warrenton \| Wise \| Wytheville \| Vienna

	State of West Virginia Charleston (capital)
Topics	Cities \| Towns \| Villages \| Census‑designated places \| Governors \| Colleges and universities
Regions	Allegheny Mountains \| Allegheny Plateau \| Baltimore‑Washington Metropolitan Area \| Blue Ridge \| Charleston Metropolitan Area \| Cumberland Plateau \| Eastern Panhandle \| Huntington Metropolitan Area \| North‑Central West Virginia \| Northern Panhandle \| Potomac Highlands \| Ridge‑and‑valley Appalachians \| Shenandoah Valley \| Southern West Virginia \| Western West Virginia
Major cities	Charleston \| Huntington \| Parkersburg \| Wheeling \| Morgantown
Smaller cities	Beckley \| Bluefield \| Clarksburg \| Cross Lanes \| Fairmont \| Kabletown \| Martinsburg \| Saint Albans \| South Charleston \| Teays Valley \| Vienna \| Weirton
Counties	Barbour \| Berkeley \| Boone \| Braxton \| Brooke \| Cabell \| Calhoun \| Clay \| Doddridge \| Fayette \|

	District of Columbia Capital of the United States
Topics	Culture \| History \| Geography \| Economy \| Demographics \| Media \| Music \| Sports \| Transportation \| Emancipation Day
Government	Home rule \| Voting rights \| Former Mayors \| Current Mayor \| Statehood movement \| Retrocession