The National Capital Region portion of the Washington metropolitan area is also colloquially known by the abbreviation "DMV", which stands for the "District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia.

[20] Chartered in 1964, the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area is a regional organization of 20 colleges and universities in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the United States Institute of Peace, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts representing nearly 300,000+ students.

[26] Formed in 1967 as an interstate compact between Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, the WMATA is a tri-jurisdictional government agency with a board composed of representatives from Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the United States Federal government that operates transit services in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

"[36] The Washington metropolitan area has held the top spot in the American College of Sports Medicine's annual American Fitness Index ranking of the United States' 50 most populous metropolitan areas for two years running.

The report cites, among other things, the high average fitness level and healthy eating habits of residents, the widespread availability of health care and facilities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, and parks, low rates of obesity and tobacco use relative to the national average, and the high median household income as contributors to the city's community health.

[38] According to a report by the American Human Development Project, women in the Washington metropolitan area are ranked as having the highest income and educational attainment among the 25 most populous metropolitan areas in the nation, while Asian American women in the region had the highest life expectancy, at 92.3 years.

"[46][47] The Washington metropolitan area has a significant biotechnology industry; companies with a major presence in the region as of 2011 include Merck, Pfizer, Human Genome Sciences, Martek Biosciences, and Qiagen.

[48] Additionally, many biotechnology companies such as United Therapeutics, Novavax, Emergent BioSolutions, Parabon NanoLabs and MedImmune have headquarters in the region.

Firms with a presence in the area include Fortrea, IQVIA, Charles River Laboratories, and ICON plc.

Local consumer goods companies include Nestle USA and Mars, Incorporated.

Local defense contractors include Lockheed Martin, the largest, as well as General Dynamics, BAE Systems Inc., Northrop Grumman,[49] Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), CACI, ManTech International, DynCorp, and Leidos.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Washington DC region has the second largest concentration of journalists and media personnel in the United States after the New York metropolitan area.

[50] Washington's industry presence includes major publications with national audiences such as The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, and USA Today, as well as new media publishers such as Vox Media, RealClearPolitics, Axios, and Politico.

Anchored by the Dulles Technology Corridor, the telecommunications and tech industry in DC spans a diverse range of players across internet infrastructure, broadcasting, satellite communications, and datacenters.

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure resulted in a significant shuffling of military, civilian, and defense contractor employees in the Washington metropolitan area.

Listing of the professional sports teams in the Washington metropolitan area: The Washington metropolitan area is home to DCTV, USA Today, C-SPAN, PBS, NPR, Politico, BET, TV One and Discovery Communications.

Local television channels include WRC-TV 4 (NBC), WTTG 5 (FOX), WJLA 7 (ABC), WUSA 9 (CBS), WDCA 20 (MyNetworkTV), WETA-TV 26 (PBS), WDCW 50 (CW), and WPXW 66 (Ion).