Donald Trump has been elected as the 47th President of the United States of America, beating Democrat Kamala Harris in the race for the keys to the White House.

With such a huge victory on the cards, he will wield unprecedented power in the country; the decisions of the most influential country in the western world rest in his hands.

In making the decisions, the Capitol building is a crucial landmark in the country, as it is where the Senate and House of Representatives come together to discuss, debate and deliberate national policy as well as write the laws of the nation that Trump will now control, as it has since 1800. It is where presidents are inaugurated and the site from which they deliver their annual State of the Union messages.

How many rooms does the Capitol have?

The United States Capitol Building is located in Washington, D.C., at the eastern end of the National Mall. Facing westward, it sits on a huge, 88-feet plateau above the Potomac River.

Building the Capitol began back in 1793 after being designed by Dr. William Thorton, with the cornerstone being laid by President George Washington. The U.S. Capitol has, as put by the official government website, “built, burnt, rebuilt, extended and restored” over the years.

The U.S. Capitol sits as the main focus of Capitol Campus, a site that includes the principal Congressional office buildings and three Library of Congress buildings.

How big is the US Capitol building?

According to the official website, “the U.S. Capitol covers a ground area of 175,170 square feet, or about 4 acres, and has a floor area of approximately 16-1/2 acres. Its length, from north to south, is 751 feet 4 inches; its greatest width, including approaches, is 350 feet.

Its height above the base line on the east front to the top of the Statue of Freedom is 288 feet. The building contains approximately 540 rooms and has 658 windows (108 in the dome alone) and approximately 850 doorways.”

The Capitol building has five levels: from the top, the first level is reserved for committee rooms and holds the spaces allocated to various congressional officers. The second floor is for the Chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate while the third houses the galleries from which visitors can watch the proceedings of the House and the Senate.

Level four and five, the basement level of the Capitol, are both filled with offices, machinery rooms and workshops. The Capitol building was stormed by Republicans in 2021 after Donald Trump supporters refused to accept that he had lost the election to Joe Biden.