Alexandria

Alexandria is an independent city in the United States Commonwealth of Virginia. Located along the western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 7 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.

Like the rest of Northern Virginia, as well as Central Maryland, modern Alexandria has been shaped by its proximity to the U.S. capital. It is largely populated by professionals working in the federal civil service, in the U.S. military, or for one of the many private companies which contract to provide services to the federal government. One of Alexandria’s largest employers is the U.S. Department of Defense. Another is the Institute for Defense Analyses. In 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark Office moved to Alexandria.

A portion of adjacent Fairfax County is named “Alexandria,” but it is under the jurisdiction of Fairfax County and separate from the city; the city is sometimes referred to as the City of Alexandria or Alexandria City to avoid confusion. In 1920, Virginia’s General Assembly voted to incorporate what had been Alexandria County as Arlington County to minimize confusion.

Alexandria has a distributed park system with approximately 950 acres spread across 70 major parks and 30 recreation centers, of which Chinquapin is one of the largest. Chinquapin offers facilities for swimming, tennis, racquetball, and other sports. The city also organizes several sports leagues throughout the year including volleyball, softball and basketball.

source: wikipedia.org