fbpx
Wikipedia

Maryland

Maryland (US: /ˈmɛrɪlənd/ (listen) MERR-il-ənd)[b] is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.[10][11] It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. Baltimore[12] is the largest city in the state, and the capital is Annapolis. Among its occasional nicknames are Old Line State, the Free State, and the Chesapeake Bay State. It is named after Henrietta Maria, the French-born queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, who was known then in England as Mary.[13][14]

Maryland
State of Maryland
Nickname(s)
"Old Line State", "Free State", "Little America",[1] "America in Miniature"[2]
Mottoes
  • "Fatti maschii, parole femine"
    (English: "Strong Deeds, Gentle Words")[3]
  • The Latin text encircling the seal:
    Scuto bonæ voluntatis tuæ coronasti nos ("With Favor Wilt Thou Compass Us as with a Shield") Psalm 5:12[4]
Anthem: None[a]
Map of the United States with Maryland highlighted
CountryUnited States
Before statehoodProvince of Maryland
Admitted to the UnionApril 28, 1788 (7th)
CapitalAnnapolis
Largest cityBaltimore
Largest metro and urban areas
Government
 • GovernorLarry Hogan (R)
 • Lieutenant GovernorBoyd Rutherford (R)
LegislatureGeneral Assembly
 • Upper houseSenate
 • Lower houseHouse of Delegates
JudiciaryMaryland Court of Appeals
U.S. senators
U.S. House delegation
  • 7 Democrats
  • 1 Republican
(list)
Area
 • Total12,407 sq mi (32,133 km2)
 • Land9,776 sq mi (25,314 km2)
 • Water2,633 sq mi (6,819 km2)  21%
 • Rank42nd
Dimensions
 • Length250 mi (400 km)
 • Width100 mi (200 km)
Elevation
350 ft (110 m)
Highest elevation3,360 ft (1,024 m)
Lowest elevation0 ft (0 m)
Population
 • Total6,177,224
 • Rank18th
 • Density632/sq mi (244/km2)
  • Rank4th
 • Median household income
$87,063
 • Income rank
1st
DemonymMarylander
Language
 • Official languageNone (English, de facto)
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (EDT)
USPS abbreviation
MD
ISO 3166 codeUS-MD
Traditional abbreviationMd.
Latitude37° 53′ N to 39° 43′ N
Longitude75° 03′ W to 79° 29′ W
Websitewww.maryland.gov

Before its coastline was explored by Europeans in the 16th century, Maryland was inhabited by several groups of Native Americans – mostly by Algonquian peoples and, to a lesser degree, Iroquoian and Siouan.[15] As one of the original Thirteen Colonies of England, Maryland was founded by George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, a Catholic convert[16][17] who sought to provide a religious haven for Catholics persecuted in England.[18] In 1632, Charles I of England granted Lord Baltimore a colonial charter, naming the colony after his wife, Henrietta Maria.[19] Unlike the Pilgrims and Puritans, who rejected Catholicism in their settlements, Lord Baltimore envisioned a colony where people of different religious sects would coexist under the principle of toleration.[18] Accordingly, in 1649 the Maryland General Assembly passed an Act Concerning Religion, which enshrined this principle by penalizing anyone who "reproached" a fellow Marylander based on religious affiliation.[20] Nevertheless, religious strife was common in the early years, and Catholics remained a minority, albeit in greater numbers than in any other English colony.

Maryland's early settlements and population centers clustered around rivers and other waterways that empty into the Chesapeake Bay. Its economy was heavily plantation-based and centered mostly on the cultivation of tobacco. Demand for cheap labor from Maryland colonists led to the importation of numerous indentured servants and enslaved Africans. In 1760, Maryland's current boundaries took form following the settlement of a long-running border dispute with Pennsylvania. Maryland was an active participant in the events leading up to the American Revolution, and by 1776, its delegates signed the Declaration of Independence. Many of its citizens subsequently played key political and military roles in the war. In 1790, the state ceded land for the establishment of the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C.

Although then a slave state, Maryland remained in the Union during the American Civil War, its strategic location giving it a significant role in the conflict. After the Civil War, Maryland took part in the Industrial Revolution, driven by its seaports, railroad networks, and mass immigration from Europe. Since the 1940s, the state's population has grown rapidly, to approximately six million residents, and it is among the most densely populated U.S. states. As of 2015, Maryland had the highest median household income of any state, owing in large part to its proximity to Washington, D.C., and a highly diversified economy spanning manufacturing, retail services, public administration, real estate, higher education, information technology, defense contracting, health care, and biotechnology.[21] The state's central role in U.S. history is reflected by its hosting of some of the highest numbers of historic landmarks per capita.

Sixteen of Maryland's twenty-three counties, as well as the city of Baltimore, border the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay estuary and its many tributaries,[22][12] which combined total more than 4,000 miles of shoreline. Although one of the smallest states in the U.S., it features a variety of climates and topographical features that have earned it the moniker of America in Miniature.[23] In a similar vein, Maryland's geography, culture, and history combine elements of the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, and Southern regions of the country.

History

17th century

Maryland's first colonial settlement

George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (1579–1632), sought a charter from King Charles I for the territory between Massachusetts to the north and Virginia to the immediate south.[24] After Baltimore died in April 1632, the charter was granted to his son, Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (1605–1675), on June 20, 1632. Officially, the new "Maryland Colony" was named in honor of Henrietta Maria of France, wife of Charles I of England.[25] Lord Baltimore initially proposed the name "Crescentia", the land of growth or increase, but "the King proposed Terra Mariae [Mary Land], which was concluded on and Inserted in the bill."[18]

The original capital of Maryland was St. Mary's City, on the north shore of the Potomac River, and the county surrounding it, the first erected/created in the province,[26] was first called Augusta Carolina, after the King, and later named St. Mary's County.[27]

Lord Baltimore's first settlers arrived in the new colony in March 1634, with his younger brother the Honorable Leonard Calvert (1606–1647), as first provincial Governor of Maryland. They made their first permanent settlement at St. Mary's City in what is now St. Mary's County. They purchased the site from the paramount chief of the region, who was eager to establish trade. St. Mary's became the first capital of Maryland, and remained so for 60 years until 1695. More settlers soon followed. Their tobacco crops were successful and quickly made the new colony profitable. However, given the incidence of malaria, yellow fever, and typhoid, life expectancy in Maryland was about 10 years less than in New England.[28]

Persecution of Catholics

Maryland was founded to provide a haven for England's Roman Catholic minority.[29] Although Maryland was the most heavily Catholic of the English mainland colonies, the religion was still in the minority, consisting of less than 10% of the total population.[30]

In 1642, a number of Puritans left Virginia for Maryland and founded Providence (now called Annapolis) on the western shore of the upper Chesapeake Bay.[31] A dispute with traders from Virginia over Kent Island in the Chesapeake led to armed conflict. In 1644, William Claiborne, a Puritan, seized Kent Island while his associate, the pro-Parliament Puritan Richard Ingle, took over St. Mary's.[32] Both used religion as a tool to gain popular support. The two years from 1644 to 1646 when Claiborne and his Puritan associates held sway were known as "The Plundering Time". They captured Jesuit priests, imprisoned them, then sent them back to England.

In 1646, Leonard Calvert returned with troops, recaptured St. Mary's City, and restored order. The House of Delegates passed the "Act concerning Religion" in 1649 granting religious liberty to all Trinitarian Christians.[28]

In 1650, the Puritans revolted against the proprietary government. "Protestants swept the Catholics out of the legislature ... and religious strife returned."[28] The Puritans set up a new government prohibiting both Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism. The Puritan revolutionary government persecuted Maryland Catholics during its reign, known as the "plundering time". Mobs burned down all the original Catholic churches of southern Maryland. The Puritan rule lasted until 1658 when the Calvert family and Lord Baltimore regained proprietary control and re-enacted the Toleration Act.

After England's "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, Maryland outlawed Catholicism. In 1704, the Maryland General Assembly prohibited Catholics from operating schools, limited the corporate ownership of property to hamper religious orders from expanding or supporting themselves, and encouraged the conversion of Catholic children.[30] The celebration of the Catholic sacraments was also officially restricted. This state of affairs lasted until after the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Wealthy Catholic planters built chapels on their land to practice their religion in relative secrecy.

Into the 18th century, individual priests and lay leaders claimed Maryland farms belonging to the Jesuits as personal property and bequeathed them in order to evade the legal restrictions on religious organizations' owning property.[30]

Border disputes (1681–1760)

 
1732 map of Maryland[33]

The royal charter granted Maryland the land north of the Potomac River up to the 40th parallel. A problem arose when Charles II granted a charter for Pennsylvania. The grant defined Pennsylvania's southern border as identical to Maryland's northern border, the 40th parallel. But the grant indicated that Charles II and William Penn assumed the 40th parallel would pass close to New Castle, Delaware when it falls north of Philadelphia, the site of which Penn had already selected for his colony's capital city. Negotiations ensued after the problem was discovered in 1681.

A compromise proposed by Charles II in 1682 was undermined by Penn's receiving the additional grant of what is now Delaware.[34] Penn successfully argued that the Maryland charter entitled Lord Baltimore only to unsettled lands, and Dutch settlement in Delaware predated his charter. The dispute remained unresolved for nearly a century, carried on by the descendants of William Penn and Lord Baltimore—the Calvert family, which controlled Maryland, and the Penn family, which controlled Pennsylvania.[34]

The border dispute with Pennsylvania led to Cresap's War in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 and escalated through the first half of the decade, culminating in the deployment of military forces by Maryland in 1736 and by Pennsylvania in 1737. The armed phase of the conflict ended in May 1738 with the intervention of King George II, who compelled the negotiation of a cease-fire. A provisional agreement had been established in 1732.[34]

Negotiations continued until a final agreement was signed in 1760. The agreement defined the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania as the line of latitude now known as the Mason–Dixon line. Maryland's border with Delaware was based on a Transpeninsular Line and the Twelve-Mile Circle around New Castle.[34]

18th century

Most of the English colonists arrived in Maryland as indentured servants, and had to serve a several years' term as laborers to pay for their passage.[35] In the early years, the line between indentured servants and African slaves or laborers was fluid, and white and black laborers commonly lived and worked together, and formed unions. Mixed-race children born to white mothers were considered free by the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, by which children took the social status of their mothers, a principle of slave law that was adopted throughout the colonies, following Virginia in 1662. During the colonial era, families of free people of color were formed most often by unions of white women and African men.[36]

Many of the free black families migrated to Delaware, where land was cheaper.[36] As the flow of indentured laborers to the colony decreased with improving economic conditions in England, planters in Maryland imported thousands more slaves and racial caste lines hardened. The economy's growth and prosperity were based on slave labor, devoted first to the production of tobacco as the commodity crop.

