The Pentagon serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. As one of the world's largest office buildings, it has a floor space of 3,705,793 square feet, or three times that of the Empire State Buiding in New York. The Pentagon houses a daily working population of approximately 24,000 employees, both military and civilian.
The Pentagon Reservation is located in southeastern Arlington County, Virginia, and is situated between a large man-made lagoon (the Pentagon Lagoon, formed during construction) and the southeastern corner of Arlington National Cemetery. The northeastern and eastern facades have unobstructed vistas of the Monumental Core of the Nation's Capital across the Potomac River. The Pentagon's relatively low profile also permits clear vistas of Washington from the highlands of Arlington National Cemetery.
The Pentagon Complex is composed of 200 acres of lawn as well of 16 parking lots, which hold approximately 8,770 cars. Despite 17.5 miles of corridors it takes only seven minutes to walk between any two points in the building. It houses more than 4,200 clocks, 691 water fountains, 284 rest rooms, one dining room, 2 cafeterias, 6 snack bars and one outdoor snack bar. Restaurant service is outsourced under contract to a civilian operation.
Over 200,000 telephone calls are made daily through phones connected by 100,000 miles of telephone cable while the Defense Post Office handles about 1,200,000 pieces of mail monthly. Various libraries are located throughout the building with the Army Library alone providing 300,000 publications and 1,700 periodicals in various languages.
The Pentagon building is composed of five concentric pentagonal rings connected by ten radial corridors. Each of its outer walls is 921.6 feet long. The building covers 29 acres, the largest ground area of any office building in the world. A five-acre pentagonal courtyard is located in the building's center. The building and its central courtyard cover 34 acres. There are 17.5 miles of corridors in the building. The structure is three times the size of the Empire State Building and 50 percent larger than Chicago's Merchandise Mart. The building rests on 41,492 concrete piles, the combined length of which would stretch 200 miles. The five concentric pentagonal rings are separated by interior courts which serve as light wells. This design feature increases the number of windows allowing natural light. Each ring has five stories. The Mall and River sides of the building have a Basement area which includes a partial Mezzanine. The innermost and outermost rings have sloping slate roofs, while the other three rings have flat, built-up roofs. The rings are connected at each floor level by a series of ten radial corridors extending from the "A" ring (innermost) to the "E" ring (outermost).
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