Rob Hampton, age 13, of Lake Charles, La., for his question:

HOW LARGE IS WASHINGTON, D.C.?

A special piece of land, according to the Constitution of the United States, was to be chosen as a site for the national capital. At first the land was called the Territory of Columbia, and it covered 100 square miles on both banks of the Potomac River.

In 1846 a part of the territory, including Alexandria, was returned to Virginia. Since 1878 the city of Washington and the District of Columbia have covered the same area, about 69 square miles.

Washington, District of Columbia, is called Washington, D.C. It is the area set aside for the government of the United States.

This federal city was called Washington after the first President. It was built on a marshy portion of the District of Columbia between the Potomac and East Branch of the Anacostia rivers.

George Washington hired a French engineer named Pierre Charles L'Enfant to draw the original plan for the city's physical layout.