Washington DC Go!

The Pentagon Facts

The Pentagon || Pentagon Facts
Pentagon History || Pentagon Map
Pentagon Tours || Pentagon Address

The Pentagon is the headquarters for the U.S. Department of Defense. It was constructed to bring all offices of what was then termed the Department of War together into a single building. The Pentagon now contains offices for the departments of the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy, and for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Location: Arlington, Va.--opposite Washington, DC, across the Potomac River.

Building Area: 11.74 hectares (29 acres--One of the largest office buildings in the world).

Surrounding Area: 200 acres of grounds, accomodating roughly 8,770 cars in 16 parking lots.

Architect: George Edwin Bergstrom.

Architectural Style: Stripped Neo-Classical.

Construction: Built by U.S. Army engineers between 1941 to 1943.

Office Space: 3,705,793 square feet--3 times the floorspace of the Empire State Building.

Number of Employees: Approximately 23,000 employees, both military and civilian, work on planning and execution of U.S. defense.

Subway Station: Pentagon Metro.

Number of Stairwells: 131 stairways.

Miles of Corrdior: 17.5.

Number of Clocks: 4,200.

Number of Water Fountains: 691.

Did You Know?
The building underwent a 13-year renovation that was finally completed in 2011. In a series of stages, the structure's interior was largely gutted and renovated to modernize it with improved energy efficiency, security, and layout.

The crash of flight 77 into the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001, is considered the most significant foreign attack on Washington, DC, since the city was sacked and set on fire in 1814 by British forces.

The most famous military complex in the world is guarded by the US Pentagon Police, which is a federal law enforcement service made up of civilians.