Maryland was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. Near the end of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), on February 2, 1781, Maryland became the last and 13th state to approve the ratification of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, first proposed in 1776 and adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1778, which brought into being the United States as a united, sovereign and national state. It also became the seventh state admitted to the Union after ratifying the new federal Constitution in 1788. In December 1790, Maryland donated land selected by first President George Washington to the federal government for the creation of the new national capital of Washington, D.C. The land was provided along the north shore of the Potomac River from Montgomery and Prince George's counties, as well as from Fairfax County and Alexandria on the south shore of the Potomac in Virginia; however, the land donated by the Commonwealth of Virginia was later returned to that state by the District of Columbia retrocession in 1846.

19th century

 
The bombardment of Fort McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Influenced by a changing economy, revolutionary ideals, and preaching by ministers, numerous planters in Maryland freed their slaves in the 20 years after the Revolutionary War. Across the Upper South the free black population increased from less than 1% before the war to 14% by 1810.[37] Abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass were born slaves during this time in Dorchester County and Talbot County, respectively.[38][39]

During the War of 1812, the British military attempted to capture Baltimore, which was protected by Fort McHenry. During this bombardment the song "Star-Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key; it was later adopted as the national anthem.

The National Road (U.S. Hwy 40 today) was authorized in 1817 and ran from Baltimore to St. Louis—the first federal highway. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) was the first chartered railroad in the United States. It opened its first section of track for regular operation in 1830 between Baltimore and Ellicott City,[40] and in 1852 it became the first rail line to reach the Ohio River from the eastern seaboard.[41]

Civil War

 
The Battle of Antietam in 1862 was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War with nearly 23,000 casualties.

The state remained with the Union during the Civil War,[42] due in significant part to demographics and Federal intervention. The 1860 census, held shortly before the outbreak of the civil war, showed that 49% of Maryland's African Americans were free blacks.[37]

Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks suspended the state legislature, and to help ensure the election of a new pro-union governor and legislature, President Abraham Lincoln had a number of its pro-slavery politicians arrested, including the Mayor of Baltimore, George William Brown; suspended several civil liberties, including habeas corpus; and ordered artillery placed on Federal Hill overlooking Baltimore. Historians debate the constitutionality of these wartime actions, and the suspension of civil liberties was later deemed illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court.[citation needed]

In April 1861, Federal units and state regiments were attacked as they marched through Baltimore, sparking the Baltimore riot of 1861, the first bloodshed in the Civil War.[43] Of the 115,000 Marylanders who joined the military during the Civil War, around 85,000, or 77%, joined the Union army, while the remainder joined the Confederate Army.[citation needed] The largest and most significant battle in the state was the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg. Although a tactical draw, the battle was considered a strategic Union victory and a turning point of the war.

After the war

A new state constitution in 1864 abolished slavery and Maryland was first recognized as a "Free State" in that context.[44] Following passage of constitutional amendments that granted voting rights to freedmen, in 1867 the state extended suffrage to non-white males.

The Democratic Party rapidly regained power in the state from Republicans. Democrats replaced the Constitution of 1864 with the Constitution of 1867. Following the end of Reconstruction in 1877, Democrats devised means of disenfranchising blacks, initially by physical intimidation and voter fraud, later by constitutional amendments and laws. Blacks and immigrants, however, resisted Democratic Party disfranchisement efforts in the state. Maryland blacks were part of a biracial Republican coalition elected to state government in 1896–1904 and comprised 20% of the electorate.[45]

Compared to some other states, blacks were better established both before and after the civil war. Nearly half the black population was free before the war, and some had accumulated property. Half the population lived in cities. Literacy was high among blacks and, as Democrats crafted means to exclude them, suffrage campaigns helped reach blacks and teach them how to resist.[45] Whites did impose racial segregation in public facilities and Jim Crow laws, which effectively lasted until the passage of federal civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s.

Baltimore grew significantly during the Industrial Revolution, due in large part to its seaport and good railroad connections, attracting European immigrant labor. Many manufacturing businesses were established in the Baltimore area after the Civil War. Baltimore businessmen, including Johns Hopkins, Enoch Pratt, George Peabody, and Henry Walters, founded notable city institutions that bear their names, including respectively a university, library system, music and dance conservatory, and art museum.

Cumberland was Maryland's second-largest city in the 19th century. Nearby supplies of natural resources along with railroads fostered its growth into a major manufacturing center.[46]

20th and 21st centuries

Early 20th century

 
Ruin left by the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904

The Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought political reforms. In a series of laws passed between 1892 and 1908, reformers worked for standard state-issued ballots (rather than those distributed and marked by the parties); obtained closed voting booths to prevent party workers from "assisting" voters; initiated primary elections to keep party bosses from selecting candidates; and had candidates listed without party symbols, which discouraged the illiterate from participating. These measures worked against ill-educated whites and blacks. Blacks resisted such efforts, with suffrage groups conducting voter education. Blacks defeated three efforts to disenfranchise them, making alliances with immigrants to resist various Democratic campaigns.[45] Disenfranchisement bills in 1905, 1907, and 1911 were rebuffed, in large part because of black opposition. Blacks comprised 20% of the electorate and immigrants comprised 15%, and the legislature had difficulty devising requirements against blacks that did not also disadvantage immigrants.[45]

The Progressive Era also brought reforms in working conditions for Maryland's labor force. In 1902, the state regulated conditions in mines; outlawed child laborers under the age of 12; mandated compulsory school attendance; and enacted the nation's first workers' compensation law. The workers' compensation law was overturned in the courts, but was redrafted and finally enacted in 1910.

The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 burned for more than 30 hours, destroying 1,526 buildings and spanning 70 city blocks. More than 1,231 firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control.

With the nation's entry into World War I in 1917, new military bases such as Camp Meade, the Aberdeen Proving Ground, and the Edgewood Arsenal were established. Existing facilities, including Fort McHenry, were greatly expanded.

After Georgia congressman William D. Upshaw criticized Maryland openly in 1923 for not passing Prohibition laws, Baltimore Sun editor Hamilton Owens coined the "Free State" nickname for Maryland in that context, which was popularized by H. L. Mencken in a series of newspaper editorials.[44][47]

Maryland's urban and rural communities had different experiences during the Great Depression. The "Bonus Army" marched through the state in 1932 on its way to Washington, D.C. Maryland instituted its first income tax in 1937 to generate revenue for schools and welfare.[48]

Passenger and freight steamboat service, once important throughout Chesapeake Bay and its many tributary rivers, ended in 1962.[49]

Baltimore was a major war production center during World War II. The biggest operations were Bethlehem Steel's Fairfield Yard, which built Liberty ships; and Glenn Martin, an aircraft manufacturer.

1950–present

Maryland experienced population growth following World War II. Beginning in the 1960s, as suburban growth took hold around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, the state began to take on a more mid-Atlantic culture as opposed to the traditionally Southern and Tidewater culture that previously dominated most of the state. Agricultural tracts gave way to residential communities, some of them carefully planned such as Columbia, St. Charles, and Montgomery Village. Concurrently the Interstate Highway System was built throughout the state, most notably I-95, I-695, and the Capital Beltway, altering travel patterns. In 1952, the eastern and western halves of Maryland were linked for the first time by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which replaced a nearby ferry service.[50]

Maryland's regions experienced economic changes following WWII. Heavy manufacturing declined in Baltimore. In Maryland's four westernmost counties, industrial, railroad, and coal mining jobs declined. On the lower Eastern Shore, family farms were bought up by major concerns and large-scale poultry farms and vegetable farming became prevalent. In Southern Maryland, tobacco farming nearly vanished due to suburban development and a state tobacco buy-out program in the 1990s.

In an effort to reverse depopulation due to the loss of working-class industries, Baltimore initiated urban renewal projects in the 1960s with Charles Center and the Baltimore World Trade Center. Some resulted in the break-up of intact residential neighborhoods, producing social volatility, and some older residential areas around the harbor have had units renovated and have become popular with new populations.

Geography

 
Physical regions of Maryland

Maryland has an area of 12,406.68 square miles (32,133.2 km2) and is comparable in overall area with Belgium [11,787 square miles (30,530 km2)].[51] It is the 42nd largest and 9th smallest state and is closest in size to the state of Hawaii [10,930.98 square miles (28,311.1 km2)], the next smallest state. The next largest state, its neighbor West Virginia, is almost twice the size of Maryland [24,229.76 square miles (62,754.8 km2)].

Description

 
Western Maryland is known for its heavily forested mountains. A panoramic view of Deep Creek Lake and the surrounding Appalachian Mountains in Garrett County.
 
Patapsco River includes the Thomas Viaduct and is part of the Patapsco Valley State Park. The river forms Baltimore's Inner Harbor as it empties into the Chesapeake Bay.
 
Sunset over a marsh at Cardinal Cove on the Patuxent River
 
Tidal wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the nation and the largest water feature in Maryland

Maryland possesses a variety of topography within its borders, contributing to its nickname America in Miniature. It ranges from sandy dunes dotted with seagrass in the east, to low marshlands teeming with wildlife and large bald cypress near the Chesapeake Bay, to gently rolling hills of oak forests in the Piedmont Region, and pine groves in the Maryland mountains to the west.

Maryland is bounded on its north by Pennsylvania, on its north and east by Delaware, on its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on its south and west, across the Potomac River, by West Virginia and Virginia. The mid-portion of this latter border is interrupted by the District of Columbia, which sits on land that was originally part of Montgomery and Prince George's counties and including the town of Georgetown, Maryland. This land was ceded to the United States Federal Government in 1790 to form the District of Columbia. (The Commonwealth of Virginia gave land south of the Potomac, including the town of Alexandria, Virginia; however, Virginia retroceded its portion in 1846). The Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state and the counties east of the bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore.

Most of the state's waterways are part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, with the exceptions of a tiny portion of extreme western Garrett County (drained by the Youghiogheny River as part of the watershed of the Mississippi River), the eastern half of Worcester County (which drains into Maryland's Atlantic coastal bays), and a small portion of the state's northeast corner (which drains into the Delaware River watershed). So prominent is the Chesapeake in Maryland's geography and economic life that there has been periodic agitation to change the state's official nickname to the "Bay State", a nickname that has been used by Massachusetts for decades.

The highest point in Maryland, with an elevation of 3,360 feet (1,020 m), is Hoye Crest on Backbone Mountain, in the southwest corner of Garrett County, near the border with West Virginia, and near the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac River. Close to the small town of Hancock, in western Maryland, about two-thirds of the way across the state, less than 2 miles (3.2 km) separates its borders,[52] the Mason–Dixon line to the north, and the northwards-arching Potomac River to the south.

Portions of Maryland are included in various official and unofficial geographic regions. For example, the Delmarva Peninsula is composed of the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland, the entire state of Delaware, and the two counties that make up the Eastern Shore of Virginia, whereas the westernmost counties of Maryland are considered part of Appalachia. Much of the Baltimore–Washington corridor lies just south of the Piedmont in the Coastal Plain,[53] though it straddles the border between the two regions.

