Anacostia River flows for about 8.4 mi (13.5 km) from Prince Georges County (Prince Georges County, Maryland) in Maryland, USA (United States) and through Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. The name "Anacostia" derives from the areas early history as Nacotchtank, a settlement of Necostan or Anacostan Native American (Native Americans in the United States)s on the banks of the Anacostia River.

Heavy pollution (water pollution) in the Anacostia and weak investment and development (land development) along its banks have led to it becoming what many have called "D.C.s forgotten river." In recent years, however, private organizations, local businesses, and the D.C., Maryland (Government of Maryland) and federal (Federal government of the United States) governments have made joint efforts to reduce its pollution levels in order to protect the ecologically valuable Anacostia watershed (Drainage basin).