Capital Wasteland The Capital Wasteland is the general name given to the ruins of Washington , D . C . and the region surrounding it . A once verdant and populated area of the US , the Capital and its surrounding countryside received significant nuclear bombardment during the Great War . As of 2277 , the area is little more than a scorching , barren desert where life for its inhabitants is a constant struggle for survival . It stretches from Raven Rock in the northwest to Rivet City in the southeast , with what ' s left of the Potomac River dividing it roughly in two . It serves as the game - world for " Fallout 3 " . Background . Before the Great War , the Capital Wasteland was part of the Columbia Commonwealth that contained the District of Columbia . What is now a wasteland , was once a densely populated metropolitan area . Arlington , Annandale , Bethesda , Springvale , Germantown , Fairfax , Alexandria and Olney are the major towns that the Lone Wanderer can discover , most of which have real - life counterparts . During the events of 2077 , the city of Washington , D . C . was hit by a bombardment of nuclear weapons that completely destroyed the city and irradiated the surrounding area . Being the capital , it was hit harder than most of the country . By comparison to the west coast , the D . C . area is mostly rubble and ruins . Only a few buildings , mostly landmarks due to their more precise building techniques , remain in the area . The primary method of getting around downtown D . C . is the metro system , due to the roads and streets being completely blocked by towering walls of rubble . However , the Virginia area of the wasteland is more open due to the fact that there were fewer buildings there in the first place . Therefore , there isn ' t much rubble and is much easier to traverse . Some missiles in this bombardment also targeted nearby Fort Bannister . Not only did the fort suffer a nearly direct hit , the bombs also decimated the surrounding countryside . As of 2277 , the area is nothing but a lifeless and barren desert , with the western edge of the wasteland containing large craters filled with radiation . Some stray bombs fell off course and hit the countryside , not doing much damage but still irradiating the surrounding areas . The nuclear holocaust drove many of Bethesda ' s residents into a savage tribe of raiders , living , breeding and hunting in the ruins of Bethesda . Olney became Old Olney , where some still reside , but right after the war the surrounding countryside made gathering supplies for support difficult , so many moved away . Since then , the ruins became a large deathclaw breeding ground . Annandale has become Andale , a town of inbred cannibals . Arlington is nothing more than Mama Dolce ' s and the national cemetery surrounded by pockets of open ground only accessible by the metro tunnel . Springvale is a burned down , looted ruin . Germantown has become a home for super mutants that use the area to capture locals in order to increase their numbers . Many historic landmarks of the former United States such as the Capitol Building , the Museum of Technology , the Museum of American History and the National Mall are now super mutant infested ruins or , like the White House , just radioactive craters . However , new towns such as Megaton , Rivet City , Tenpenny Tower , Underworld and Little Lamplight , as well as smaller settlements like the Republic of Dave , Oasis , Big Town , Arefu Andale , the Temple of the Union , Canterbury Commons and Girdershade have since risen out of the ashes of war . The people of the wasteland barely have enough supplies to scratch out a living , with the only agriculture being mutfruits and lab grown plants , such as potatoes and carrots . The towns mainly survive off of brahmin meat , milk , squirrel and iguanas . Hunters also provide the locals with meat from various other parts of the wasteland and a small amount of fish from the Potomac River . Also , a large amount of food comes from scavengers inside the D . C . area who scavenge pre - War food . Food is traded between the Capital Wasteland and Point Lookout , Maryland where many merchants in the wasteland can be found to have punga fruit , which is only native to the swamplands of Point Lookout . Tobar the Ferryman used to trade this fruit with the local merchants . The most influential factions of the region include the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel , with their base camp located in the Citadel , built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon and the Enclave who , secluded in Raven Rock , are believed by many to be nothing more than a pre - recorded , pre - War tape stuck on a loop . Factions also include the super mutants , emerging from Vault 87 , who overrun most of the Downtown D . C . and Arlington areas , as well as much of the wasteland . There are slavers , operating from Paradise Falls , Brotherhood Outcasts of Fort Independence who left the B . O . S . to continue what they believe to be their mission , the Talon Company mercenaries , who are based at the ruins of Fort Bannister and various raider tribes , who have numerous small camps and nomadic tribes in the area , the largest being Evergreen Mills . By 2287 , the fate of the Capital Wasteland is unclear . Under the new leadership of Arthur Maxson , the Brotherhood has reintegrated the Brotherhood Outcasts and rules over the wasteland , but at the cost of reverting mostly back to its original mission and focusing more attention outside of the region . Megaton also has more of a direct influence within the region , but nothing much else is known afterwards . Rivet City ' s fate is unknown , but the Prydwen ' s power core is stated to have been sourced from a reactor from an old aircraft carrier . Environment . The D . C . area was hit more severely than the West Coast , due to its military and political significance , along with the fact that it lacked a defense system against nuclear attacks . As a result , the Capital Wasteland is an incinerated and barren desert , almost impossible to support life under normal circumstances . The local inhabitants are far more hostile and are only friendly to members of their group , such as the many raider tribes . Pockets of radiation are far more frequent and in higher concentrations . Purified water is extremely scarce , as well as any kind of fresh food . The buildings in the D . C . ruins have been hit the hardest structurally , as most are either destroyed , falling apart , literally falling into each other or barely standing . The streets are littered with rubble and are largely impassable , forcing explorers to rely on sewers and subways to navigate the city , most of which have caved in . Any functional buildings are either a constant war - zone , or are heavily fortified by a group of wastelanders , mostly in the southeast section of the wasteland . Most of the northern and southern parts of the wasteland are far more habitable , but don ' t have enough pre - War resources to support many people . Thus , only hermits , raiders and wastelander families still inhabit these desolate areas . The countryside surrounding the D . C . area is almost entirely void of life and has quite a disturbing appearance . There is no flora , grass and bushes are shriveled and have turned a sickly black or yellow in color . The trees are charred and are no more than dead husks , which litter the wasteland as far as the eye can see . The soil itself is irradiated and scorched , making it unfit for farming purposes , while the atmosphere has a permanent yellow - green haze caused by background radiation . There is never any form of precipitation , adding to the difficulties of finding a clean water - supply . Inhabitants . The Capital Wasteland is a nearly inhospitable , very violent area of post - apocalyptic America . It is not uncommon to find dead bodies that have been victims of raiders or desperate wastelanders . Few materials that are encountered are freshly manufactured in any way and scavenging or trading is the only reliable means of finding materials to survive . Traders are typically found all over the wasteland and sell their wares to travelers , most commonly in the D . C . ruins and metro tunnels . Mutated creatures such as centaurs are much more common in the Capital Wasteland than in New California . Slavery is a common occurrence as it is fairly easy , pays large amounts of caps ( which are the standardized currency in the area ) , is in high demand and is an easy way for someone to quickly gain powerful weapons . Groups of marauders called raiders attack unsuspecting or weak travelers using guerilla warfare tactics . The raiders take pride in strength , attacking anyone who is weak or vulnerable and their favorite activities are torture and murder , as indicated by the numerous mutilated corpses that decorate their bases and areas of influence . The old world is still prevalent beyond the bombed out buildings and radiation . Ghoul s are fairly common , partly due to the large pockets of radiation , irradiated food and the large population of people during the Great War . Ghouls , despite superior knowledge of the terrain and its technology that has survived , have become points of ridicule among some of the various denizens . Murder is a common occurrence as well , with the pre - War laws having been long neglected and forgotten , either because a person needs to kill another in order to get a precious scrap of food or water , to show power and dominance or just simply because they don ' t care about other people ' s lives ( examples : Mr . Burke , Eulogy Jones , etc . ) . Few water based organisms are still alive due to irradiated water besides mirelurk s , which inhabit what ' s left of the Potomac River . Mirelurks usually can be found in dark , damp and irradiated areas , especially the Nuka - Cola plant . Some mirelurks have expanded as far as to Point Lookout . Super mutants are far more common in the DC area than in the west and , as there is little in the way of an effective military , a person must either have extreme luck , be heavily armed or hope they run into a Brotherhood of Steel patrol in order to survive an encounter with a super mutant . Drug use is still a common occurrence in the Capital Wasteland . In fact , they ' re one of the few things that are being freshly produced along with medicinal drugs , though they are pretty expensive . With this being said , not all hope is lost for the Capital Wasteland . Not all residents of the Capital Wasteland are violent . In fact , there are a fair number of settlements with a population of civil ( although sometimes unsavory ) people ( examples : Megaton , Rivet City , Tenpenny Tower ) . Some of the inhabitants even try to keep some form of order in the Capital Wasteland . The Regulators seek out criminals and kill them . The Temple of the Union tries to help runaway slaves . The East Coast Brotherhood of Steel contains a large portion of the super mutant threat with regular patrols in the DC ruin . Beyond drugs , people are trying to manufacture new goods , grow food and even have their own version of " wasteland recycling . " Rivet City is currently the only producer of non - irradiated food and is working on portable fusion power . Point Lookout has also proven to be a reliable source of supply , especially its punga fruit . Motorcycles are being turned into sets of metal armor . Weapons , such as the Shishkebab and the railway rifle , are being made out of materials originally thought to be junk . The Capital Wasteland is just another part of post - apocalyptic America that is filled with people just doing whatever they have to in order to survive . There are 3 types of flowers : Three variations of fungi : Appearances . The Capital Wasteland is the setting of " Fallout 3 " and is later expanded upon in its add - ons . A map of the Capital Wasteland appears in HELIOS One in " " . It is also mentioned frequently in " Fallout 4 " .