Geology

Earthquakes in Maryland are infrequent and small due to the state's distance from seismic/earthquake zones.[54][55] The M5.8 Virginia earthquake in 2011 was felt moderately throughout Maryland. Buildings in the state are not well-designed for earthquakes and can suffer damage easily.[56]

Maryland has no natural lakes, mostly due to the lack of glacial history in the area.[57] All lakes in the state today were constructed, mostly via dams.[58] Buckel's Bog is believed by geologists to have been a remnant of a former natural lake.[59]

Maryland has shale formations containing natural gas, where fracking is theoretically possible.[60]

Flora

 
Black-eyed susans, the state flower, grow throughout much of the state.[61]
 
Mature Trachycarpus fortunei in Solomons, Maryland

As is typical of states on the East Coast, Maryland's plant life is abundant and healthy. A modest volume of annual precipitation helps to support many types of plants, including seagrass and various reeds at the smaller end of the spectrum to the gigantic Wye Oak, a huge example of white oak, the state tree, which can grow over 70 feet (21 m) tall.

Middle Atlantic coastal forests, typical of the southeastern Atlantic coastal plain, grow around Chesapeake Bay and on the Delmarva Peninsula. Moving west, a mixture of Northeastern coastal forests and Southeastern mixed forests cover the central part of the state. The Appalachian Mountains of western Maryland are home to Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests. These give way to Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests near the West Virginia border.[62]

Many foreign species are cultivated in the state, some as ornamentals, others as novelty species. Included among these are the crape myrtle, Italian cypress, southern magnolia, live oak in the warmer parts of the state,[63] and even hardy palm trees in the warmer central and eastern parts of the state.[64] USDA plant hardiness zones in the state range from Zones 5 and 6 in the extreme western part of the state to Zone 7 in the central part, and Zone 8 around the southern part of the coast, the bay area, and parts of metropolitan Baltimore.[65] Invasive plant species, such as kudzu, tree of heaven, multiflora rose, and Japanese stiltgrass, stifle growth of endemic plant life.[66] Maryland's state flower, the black-eyed susan, grows in abundance in wild flower groups throughout the state.

Fauna

 
A feral Chincoteague Pony on Assateague Island on Maryland's Atlantic coastal islands

The state harbors a considerable number of white-tailed deer, especially in the woody and mountainous west of the state, and overpopulation can become a problem. Mammals can be found ranging from the mountains in the west to the central areas and include black bears,[67] bobcats,[68] foxes, coyotes,[69] raccoons, and otters.[67]

There is a population of rare wild (feral) horses found on Assateague Island.[70] They are believed to be descended from horses who escaped from Spanish galleon shipwrecks.[70] Every year during the last week of July, they are captured and swim across a shallow bay for sale at Chincoteague, Virginia, a conservation technique which ensures the tiny island is not overrun by the horses.[70] The ponies and their sale were popularized by the children's book, Misty of Chincoteague.

The purebred Chesapeake Bay Retriever dog was bred specifically for water sports, hunting and search and rescue in the Chesapeake area.[71] In 1878, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever was the first individual retriever breed recognized by the American Kennel Club.[71] and was later adopted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County as their mascot.

Maryland's reptile and amphibian population includes the diamondback terrapin turtle, which was adopted as the mascot of University of Maryland, College Park, as well as the threatened Eastern box turtle.[72] The state is part of the territory of the Baltimore oriole, which is the official state bird and mascot of the MLB team the Baltimore Orioles.[73] Aside from the oriole, 435 other species of birds have been reported from Maryland.[74]

The state insect is the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly, although it is not as common in Maryland as it is in the southern edge of its range.[75]

Environment

Maryland joined with neighboring states during the end of the 20th century to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The bay's aquatic life and seafood industry have been threatened by development and by fertilizer and livestock waste entering the bay.[76][77]

In 2007, Forbes.com rated Maryland as the fifth "Greenest" state in the country, behind three of the Pacific States and Vermont. Maryland ranks 40th in total energy consumption nationwide, and it managed less toxic waste per capita than all but six states in 2005.[78] In April 2007, Maryland joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) — a regional initiative, formed by all the Northeastern states, Washington, D.C., and three Canadian provinces, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[79] In March 2017, Maryland became the first state with proven gas reserves to ban fracking by passing a law against it. Vermont has such a law, but no shale gas, and New York has such a ban, though it was made by executive order.[60]

Climate

 
Köppen climate types of Maryland, using 1991–2020 climate normals.
 
Winter on Lancaster Street in Baltimore's Fells Point

Maryland has a wide array of climates, due to local variances in elevation, proximity to water, and protection from colder weather due to downslope winds. The eastern half of Maryland — which includes the cities of Ocean City, Salisbury, Annapolis, and the southern and eastern suburbs of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore — lies on the Atlantic Coastal Plain, with flat topography and sandy or muddy soil. This region has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with hot, humid summers and a cool to cold winter; it falls under USDA Hardiness zone 8a.[65]

The Piedmont region, which includes northern and western greater Baltimore, Westminster, Gaithersburg, Frederick, and Hagerstown, has average seasonal snowfall totals generally exceeding 20 inches (51 cm), and, as part of USDA Hardiness zones 7b and 7a,[65] temperatures below 10 °F (−12 °C) are less rare. From the Cumberland Valley on westward, the climate begins to transition to a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa).

In western Maryland, the higher elevations of Allegany and Garrett counties, including the cities of Cumberland, Frostburg, and Oakland, display more characteristics of the humid continental zone, due in part to elevation. They fall under USDA Hardiness zones 6b and below.[65]

Precipitation in the state is characteristic of the East Coast. Annual rainfall ranges from 35 to 45 inches (890 to 1,140 mm) with more in higher elevations. Nearly every part of Maryland receives 3.5–4.5 inches (89–114 mm) per month of rain. Average annual snowfall varies from 9 inches (23 cm) in the coastal areas to over 100 inches (250 cm) in the western mountains of the state.[80]

Because of its location near the Atlantic Coast, Maryland is somewhat vulnerable to tropical cyclones, although the Delmarva Peninsula and the outer banks of North Carolina provide a large buffer, such that strikes from major hurricanes (category 3 or above) occur infrequently. More often, Maryland gets the remnants of a tropical system that has already come ashore and released most of its energy. Maryland averages around 30–40 days of thunderstorms a year, and averages around six tornado strikes annually.[81]

Monthly average high and low temperatures for various Maryland cities and landmarks (covering breadth and width of the state)
City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Oakland 34 °F (1 °C)
16 °F (−9 °C)
38 °F (3 °C)
17 °F (−8 °C)
48 °F (9 °C)
25 °F (−4 °C)
59 °F (15 °C)
34 °F (1 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
45 °F (7 °C)
75 °F (24 °C)
53 °F (12 °C)
79 °F (26 °C)
58 °F (14 °C)
78 °F (26 °C)
56 °F (13 °C)
71 °F (22 °C)
49 °F (9 °C)
62 °F (17 °C)
37 °F (3 °C)
50 °F (10 °C)
28 °F (−2 °C)
39 °F (4 °C)
21 °F (−6 °C)
Cumberland 41 °F (5 °C)
22 °F (−6 °C)
46 °F (8 °C)
24 °F (−4 °C)
56 °F (13 °C)
32 °F (0 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
41 °F (5 °C)
77 °F (25 °C)
51 °F (11 °C)
85 °F (29 °C)
60 °F (16 °C)
89 °F (32 °C)
65 °F (18 °C)
87 °F (31 °C)
63 °F (17 °C)
80 °F (27 °C)
55 °F (13 °C)
69 °F (21 °C)
43 °F (6 °C)
57 °F (14 °C)
34 °F (1 °C)
45 °F (7 °C)
26 °F (−3 °C)
Hagerstown 39 °F (4 °C)
22 °F (−6 °C)
42 °F (6 °C)
23 °F (−5 °C)
52 °F (11 °C)
30 °F (−1 °C)
63 °F (17 °C)
39 °F (4 °C)
72 °F (22 °C)
50 °F (10 °C)
81 °F (27 °C)
59 °F (15 °C)
85 °F (29 °C)
64 °F (18 °C)
83 °F (28 °C)
62 °F (17 °C)
76 °F (24 °C)
54 °F (12 °C)
65 °F (18 °C)
43 °F (6 °C)
54 °F (12 °C)
34 °F (1 °C)
43 °F (6 °C)
26 °F (−3 °C)
Frederick 42 °F (6 °C)
26 °F (−3 °C)
47 °F (8 °C)
28 °F (−2 °C)
56 °F (13 °C)
35 °F (2 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
45 °F (7 °C)
77 °F (25 °C)
54 °F (12 °C)
85 °F (29 °C)
63 °F (17 °C)
89 °F (32 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
87 °F (31 °C)
66 °F (19 °C)
80 °F (27 °C)
59 °F (15 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
47 °F (8 °C)
56 °F (13 °C)
38 °F (3 °C)
45 °F (7 °C)
30 °F (−1 °C)
Baltimore 42 °F (6 °C)
29 °F (−2 °C)
46 °F (8 °C)
31 °F (−1 °C)
54 °F (12 °C)
39 °F (4 °C)
65 °F (18 °C)
48 °F (9 °C)
75 °F (24 °C)
57 °F (14 °C)
85 °F (29 °C)
67 °F (19 °C)
90 °F (32 °C)
72 °F (22 °C)
87 °F (31 °C)
71 °F (22 °C)
80 °F (27 °C)
64 °F (18 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
52 °F (11 °C)
58 °F (14 °C)
43 °F (6 °C)
46 °F (8 °C)
33 °F (1 °C)
Elkton 42 °F (6 °C)
24 °F (−4 °C)
46 °F (8 °C)
26 °F (−3 °C)
55 °F (13 °C)
32 °F (0 °C)
67 °F (19 °C)
42 °F (6 °C)
76 °F (24 °C)
51 °F (11 °C)
85 °F (29 °C)
61 °F (16 °C)
88 °F (31 °C)
66 °F (19 °C)
87 °F (31 °C)
65 °F (18 °C)
80 °F (27 °C)
57 °F (14 °C)
69 °F (21 °C)
45 °F (7 °C)
58 °F (14 °C)
36 °F (2 °C)
46 °F (8 °C)
28 °F (−2 °C)
Ocean City 45 °F (7 °C)
28 °F (−2 °C)
46 °F (8 °C)
29 °F (−2 °C)
53 °F (12 °C)
35 °F (2 °C)
61 °F (16 °C)
44 °F (7 °C)
70 °F (21 °C)
53 °F (12 °C)
79 °F (26 °C)
63 °F (17 °C)
84 °F (29 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
82 °F (28 °C)
67 °F (19 °C)
77 °F (25 °C)
60 °F (16 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
51 °F (11 °C)
58 °F (14 °C)
39 °F (4 °C)
49 °F (9 °C)
32 °F (0 °C)
Waldorf 44 °F (7 °C)
26 °F (−3 °C)
49 °F (9 °C)
28 °F (−2 °C)
58 °F (14 °C)
35 °F (2 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
43 °F (6 °C)
75 °F (24 °C)
53 °F (12 °C)
81 °F (27 °C)
62 °F (17 °C)
85 °F (29 °C)
67 °F (19 °C)
83 °F (28 °C)
65 °F (18 °C)
78 °F (26 °C)
59 °F (15 °C)
68 °F (20 °C)
47 °F (8 °C)
59 °F (15 °C)
38 °F (3 °C)
48 °F (9 °C)
30 °F (−1 °C)
Point Lookout State Park 47 °F (8 °C)
29 °F (−2 °C)
51 °F (11 °C)
31 °F (−1 °C)
60 °F (16 °C)
38 °F (3 °C)
70 °F (21 °C)
46 °F (8 °C)
78 °F (26 °C)
55 °F (13 °C)
86 °F (30 °C)
64 °F (18 °C)
89 °F (32 °C)
69 °F (21 °C)
87 °F (31 °C)
67 °F (19 °C)
81 °F (27 °C)
60 °F (16 °C)
71 °F (22 °C)
49 °F (9 °C)
61 °F (16 °C)
41 °F (5 °C)
50 °F (10 °C)
32 °F (0 °C)
[82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91]

Cities and metro areas

 
Maryland population distribution map. Maryland's population is concentrated mostly in the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas.

