Watergate complex to Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974. The name "Watergate" and the suffix "-gate" have since become synonymous with political scandals in the United States and elsewhere. The Watergate superblock is bounded on the north by Virginia Avenue, on the east by New Hampshire Avenue, on the south by F Street, and on the west by the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. It is in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood overlooking the Potomac River, next to the Kennedy Center and the embassy of Saudi Arabia. The nearest Metro station, 0.4 miles (650 m) distant, is Foggy Bottom-GWU. For more than a
Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area due to their proximity to the area, the size of their commuter population, and by the influence of local broadcasting stations. The population of the entire Washington-Baltimore Combined Statistical Area as of the Census Bureau's 2012 Population Estimates is 9,331,587. The most populous city is Washington, DC, with a population of 681,170. The most populous county is Fairfax County, Virginia, with a population exceeding 1.1 million. The counties and independent cities and their groupings that comprise the metropolitan area are listed below with their 2012 population estimates. Central counties/cities (designated as such by OMB) for each MSA are shown in