Arlington
County in Virginia, and a suburb of Washington, DC, USA, which it faces across the Potomac River; area 67 sq km/26 sq mi; population (2000 est) 189,500. Arlington is a busy residential community with clusters of modern high-rise buildings and some light manufacturing (electrical components, scientific instruments, machinery). It is home to Strayer College (1892) and Marymount University (1950), as well as numerous federal buildings.
History
Ceded by Virginia in 1789 to form part of the District of Columbia, the area was returned to Virginia in 1846. Approximately 20% of its land is owned by the Federal government, whose facilities include Arlington National Cemetery, Washington National Airport, Fort Myer, and the Pentagon.
Features
Arlington is the site of the National Cemetery for the dead of US wars. The grounds were first used as a military cemetery in 1864 during the American Civil War. Presidents William Taft and John F Kennedy are buried here, as is Kennedy's brother Robert Kennedy. The tomb of the
Unknown Soldier is located here.
Arlington
| City in Tarrant County, northeast Texas, USA; population (2000) 333,000. It is located between Dallas and Fort Worth on the Trinity River and Lake Arlington. An agricultural centre, it developed quickly after 1954, when General Motors opened a large auto plant. The city now makes cars, trailers, steel and iron, aerospace equipment, chemicals, rubber and paper products, cans, and machinery. The University of Texas at Arlington began as a state college in 1895, and Arlington Baptist College was established in 1939. The city's population almost tripled between 1970 and 1990. |
| Arlington was first settled in 1843 on an American Indian site; it was laid out in 1876 and named after the Confederate general Robert E Lee's Virginia home. Arlington was incorporated as a city in 1920. |