Most of the population of Maryland lives in the central region of the state, in the Baltimore metropolitan area and Washington metropolitan area, both of which are part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The majority of Maryland's population is concentrated in the cities and suburbs surrounding Washington, D.C., as well as in and around Maryland's most populous city, Baltimore. Historically, these and many other Maryland cities developed along the Fall Line, the line along which rivers, brooks, and streams are interrupted by rapids and waterfalls. Maryland's capital city, Annapolis, is one exception to this pattern since it lies along the banks of the Severn River, close to where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay.

The Eastern Shore is less populous and more rural, as are the counties of western Maryland. The two westernmost counties of Maryland, Allegany and Garrett, are mountainous and sparsely populated, resembling West Virginia and Appalachia more than they do the rest of the state. Both eastern and western Maryland are, however, dotted with cities of regional importance, such as Ocean City, Princess Anne, and Salisbury on the Eastern Shore and Cumberland, Frostburg, and Hancock in Western Maryland. Southern Maryland is still somewhat rural, but suburbanization from Washington, D.C., has encroached significantly since the 1960s; important local population centers include Lexington Park, Prince Frederick, California, and Waldorf.[92][93]

 
Largest cities or towns in Maryland
2020 U.S. Census populations
Rank Name County Pop.
 
Baltimore
 
Columbia
1 Baltimore Independent city 585,708  
Germantown
 
Waldorf
2 Columbia Howard 104,681
3 Germantown Montgomery 91,249
4 Waldorf Charles 81,410
5 Silver Spring Montgomery 81,015
6 Frederick Frederick 78,171
7 Ellicott City Howard 75,947
8 Glen Burnie Anne Arundel 72,891
9 Gaithersburg Montgomery 69,657
10 Bethesda Montgomery 68,056

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1790319,728
1800341,5486.8%
1810380,54611.4%
1820407,3507.0%
1830447,0409.7%
1840470,0195.1%
1850583,03424.0%
1860687,04917.8%
1870780,89413.7%
1880934,94319.7%
18901,042,39011.5%
19001,188,04414.0%
19101,295,3469.0%
19201,449,66111.9%
19301,631,52612.5%
19401,821,24411.6%
19502,343,00128.6%
19603,100,68932.3%
19703,922,39926.5%
19804,216,9757.5%
19904,781,46813.4%
20005,296,48610.8%
20105,773,5529.0%
20206,177,2247.0%
2022 (est.)6,164,660−0.2%
Source: 1910–2020[94]

In the 2020 United States census, the United States Census Bureau found that population of Maryland was 6,185,278 people, a 7.1% increase from the 2010 United States census.[94] The United States Census Bureau estimated that the population of Maryland was 6,045,680 on July 1, 2019, a 4.71% increase from the 2010 United States census and an increase of 2,962, from the prior year. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 269,166 (464,251 births minus 275,093 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 116,713 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 129,730 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 13,017 people.[95] The center of population of Maryland is located on the county line between Anne Arundel County and Howard County, in the unincorporated community of Jessup.[96]

Maryland's history as a border state has led it to exhibit characteristics of both the Northern and the Southern regions of the United States. Generally, rural Western Maryland between the West Virginian Panhandle and Pennsylvania has an Appalachian culture; the Southern and Eastern Shore regions of Maryland embody a Southern culture,[97] while densely populated Central Maryland – radiating outward from Baltimore and Washington, D.C. – has more in common with that of the Northeast.[98] The U.S. Census Bureau designates Maryland as one of the South Atlantic States, but it is commonly associated with the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States by other federal agencies, the media, and some residents.[99][100][101][102][103]

Birth data

As of 2011, 58.0 percent of Maryland's population younger than age 1 were minority background.[104]

Note: Births in the table do not add up because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.

Live births by single race/ethnicity of mother
Race 2013[105] 2014[106] 2015[107] 2016[108] 2017[109] 2018[110] 2019[111] 2020[112]
White: 41,474 (57.6%) 42,525 (57.5%) 42,471 (57.7%) ... ... ... ... ...
> non-Hispanic 32,568 (45.2%) 33,178 (44.9%) 32,412 (44.0%) 31,278 (42.8%) 29,809 (41.6%) 29,585 (41.6%) 28,846 (41.1%) 28,060 (40.9%)
Black 24,764 (34.4%) 25,339 (34.3%) 25,017 (34.0%) 22,829 (31.2%) 22,327 (31.1%) 21,893 (30.8%) 21,494 (30.6%) 20,869 (30.4%)
Asian 5,415 (7.5%) 5,797 (7.8%) 5,849 (7.9%) 5,282 (7.2%) 5,276 (7.3%) 4,928 (6.9%) 4,928 (7.0%) 4,595 (6.7%)
American Indian 300 (0.4%) 260 (0.3%) 279 (0.4%) 104 (0.1%) 127 (0.2%) 114 (0.2%) 113 (0.2%) 79 (0.1%)
Hispanic (of any race) 10,515 (14.6%) 10,974 (14.8%) 11,750 (16.0%) 11,872 (16.2%) 12,223 (17.1%) 12,470 (17.5%) 12,872 (18.3%) 13,034 (19.0%)
Total Maryland 71,953 (100%) 73,921 (100%) 73,616 (100%) 73,136 (100%) 71,641 (100%) 71,080 (100%) 70,178 (100%) 68,554 (100%)

Since 2016, data for births of White Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in one Hispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

Language

Racial Makeup of Maryland excluding Hispanics from racial categories (2019)[113]
NH = Non-Hispanic

  White NH (49.82%)
  Black NH (29.75%)
  Asian NH (6.35%)
  Native American NH (0.25%)
  Pacific Islander NH (0.04%)
  Two or more races NH (2.85%)
  Other NH (0.31%)
  Hispanic Any Race (10.64%)

Spanish (including Spanish Creole) is the second most spoken language in Maryland, after English. The third and fourth most spoken languages are French (including Patois and Cajun) and Chinese. Other commonly spoken languages include various African languages, Korean, German, Tagalog, Russian, Vietnamese, Italian, various Asian languages, Persian, Hindi, and other Indic languages, Greek, and Arabic.[114]

Racial breakdown of population of Maryland
Racial composition 1970[115] 1990[115] 2000[116] 2010[117] 2020[118]
White 81.5% 71.0% 64.0% 60.8% 58.5%
Black 17.8% 24.9% 27.9% 29.8% 31.1%
Asian 0.5% 2.9% 4.0% 5.5% 6.7%
Native American 0.1% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.6%
Other race 0.1% 0.9% 1.8% 3.6%
Two or more races 2.0% 2.9% 2.9%
Non-Hispanic whites 80.4% 69.6% 62.1% 54.7% 50.0%
 
Map of counties in Maryland by racial plurality, according to 2020 U.S. census findings

In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Maryland's population as 17.8 percent African-American and 80.4 percent non-Hispanic White.[119]

African Americans form a sizable portion of the state's population, 31.1% as of 2020.[118] Most are descendants of people transported to the area as slaves from West Africa, and many are of mixed race, including European and Native American ancestry. Concentrations of African Americans live in Baltimore City, Prince George's County, a suburb of Washington, D.C., where many work; Charles County, western parts of Baltimore County, and the southern Eastern Shore. New residents of African descent include 20th-century and later immigrants from Nigeria, particularly of the Igbo and Yoruba tribes.[120] Maryland also hosts populations from other African and Caribbean nations. Many immigrants from the Horn of Africa have settled in Maryland, with large communities existing in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. (particularly Montgomery County and Prince George's County), and the city of Baltimore. The Greater Washington area has the largest population of Ethiopians outside of Africa.[121] The Ethiopian community of Greater D.C. was historically based in Washington, D.C.'s Adams Morgan and Shaw neighborhoods, but as the community has grown, many Ethiopians have settled in Silver Spring.[122] The Washington, D.C., metropolitan area is also home to large Eritrean and Somali communities.

The top reported ancestries by Maryland residents are: German (15%), Irish (11%), English (8%), American (7%), Italian (6%), and Polish (3%).[123]

Irish American populations can be found throughout the Baltimore area,[124] and the Northern and Eastern suburbs of Washington, D.C., in Maryland (descendants of those who moved out to the suburbs[125] of Washington's once predominantly Irish neighborhoods[125][126]), as well as Western Maryland, where Irish immigrant laborers helped to build the B&O Railroad.[124] Smaller but much older Irish populations can be found in Southern Maryland, with some roots dating as far back as the early Maryland colony.[127] This population, however, still remains culturally very active and yearly festivals are held.[128]

A large percentage of the population of the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland are descendants of British American ancestry. The Eastern Shore was settled by Protestants, chiefly Methodist and the southern counties were initially settled by English Catholics. Western and northern Maryland have large German-American populations. More recent European immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th century settled first in Baltimore, attracted to its industrial jobs. Many of their ethnic Italian, Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, and Greek descendants still live in the area.

Large ethnic minorities include Eastern Europeans such as Croatians, Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians. The shares of European immigrants born in Eastern Europe increased significantly between 1990 and 2010. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia, many immigrants from Eastern Europe came to the United States—12 percent of whom currently reside in Maryland.[129][130]

Hispanic immigrants of the later 20th century have settled in Aspen Hill, Hyattsville/Langley Park, Glenmont/Wheaton, Bladensburg, Riverdale Park, Gaithersburg, as well as Highlandtown and Greektown in East Baltimore. Salvadorans are the largest Hispanic group in Maryland. Other Hispanic groups with significant populations in the state include Mexicans and Puerto Ricans and Hondurans. Though the Salvadoran population is more concentrated in the area around Washington, D.C., and the Puerto Rican population is more concentrated in the Baltimore area, all other major Hispanic groups in the state are evenly dispersed between these two areas. Maryland has one of the most diverse Hispanic populations in the country, with significant populations from various Caribbean and Central American nations.[131]

Asian Americans are concentrated in the suburban counties surrounding Washington, D.C., and in Howard County, with Korean American and Taiwanese American communities in Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown, and a Filipino American community in Fort Washington. Numerous Indian Americans live across the state, especially in central Maryland.

Attracting educated Asians and Africans to the professional jobs in the region, Maryland has the fifth-largest proportions of racial minorities in the country.[132]

In 2006, 645,744 were counted as foreign born, which represents mainly people from Latin America and Asia. About four percent are undocumented immigrants.[133] Maryland also has a large Korean American population.[134] In fact, 1.7 percent are Korean, while as a whole, 6.7 percent are Asian.[135]

According to The Williams Institute's analysis of the 2010 U.S. census, 12,538 same-sex couples are living in Maryland, representing 5.8 same-sex couples per 1,000 households.[136]

In 2019, non-Hispanic white Americans were 49.8% of Maryland's population (White Americans, including White Hispanics, were 57.3%), which made Maryland a majority minority state.[137] 50.2% of Maryland's population is non-white, or is Hispanic or Latino, the highest percentage of any state on the East Coast, and the highest percentage after the majority-minority states of Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas, California, and Nevada.[138] By 2031, minorities are projected to become the majority of voting eligible residents of Maryland.[139]

Religion

 
Baltimore Basilica was the first Catholic cathedral built in the U.S.
Religion in Maryland (2014)[140]
religion percent
Protestant
52%
None
23%
Catholic
15%
Jewish
3%
Other faiths
2%
Buddhist
1%
Hindu
1%
Islam
1%
Mormon
1%
Orthodox Christian
1%

Maryland has been historically prominent to American Catholic tradition because the English colony of Maryland was intended by George Calvert as a haven for English Catholics. Baltimore was the seat of the first Catholic bishop in the U.S. (1789), and Emmitsburg was the home and burial place of the first American-born citizen to be canonized, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Georgetown University, the first Catholic University, was founded in 1789 in what was then part of Maryland (it became a part of the District of Columbia when it was created in the 1790s). The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Baltimore was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States, and the Archbishop of Baltimore is, albeit without formal primacy, the United States' quasi-primate,[citation needed] and often a cardinal. Among the immigrants of the 19th and 20th centuries from eastern and southern Europe were many Catholics.

Despite its historic relevance to the Catholic Church in the United States, the percentage of Catholics in the state of Maryland is below the national average of 20%. Demographically, both Protestants and those identifying with no religion are more numerous than Catholics.

According to the Pew Research Center in 2014, 69 percent of Maryland's population identifies themselves as Christian. Nearly 52% of the adult population are Protestants.[c] Following Protestantism, Catholicism is the second largest religious affiliation, comprising 15% percent of the population.[140][141] Amish/Mennonite communities are found in St. Mary's, Garrett, and Cecil counties.[142] Judaism is the largest non-Christian religion in Maryland, with 241,000 adherents, or four percent of the total population.[143] Jews are numerous throughout Montgomery County and in Pikesville and Owings Mills northwest of Baltimore. An estimated 81,500 Jewish Americans live in Montgomery County, constituting approximately 10% of the total population.[144] The Seventh-day Adventist Church's world headquarters and Ahmadiyya Muslims' national headquarters are located in Silver Spring, just outside the District of Columbia.

Per the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020, 61 percent of Maryland's population identified with Christianity.[145] Protestantism and Roman Catholicism continued to dominate the Christian landscape, and the Jewish community remained at 3% of the total religious population. Of the unaffiliated, the PRRI study determined their increase to 28% of the population.

Economy

 
A map showing Maryland's median income by county. Data is sourced from the 2014 ACS five-year estimate report published by the U.S. Census Bureau

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Maryland's gross state product in 2016 was $382.4 billion.[146] However, Maryland has been using Genuine Progress Indicator, an indicator of well-being, to guide the state's development, rather than relying only on growth indicators like GDP.[147][148] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Maryland households are currently the wealthiest in the country, with a 2013 median household income of $72,483,[149] which puts it ahead of New Jersey and Connecticut, which are second and third respectively. Two of Maryland's counties, Howard and Montgomery, are the second and eleventh wealthiest counties in the nation respectively. Maryland has the most millionaires per capita in 2013, with a ratio of 7.7 percent.[150] Also, the state's poverty rate of 7.8 percent is the lowest in the country.[151][152][153] Per capita personal income in 2006 was $43,500, fifth in the nation. As of March 2022, the state's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent.[154]

Maryland's economy benefits from the state's proximity to the federal government in Washington, D.C., with an emphasis on technical and administrative tasks for the defense/aerospace industry and bio-research laboratories, as well as staffing of satellite government headquarters in the suburban or exurban Baltimore/Washington area. Ft. Meade serves as the headquarters of the Defense Information Systems Agency, United States Cyber Command, and the National Security Agency/Central Security Service. In addition, a number of educational and medical research institutions are located in the state. In fact, the various components of The Johns Hopkins University and its medical research facilities are now the largest single employer in the Baltimore area. Altogether, white collar technical and administrative workers comprise 25 percent of Maryland's labor force,[citation needed] attributable in part to nearby Maryland being a part of the Washington Metro Area where the federal government office employment is relatively high.

Manufacturing, while large in dollar value, is highly diversified with no sub-sector contributing over 20 percent of the total. Typical forms of manufacturing include electronics, computer equipment, and chemicals. The once-mighty primary metals sub-sector, which once included what was then the largest steel factory in the world at Sparrows Point, still exists, but is pressed with foreign competition, bankruptcies, and mergers. During World War II the Glenn Martin Company (now part of Lockheed Martin) airplane factory employed some 40,000 people.

Mining other than construction materials is virtually limited to coal, which is located in the mountainous western part of the state. The brownstone quarries in the east, which gave Baltimore and Washington much of their characteristic architecture in the mid-19th century, were once a predominant natural resource. Historically, there used to be small gold-mining operations in Maryland, some near Washington, but these no longer exist.

Port of Baltimore

One major service activity is transportation, centered on the Port of Baltimore and its related rail and trucking access. The port ranked 17th in the U.S. by tonnage in 2008.[155] Although the port handles a wide variety of products, the most typical imports are raw materials and bulk commodities, such as iron ore, petroleum, sugar, and fertilizers, often distributed to the relatively close manufacturing centers of the inland Midwest via good overland transportation. The port also receives several brands of imported motor vehicles and is the number one auto port in the U.S.[156]

Baltimore City is among the top 15 largest ports in the nation,[157] and was one of six major U.S. ports that were part of the February 2006 controversy over the Dubai Ports World deal.[158] The state as a whole is heavily industrialized, with a booming economy and influential technology centers. Its computer industries are some of the most sophisticated in the United States, and the federal government has invested heavily in the area. Maryland is home to several large military bases and scores of high-level government jobs.

The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is a 14 miles (23 km) canal on the Eastern Shore that connects the waters of the Delaware River with those of the Chesapeake Bay, and in particular with the Port of Baltimore, carrying 40 percent of the port's ship traffic.[159]

Fishing

Maryland has a large food-production sector. A large component of this is commercial fishing, centered in the Chesapeake Bay, but also including activity off the short Atlantic seacoast. The largest catches by species are the blue crab, oysters, striped bass, and menhaden. The Bay also has overwintering waterfowl in its wildlife refuges. The waterfowl support a tourism sector of sportsmen.

Agriculture

 
Agriculture is an important part of Maryland's economy.

Maryland has large areas of fertile agricultural land in its coastal and Piedmont zones, though this land use is being encroached upon by urbanization. Agriculture is oriented to dairy farming (especially in foothill and piedmont areas) for nearby large city milksheads, plus specialty perishable horticulture crops, such as cucumbers, watermelons, sweet corn, tomatoes, muskmelons, squash, and peas (Source:USDA Crop Profiles). The southern counties of the western shoreline of Chesapeake Bay are warm enough to support a tobacco cash crop zone, which has existed since early Colonial times, but declined greatly after a state government buy-out in the 1990s. There is also a large automated chicken-farming sector in the state's southeastern part; Salisbury is home to Perdue Farms. Maryland's food-processing plants are the most significant type of manufacturing by value in the state. Farming suffers from weeds as anywhere else, including an unusual multiply resistant ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) found by Rousonelos et al., 2012 with both ALS- and PPO-resistances[160] and which by 2016 had developed a third, EPSP resistance.[161] This ragweed population is a drag on soybean cultivation and, as of May 7, 2022, is the worst multiresistant weed problem in the state.[161]

Biotechnology

Maryland is a major center for life sciences research and development. With more than 400 biotechnology companies located there, Maryland is the fourth largest nexus in this field in the United States.[162]

Institutions and government agencies with an interest in research and development located in Maryland include the Johns Hopkins University, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, more than one campus of the University System of Maryland, Goddard Space Flight Center, the United States Census Bureau, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Celera Genomics company, the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), and AstraZeneca (formerly MedImmune).

Maryland is home to defense contractor Emergent BioSolutions, which manufactures and provides an anthrax vaccine to U.S. government military personnel.[163]

Tourism

 
Ocean City, a beach resort along the Atlantic Ocean, is a popular tourist destination in Maryland.

Tourism is popular in Maryland. Many tourists visit Baltimore, the beaches of the Eastern Shore, and the nature of western Maryland. Attractions in Baltimore include the Harborplace, the Baltimore Aquarium, Fort McHenry, as well as the Camden Yards baseball stadium. Ocean City on the Atlantic Coast has been a popular beach destination in summer, particularly since the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was built in 1952 connecting the Eastern Shore to the more populated Maryland cities.[50] The state capital of Annapolis offers sites such as the state capitol building, the historic district, and the waterfront. Maryland also has several sites of interest to military history, given Maryland's role in the American Civil War and in the War of 1812. Other attractions include the historic and picturesque towns along the Chesapeake Bay, such as Saint Mary's, Maryland's first colonial settlement and original capital.[164]

Healthcare

As of 2017, the top two health insurers including all types of insurance were CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield with 47% market share followed by UnitedHealth Group at 15%.[165]

Maryland has experimented with healthcare payment reforms, notably beginning in the 1970s with an all-payer rate setting program regulated by the Health Services Cost Review Commission.[166] In 2014, it switched to a global budget revenue system, whereby hospitals receive a capitated payment to care for their population.[166]

Transportation

The Maryland Department of Transportation oversees most transportation in the state through its various administration-level agencies.[167] The independent Maryland Transportation Authority maintains and operates the state's eight toll facilities.

Roads

 
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge connects Maryland's Eastern and Western Shores.

Maryland's Interstate highways include 110 miles (180 km) of Interstate 95 (I-95), which enters the northeast portion of the state, travels through Baltimore, and becomes part of the eastern section of the Capital Beltway to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I-68 travels 81 miles (130 km), connecting the western portions of the state to I-70 at the small town of Hancock. I-70 enters from Pennsylvania north of Hancock and continues east for 93 miles (150 km) to Baltimore, connecting Hagerstown and Frederick along the way.

I-83 has 34 miles (55 km) in Maryland and connects Baltimore to southern central Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and York, Pennsylvania). Maryland also has an 11-mile (18 km) portion of I-81 that travels through the state near Hagerstown. I-97, fully contained within Anne Arundel County and the shortest (17.6 miles (28.3 km)) one- or two-digit interstate highway in the contiguous US, connects the Baltimore area to the Annapolis area.

There are also several auxiliary Interstate highways in Maryland. Among them are two beltways encircling the major cities of the region: I-695, the McKeldin (Baltimore) Beltway, which encircles Baltimore; and a portion of I-495, the Capital Beltway, which encircles Washington, D.C. I-270, which connects the Frederick area with Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia through major suburbs to the northwest of Washington, is a major commuter route and is as wide as fourteen lanes at points. I-895, also known as the Harbor Tunnel Thruway, provides an alternate route to I-95 across the Baltimore Harbor.

Both I-270 and the Capital Beltway were extremely congested; however, the Intercounty Connector (ICC; MD 200) has alleviated some congestion over time. Construction of the ICC was a major part of the campaign platform of former Governor Robert Ehrlich, who was in office from 2003 until 2007, and of Governor Martin O'Malley, who succeeded him. I-595, which is an unsigned highway concurrent with US 50/US 301, is the longest unsigned interstate in the country and connects Prince George's County and Washington, D.C. with Annapolis and the Eastern Shore via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Maryland also has a state highway system that contains routes numbered from 2 through 999, however most of the higher-numbered routes are either unsigned or are relatively short. Major state highways include Routes 2 (Governor Ritchie Highway/Solomons Island Road/Southern Maryland Blvd.), 4 (Pennsylvania Avenue/Southern Maryland Blvd./Patuxent Beach Road/St. Andrew's Church Road), 5 (Branch Avenue/Leonardtown Road/Point Lookout Road), 32, 45 (York Road), 97 (Georgia Avenue), 100 (Paul T. Pitcher Memorial Highway), 210 (Indian Head Highway), 235 (Three Notch Road), 295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway), 355 (Wisconsin Avenue/Rockville Pike/Frederick Road), 404 (Queen Anne Highway/ Shore Highway), and 650 (New Hampshire Avenue).

Airports

Maryland's largest airport is Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, more commonly referred to as BWI. The airport is named for the Baltimore-born Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice. The only other airports with commercial service are at Hagerstown and Salisbury.

The Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. are also served by the other two airports in the region, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport, both in Northern Virginia. The College Park Airport is the nation's oldest, founded in 1909, and is still used. Wilbur Wright trained military aviators at this location.[168][169]

Rail

 
Ellicott City Station, on the original B&O Railroad line, is the oldest remaining passenger station in the nation. The rail line is still used by CSX Transportation for freight trains, and the station is now a museum.

Amtrak trains, including the high-speed Acela Express serve Baltimore's Penn Station, BWI Airport, New Carrollton, and Aberdeen along the Washington, D.C. to Boston Northeast Corridor. In addition, train service is provided to Rockville and Cumberland by Amtrak's Washington, D.C., to Chicago Capitol Limited.

The WMATA's Metrorail rapid transit and Metrobus local bus systems (the 2nd and 6th busiest in the nation of their respective modes) provide service in Montgomery and Prince George's counties and connect them to Washington, D.C., with the express Metrobus Route B30 serving BWI Airport. The Maryland Transit Administration (often abbreviated as "MTA Maryland"), a state agency part of the Maryland Department of Transportation also provides transit services within the state. Headquartered in Baltimore, MTA's transit services are largely focused on central Maryland, as well as some portions of the Eastern Shore and Southern MD. Baltimore's Light RailLink and Metro SubwayLink systems serve its densely populated inner-city and the surrounding suburbs. The MTA also serves the city and its suburbs with its local bus service (the 9th largest system in the nation). The MTA's Commuter Bus system provides express coach service on longer routes connecting Washington, D.C. and Baltimore to parts of Central and Southern MD as well as the Eastern Shore. The commuter rail service, known as MARC, operates three lines which all terminate at Washington Union Station and provide service to Baltimore's Penn and Camden stations, Perryville, Frederick, and Martinsburg, WV. In addition, many suburban counties operate local bus systems which connect to and complement the larger MTA and WMATA/Metro services.

The MTA will also administer the Purple Line, an under-construction light rail line that will connect the Maryland branches of the Red, Green/Yellow, and Orange lines of the Washington Metro, as well as offer transfers to all three lines of the MARC commuter rail system.[170][171]

Freight rail transport is handled principally by two Class I railroads, as well as several smaller regional and local carriers. CSX Transportation has more extensive trackage throughout the state, with 560 miles (900 km),[172] followed by Norfolk Southern Railway. Major rail yards are located in Baltimore and Cumberland,[172] with an intermodal terminal (rail, truck and marine) in Baltimore.[173]

Law and government

 
The Maryland State House in Annapolis dates to 1772, and houses the Maryland General Assembly and offices of the governor.
 
The historical coat of arms of Maryland in 1876

The government of Maryland is conducted according to the state constitution. The government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by the Constitution of the United States.

Power in Maryland is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. The Maryland General Assembly is composed of the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate. Maryland's governor is unique in the United States as the office is vested with significant authority in budgeting. The legislature may not increase the governor's proposed budget expenditures. Unlike many other states, significant autonomy is granted to many of Maryland's counties.

Most of the business of government is conducted in Annapolis, the state capital however some cabinet departments and state officials have their offices in Baltimore. Elections for governor and most statewide offices, as well as most county elections, are held in midterm-election years (even-numbered years not divisible by four).

The judicial branch of state government consists of one united District Court of Maryland that sits in every county and Baltimore City, as well as 24 Circuit Courts sitting in each County and Baltimore City, the latter being courts of general jurisdiction for all civil disputes over $30,000, all equitable jurisdiction and major criminal proceedings. The intermediate appellate court is known as the Appellate Court of Maryland and the state supreme court is the Supreme Court of Maryland. The appearance of the justices of the Supreme Court of Maryland is unique; Maryland is the only state whose justices wear red robes.[174]

Taxation

Maryland imposes five income tax brackets, ranging from 2 to 6.25 percent of personal income.[175] The city of Baltimore and Maryland's 23 counties levy local "piggyback" income taxes at rates between 1.25 and 3.2 percent of Maryland taxable income. Local officials set the rates and the revenue is returned to the local governments quarterly. The top income tax bracket of 9.45 percent is the fifth highest combined state and local income tax rates in the country, behind New York City's 11.35 percent, California's 10.3 percent, Rhode Island's 9.9 percent, and Vermont's 9.5 percent.[176]

Maryland's state sales tax is six percent.[177] All real property in Maryland is subject to the property tax.[178] Generally, properties that are owned and used by religious, charitable, or educational organizations or property owned by the federal, state or local governments are exempt.[178] Property tax rates vary widely.[178] No restrictions or limitations on property taxes are imposed by the state, meaning cities and counties can set tax rates at the level they deem necessary to fund governmental services.[178]

Elections

 
Spiro Agnew, 39th Vice President of the United States, is the highest-ranking political leader from Maryland since the nation's founding.

Prior to the American Civil War, Maryland's elections were largely controlled by the Democrats, which account for 54.9% of all registered voters as of May 2017.[179]

State elections are dominated by Baltimore and the populous suburban counties bordering Washington, D.C., and Baltimore: Montgomery, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore counties. As of July 2017,[180] 66 percent of the state's population resides in these six jurisdictions, most of which contain large, traditionally Democratic voting blocs: African Americans in Baltimore City and Prince George's; federal employees in Prince George's, Anne Arundel, and Montgomery; and post-graduates in Montgomery. The remainder of the state, particularly Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore, is more supportive of Republicans.[citation needed] One of Maryland's best known political figures is a Republican – former governor Spiro Agnew, who pled no contest to tax evasion and resigned in 1973.[181]

In 1980, Maryland was one of six states to vote for Jimmy Carter. In 1992, Bill Clinton fared better in Maryland than any other state, except his home state of Arkansas. In 1996, Maryland was Clinton's sixth best; in 2000, Maryland ranked fourth for Gore; and in 2004, John Kerry showed his fifth-best performance in Maryland. In 2008, Barack Obama won the state's 10 electoral votes with 61.9 percent of the vote, to John McCain's 36.5 percent.

In 2002, former Governor Robert Ehrlich was the first Republican to be elected to that office in four decades, and after one term, he lost his seat to Baltimore Mayor and Democrat Martin O'Malley. Ehrlich ran again for governor in 2010, losing again to O'Malley.

Voter registration and party enrollment in Maryland[182]
Party Total Percentage
Democratic 2,250,961 54.10%
Republican 998,905 24.00%
Independents and unaffiliated 841,573 20.22%
Other parties 70,198 1.68%
Total 4,161,637 100.00%

The 2006 election brought no change in the pattern of Democratic dominance. After Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes announced that he was retiring, Democratic Congressman Benjamin Cardin defeated Republican Lieutenant Governor Michael S. Steele, with 55 percent of the vote, against Steele's 44 percent.

While Republicans usually win more counties, by piling up large margins in the west and east, they are also usually swamped by the more densely populated and heavily Democratic Baltimore–Washington axis. In 2008, for instance, McCain won 17 counties to Obama's six; Obama also carried Baltimore City. While McCain won most of the western and eastern counties by margins of 2-to-1 or more, he was almost completely shut out in the larger counties surrounding Baltimore and Washington; every large county, except Anne Arundel, went for Obama.[183]

From 2007 to 2011, U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer (MD-5), a Democrat, was elected as Majority Leader for the 110th Congress and 111th Congress of the House of Representatives, serving in that post again starting in 2019. In addition, Hoyer served as House Minority Whip from 2003 to 2006 and 2012 to 2018. His district covers parts of Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties, in addition to all of Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary's counties in southern Maryland.[184]

In 2010, Republicans won control of most counties. The Democratic Party remained in control of eight county governments, including that of Baltimore.[185]

In 2014, Larry Hogan, a moderate Republican,[186] was elected Governor of Maryland.[187] Hogan is the second Republican to become the Governor of Maryland since Spiro Agnew, who resigned in 1969 to become vice president. In 2018, Hogan was re-elected to a second term of office. Per the Constitution of Maryland, Hogan is term-limited, and may not run for a third consecutive term in the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election.

In a 2020 study, Maryland was ranked by the Election Law Journal as the 5th easiest state for citizens to vote in.[188]

LGBT rights and community

The first person known to describe himself as a drag queen was William Dorsey Swann, born enslaved in Hancock, Maryland. Swann was the first American on record who pursued legal and political action to defend the LGBTQ community's right to assemble.[189]

In February 2010, Attorney General Doug Gansler issued an opinion stating that Maryland law should honor same-sex marriages from out of state. At the time, the state Supreme Court wrote a decision upholding marriage discrimination.[136]

On March 1, 2012, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed the freedom to marry bill into law after it passed in the state legislature. Opponents of same-sex marriage began collecting signatures to overturn the law. The law faced a referendum, as Question 6, in the November 2012 election.[136] A large majority (57%) of Maryland voters said they would vote to uphold the freedom to marry, with 37% saying they would vote against. This is consistent with a January 2011 Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies poll showing 51% support for marriage in the state.[190] Voters voted 52% to 48% for Question 6 on November 6, 2012. Same-sex couples began marrying in Maryland on January 1, 2013.[136]

In May 2012, Maryland's Court of Appeals ruled that the state will recognize marriages of same-sex couples who married out-of-state, no matter the outcome of the November election.[136]

Media

A well-known newspaper in Maryland is The Baltimore Sun.[191] Many residents of the Washington metropolitan area receive The Washington Post.[citation needed]

The most populous areas are served by either Baltimore or Washington, D.C. broadcast stations. The Eastern Shore is served primarily by broadcast media based around the Delmarva Peninsula; the northeastern section receives both Baltimore and Philadelphia stations. Garrett County, which is mountainous, is served by stations from Pittsburgh, and requires cable or satellite for reception. Maryland is served by statewide PBS member station Maryland Public Television (MPT).[citation needed]

Education

Primary and secondary education

 
Memorial Chapel at the University of Maryland, Maryland's flagship university
 
UMBC Commons and Quad

Education Week ranked Maryland #1 in its nationwide 2009–2013 Quality Counts reports.[citation needed] The College Board's 9th Annual AP Report to the Nation also ranked Maryland first.[citation needed] Primary and secondary education in Maryland is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education, which is headquartered in Baltimore.[192] The highest educational official in the state is the State Superintendent of Schools, who is appointed by the State Board of Education to a four-year term of office. The Maryland General Assembly has given the Superintendent and State Board autonomy to make educationally related decisions, limiting its influence on the day-to-day functions of public education. Each county and county-equivalent in Maryland has a local Board of Education charged with running the public schools in that particular jurisdiction.

The budget for education was $5.5 billion in 2009, representing about 40 percent of the state's general fund.[193] Data from the 2017 census shows that, among large school districts, four Maryland districts are in the top six for per-pupil annual spending, exceeded only by the Boston and New York City districts.[194]

Maryland has a broad range of private primary and secondary schools. Many of these are affiliated with various religious sects, including parochial schools of the Catholic Church, Quaker schools, Seventh-day Adventist schools, and Jewish schools. In 2003, Maryland law was changed to allow for the creation of publicly funded charter schools, although the charter schools must be approved by their local Board of Education and are not exempt from state laws on education, including collective bargaining laws.

In 2008, the state led the entire country in the percentage of students passing Advanced Placement examinations. 23.4 percent of students earned passing grades on the AP tests given in May 2008. This marks the first year that Maryland earned this honor.[195] Three Maryland high schools (in Montgomery County) were ranked among the top 100 in the country by US News in 2009, based in large part on AP test scores.[196]

Colleges and universities

Maryland has several historic and renowned private colleges and universities, the most prominent of which is Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876 with a grant from Baltimore entrepreneur Johns Hopkins.

The first public university in the state is the University of Maryland, Baltimore, which was founded in 1807 and contains the University of Maryland's only public academic health, human services, and one of two law centers (the other being the University of Baltimore School of Law). Seven professional and graduate schools train the majority of the state's physicians, nurses, dentists, lawyers, social workers, and pharmacists.[197] The flagship university and largest undergraduate institution in Maryland is the University of Maryland, College Park which was founded as the Maryland Agricultural College in 1856 and became a public land grant college in 1864. Towson University, founded in 1866, is the state's second largest university.

In 1974, Maryland, along with seven other states, mainly in the South, submitted plans to desegregate its state universities; Maryland's plans were approved by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.[198]

Baltimore is home to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the Maryland Institute College of Art. The majority of public universities in the state (Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Frostburg State University, Salisbury University and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore) are affiliated with the University System of Maryland. Two state-funded institutions, Morgan State University and St. Mary's College of Maryland, as well as two federally funded institutions, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the United States Naval Academy, are not affiliated with the University System of Maryland. The University of Maryland Global Campus is the largest public university in Maryland[199] and one of the largest distance-learning institutions in the world.[200]

St. John's College in Annapolis and Washington College in Chestertown, both private institutions, are the oldest colleges in the state and among the oldest in the country. Other private institutions include Mount St. Mary's University, McDaniel College (formerly known as Western Maryland College), Hood College, Stevenson University (formerly known as Villa Julie College), Loyola University Maryland, and Goucher College, among others.

Public libraries

Maryland's 24 public library systems deliver public education for everyone in the state of Maryland through a curriculum that comprises three pillars: Self-Directed Education (books and materials in all formats, e-resources), Research Assistance & Instruction (individualized research assistance, classes for students of all ages), and Instructive & Enlightening Experiences (e.g., Summer Reading Clubs, author events).

Maryland's library systems include, in part:

Many of the library systems have established formalized partnerships with other educational institutions in their counties and regions.[202]

Sports

With two major metropolitan areas, Maryland has a number of major and minor professional sports franchises. Two National Football League teams play in Maryland, the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore and the Washington Commanders in Landover. The Baltimore Colts represented the NFL in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983 before moving to Indianapolis.

The Baltimore Orioles are the state's Major League Baseball franchise. The National Hockey League's Washington Capitals and the National Basketball Association's Washington Wizards formerly played in Maryland, until the construction of an arena in Washington, D.C. in 1997 (now known as Capital One Arena). University of Maryland's team is the Maryland Terrapins.

Maryland enjoys considerable historical repute for the talented sports players of its past, including Cal Ripken Jr. and Babe Ruth. In 2012, The Baltimore Sun published a list of Maryland's top ten athletes in the state's history. The list includes Babe Ruth, Cal Ripken Jr, Johnny Unitas, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Ray Lewis, Michael Phelps, Jimmie Foxx, Jim Parker, and Wes Unseld.[203]

Other professional sports franchises in the state include three affiliated minor league baseball teams, one independent league baseball team, the Baltimore Blast indoor soccer team, two indoor football teams, three low-level outdoor soccer teams, and the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse. Maryland is also home to one of the three races in horse racing's annual Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, which is run every spring at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The Baltimore Stallions were a Canadian Football Team in the CFL that played the 1994–95 season.

The Congressional Country Club has hosted three golf tournaments for the U.S. Open and a PGA Championship.

The official state sport of Maryland, since 1962, is jousting; the official team sport since 2004 is lacrosse.[204] The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame is located on the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore. In 2008, intending to promote physical fitness for all ages, walking became the official state exercise. Maryland is the first state with an official state exercise.[205]

Friendship partners

Maryland has relationships with many provinces, states, and other entities worldwide.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The previous anthem "Maryland, My Maryland" was repealed in 2021.[5]
  2. ^ In US English, the first syllable is pronounced /ˈmɛr-/ even by speakers who contrast the vowels in merry /ˈmɛri/ and Mary /ˈmɛəri/, which is the minority. The pronunciation /ˈmɛərɪlənd/ MAIR-il-ənd is the predominant one in British received pronunciation.[9]
  3. ^ Including Evangelical Protestants (18%), Mainline Protestants (18%), and Historically[further explanation needed] Black Protestants (16%).[140]

References

  1. ^ "Maryland's quality of life ranks high compared to other states". The Daily Record. Baltimore. December 11, 2004. Retrieved June 4, 2009 – via FindArticles.com.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Maryland Facts". Maryland Office of Tourism. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
  3. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2017.
  4. ^ "Great Seal of Maryland (reverse)". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  5. ^ "Maryland state song, which refers to Lincoln as "tyrant" and urges secession, is repealed". CBS News. May 20, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  6. ^ a b . United States Geological Survey. 2001. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  7. ^ Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
  8. ^ "QuickFacts: Maryland". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  9. ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  10. ^ "Mid-Atlantic Home : Mid–Atlantic Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics". www.bls.gov. from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  11. ^ Society, National Geographic (January 3, 2012). "United States Regions". National Geographic Society. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Baltimore". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  13. ^ "Maryland's Name". Catholic History of Maryland. Simon & Schuster. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  14. ^ "Why Is It Named Maryland?". Ghosts of Baltimore. May 19, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  15. ^ "People, Tribes and Bands". Maryland Manual On-line: A Guide to Maryland and its Government. Maryland State Archives. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  16. ^ "George Calvert and Cecilius Calvert, Barons Baltimore" William Hand Browne, Nabu Press (August 1, 2010), ISBN 117662539X ISBN 978-1176625396
  17. ^ Krugler, John D. (2004). English and Catholic : the Lords Baltimore in the seventeenth century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0801879630. OCLC 53967315.
  18. ^ a b c Andrews, Matthew Page (1929). History of Maryland: Province and State. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. pp. 3–5.
  19. ^ "The Charter of Maryland : 1632". avalon.law.yale.edu. December 18, 1998. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  20. ^ "Avalon Project—Maryland Toleration Act; September 21, 1649". avalon.law.yale.edu. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  21. ^ "State Median Household Income Patterns: 1990–2010". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  22. ^ Tom Horton; William Chesapeake Bay Foundation (2013). Turning the Tide: Saving the Chesapeake Bay. Island Press. p. 221. ISBN 9781610911160.
  23. ^ "Maryland Facts". Visit Maryland. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  24. ^ Stewart, George R. (1967) [1945]. Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (Sentry (3rd) ed.). Houghton Mifflin. pp. 42–43.
  25. ^ Marsh 2011, p. 5.
  26. ^ Masser, Kristin P. "Maryland In Focus—St. Mary's County". Maryland State Archives.
  27. ^ History of Maryland, p. 32
  28. ^ a b c . www.ushistory.org. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016.
  29. ^ Greenwell, Megan (August 21, 2008). "Religious Freedom Byway Would Recognize Maryland's Historic Role". The Washington Post.
  30. ^ a b c Wilder, Craig Steven (2016). "War and Priests: Catholic Colleges and Slavery in the Age of Revolution". In Beckert, Seth; Rockman, Seth (eds.). Slavery's Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-8122-4841-8.
  31. ^ Taylor, Owen M., History of Annapolis (1872) p. 5
  32. ^ Brenner, Robert. Merchants and Revolution London:Verso. 2003, ISBN 1-85984-333-6
  33. ^ Tom (March 4, 2014). "Lord Baltimore's Map of Maryland in 1732". Ghosts of Baltimore. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  34. ^ a b c d Hubbard, Bill Jr. (2009). American Boundaries: the Nation, the States, the Rectangular Survey. University of Chicago Press. pp. 21–23. ISBN 978-0-226-35591-7.
  35. ^ "Indentured Servants and the Pursuits of Happiness" January 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Crandall Shifflett, Virginia Tech.
  36. ^ a b Paul Heinegg. Free African Americans in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
  37. ^ a b Peter Kolchin, American Slavery: 1619–1877, New York: Hill and Wang, 1993, pp. 81–82
  38. ^ "Harriet Tubman". HISTORY. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  39. ^ Douglass, Frederick (2003). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Classics. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-59308-041-9.
  40. ^ Dilts, James D. (1993). The Great Road: The Building of the Baltimore and Ohio, the Nation's First Railroad, 1828–1853. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-8047-2235-3.
  41. ^ Stover, John F. (1987). History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-911198-81-2.
  42. ^ Walter Coffey (April 29, 2016). . The Civil War Months. Walter Coffey. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  43. ^ Vogler, Mark E. (April 18, 2009). "Civil War Guard on duty in Baltimore to save President Street Station". eagletribune.com. Eagle Tribune. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  44. ^ a b "Maryland at a Glance: Nicknames". Maryland State Archives. September 29, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  45. ^ a b c d Tuck, Stephen (Spring 2013). "Democratization and the Disfranchisement of African Americans in the US South during the Late 19th Century" (PDF). Reading for "Challenges of Democratization" – via Brandon Kendhammer, Ohio University.
  46. ^ "Bird's Eye View of Cumberland, Maryland 1906". World Digital Library. 1906. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  47. ^ Dayhoff, Kevin (October 7, 2012). "Eagle Archive: Here's a toast to Maryland's origins as 'The Free State'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  48. ^ Cairns, Huntington (December 1937). "History and Constitutionality of the Maryland Income Tax Law". Maryland Law Review. Legal History, Theory and Process Commons. UM Carey Law. pp. 1, 6. Retrieved August 19, 2015. ... 1937 Special Session of the Maryland Legislature imposed an income tax ... expenditure of public funds for the benefit of able-bodied persons whose inability to support themselves arises from the prevalence of widespread unemployment.
  49. ^ . Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  50. ^ a b . baybridge.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
  51. ^ "Belgium". CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. May 15, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2008. Area—comparative: about the size of Maryland
  52. ^ "Hancock—C&O Canal Trust". Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Trust.
  53. ^ Delgado, Patricia (December 2011). "Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Maryland Site Profile" (PDF). Maryland Department of Natural Resources. p. 54. Retrieved May 21, 2017. Map showing ... Maryland physiographic provinces
  54. ^ . Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  55. ^ . Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  56. ^ Reger, James P. "Earthquakes and Maryland". Maryland Geological Survey. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  57. ^ . Maryland Geological Survey. January 24, 2007. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2008.
  58. ^ Maryland.gov, "Maryland at a glance". Accessed December 3, 2018.
  59. ^ Rosenwald, Michael S. (July 30, 2012). "Fact: Maryland has no natural lakes". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  60. ^ a b Pamela Wood (March 27, 2017). "Maryland General Assembly approves fracking ban". The Baltimore Sun.
  61. ^ "Maryland at a Glance: State Symbols, Maryland State Flower—Black-Eyed Susan". Maryland Manual Online. Maryland State Archives. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  62. ^ Olson, D. M.; Dinerstein, E.; et al. (2001). "Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth". BioScience. 51 (11): 933–938. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2.
  63. ^ "Zone Hardiness Map through Prairie Frontier". Prairiefrontier.com. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  64. ^ John Leeds Bozman (1837). The history of Maryland: from its first settlement, in 1633, to the restoration, in 1660; with a copious introduction, and notes and illustrations. J. Lucas & E.K. Deaver. p. 24.
  65. ^ a b c d "Hardiness Zones". Arbor Day Foundation. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  66. ^ "Invasive Species of concern in Maryland". Mdinvasivesp.org. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  67. ^ a b . Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
  68. ^ Therres, Glenn (Fall 2007). (PDF). Wildlife and Heritage. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2009. Historically bobcats were distributed statewide but during the post colonization period densities began to plummet. By the mid-1900s, populations had probably reached all-time lows, with remnant populations existing only in western Maryland. This prompted the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to classify them as a state-listed "Species of Special Concern." During the past quarter century, occupied range and densities have increased markedly. Results from the annual Bowhunter Survey and the Hunter Mail survey have identified bobcat sightings in 14 of Maryland's 23 counties. Currently, bobcats have dual legal classification in Maryland. In addition to the Species of Special Concern designation, they are also defined as a Game Animal / Furbearer with a closed harvest season.
  69. ^ . Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on August 15, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011. Coyotes were historically a western species with core populations found west of the Mississippi River. Alterations and/or elimination of competing predators during the post-European colonization period facilitated rapid range expansion into eastern North America during the 20th Century. Established populations now occur in every state and province in North America. Coyotes are a relatively new addition to local ecosystems, and were first documented in Maryland during 1972. Initial substantiated sightings occurred in Cecil, Frederick and Washington counties. Since that time population densities and occupied range have expanded incrementally and coyotes now occur statewide.
  70. ^ a b c "Assateague Island National Seashore wild Ponies". Assateagueisland.com. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  71. ^ a b . K9web.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  72. ^ . Maryland Biodiversity Project. Archived from the original on July 9, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  73. ^ "Maryland Government Website—Maryland State Bird". Msa.md.gov. June 7, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  74. ^ (PDF). Maryland/District of Columbia Records Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 9, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  75. ^ Euphydryas phaeton (Drury, 1773) September 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Butterflies and Moths of North America
  76. ^ Goodman, Peter S. (August 1, 1999). "An Unsavory Byproduct: Runoff and Pollution". Washington Post. p. A1.
  77. ^ Horton, Tom (January 1, 1999). . Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  78. ^ Wingfield, Brian; Marcus, Miriam (October 16, 2007). . Forbes.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  79. ^ "Program Design Archive". RGGI, Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  80. ^ . Archived from the original on May 22, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  81. ^ . Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
  82. ^ "NowData—NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  83. ^ "Monthly Averages for Oakland, MD". weather.com. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  84. ^ "Station Name: MD Cumberland 2". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  85. ^ "Monthly Averages for Hagerstown, MD". weather.com. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  86. ^ "Station Name: MD Frederick Police Brks". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  87. ^ "Station Name: MD MD Sci Ctr Baltimore". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  88. ^ "Monthly Averages for Elkton, MD (21921)". The Weather Channel. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  89. ^ "Station Name: MD Ocean City Muni Ap". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  90. ^ "Monthly Averages for Waldorf, MD". The Weather Channel. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  91. ^ "Monthly Averages for Point Lookout State Park [Scotland, MD]". The Weather Channel. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  92. ^ "Calvert County, Maryland's Success in Controlling Sprawl". Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  93. ^ Shields, Todd (February 16, 1997). "On Edge". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  94. ^ a b . Census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  95. ^ "QuickFacts Maryland; United States". 2018 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  96. ^ . United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 12, 2001. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  97. ^ . League of the South. 2004. Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2008. On the other hand, areas beyond these thirteen States maintain their Southern culture to varying degrees. Much of Missouri remains basically Southern, as do parts of southern Maryland and Maryland's eastern shore.
  98. ^ Beck, John; Randall, Aaron & Frandsen, Wendy (June 27, 2007). "Southern Culture: An Introduction" (PDF). Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press. pp. 14–15. Retrieved May 23, 2008. Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia, and Maryland – slaveholding states and regions before the Civil War that did not secede from the Union – are also often included as part of the South. As border states, these states always were crossroads of values and customs, and today parts of Maryland seem to have become part of the 'Northeast'.
  99. ^ "Regions of the United States". American Memory. The Library of Congress. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  100. ^ "Region 3: The Mid-Atlantic States". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  101. ^ . Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  102. ^ . National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  103. ^ "Best Regional Colleges". The Princeton Review. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  104. ^ Exner, Rich (June 3, 2012). "Americans under age 1 now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  105. ^ "Births: Final Data for 2013" (PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. National Center for Health Statistics. 64 (1): 35–36. January 15, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  106. ^ "Births: Final Data for 2014" (PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. National Center for Health Statistics. 64 (12): 35–36. December 23, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  107. ^ "Births: Final Data for 2015" (PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. National Center for Health Statistics. 66 (1): 38, 40. January 5, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  108. ^ "Births: Final Data for 2016" (PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. National Center for Health Statistics. 67 (1): 25. January 31, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  109. ^ "Births: Final Data for 2017" (PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. National Center for Health Statistics. 67 (8): 20. November 7, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  110. ^ "Births: Final Data for 2018" (PDF). National Vital Statistics Reports. National Center for Health Statistics. 68 (13): 20. November 27, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  111. ^ "Data" (PDF). www.cdc.gov. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  112. ^ "Data" (PDF). www.cdc.gov. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  113. ^ "B03002 Hispanic or Latino Origin by Race—Maryland—2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. July 1, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  114. ^ "Maryland Languages". City-Data. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  115. ^ a b Yax, Laura K. . Archived from the original on July 25, 2008.
  116. ^ "Population of Maryland: Census 2010 and 2000 Interactive Map, Demographics, Statistics, Quick Facts".[permanent dead link]
  117. ^ . Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  118. ^ a b "QuickFacts: Maryland". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  119. ^ . U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  120. ^ (PDF). U.S. English Foundation, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2012. Prince George's County has the highest percentage of Kru/Ibo/Yoruba speakers of any county in the nation.
  121. ^
    • Westley, Brian. Washington: "Nation's Largest Ethiopian Community Carves Niche". ( March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine). USA Today. Associated Press. October 17, 2005.
    • "Washington: Nation's Largest Ethiopian Community Carves Niche". The Southeast Missourian. Associated Press. October 23, 2005. p. 7C. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  122. ^ "DC's 'Little Ethiopia' has moved to Silver Spring and Alexandria". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  123. ^ Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS). "American FactFinder—Results". Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  124. ^ a b "Irish Immigrants in Baltimore: Introduction, Teaching American History in Maryland". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  125. ^ a b Dastagir, Alia E. (May 23, 2011). . ABC Channel 7: TBD online magazine. p. 2. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  126. ^ . genweb.org. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  127. ^ . St. Mary's College of Maryland online magazine. Spring 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  128. ^ . CSSM.org. Celtic Society of Southern Maryland. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  129. ^ "European Immigrants in the United States". migrationpolicy.org. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  130. ^ "Cities with the Highest Percentage of Russians in Maryland". Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  131. ^ Department of Legislative Services (June 2008). (PDF). pp. 6–7. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  132. ^ "Minority population surging in Texas". NBC News. Associated Press. August 18, 2005. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  133. ^ Turner Brinton, "Immigration Bill Could Impact Maryland". December 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Capital News Service, April 5, 2006. Retrieved July 22, 2007.
  134. ^ Yau, Jennifer (2007). "The Foreign Born from Korea in the United States". Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  135. ^ "U.S. Census Bureau: Maryland". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  136. ^ a b c d e "Maryland". Freedom to Marry. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  137. ^ "B03002 Hispanic or Latino Origin by Race – Maryland – 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. July 1, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  138. ^ "Maryland Quick Facts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  139. ^ "States of Change: The Demographic Evolution of the American Electorate, 1974–2060" (PDF). Center for American Progress. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  140. ^ a b c "Religious composition of adults in Maryland". Religious Landscape Study. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  141. ^ . www.thearda.com. The Association of Religion Data Archives. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  142. ^ "Maryland Amish". Amish America. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  143. ^ . United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original (Excel) on March 27, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  144. ^ "2017 Greater Washington Jewish Community Demographic Study" (PDF). Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  145. ^ "PRRI – American Values Atlas". ava.prri.org. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  146. ^ . Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  147. ^ Dolan, Karen (January 30, 2012). "A better way of measuring progress in Maryland". Baltimore Sun.
  148. ^ Measuring Prosperity: Maryland's Genuine Progress Indicator | Solutions October 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Thesolutionsjournal.com. Retrieved on July 12, 2013.
  149. ^ "American FactFinder MedImmune Results". Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  150. ^ Frank, Robert (January 15, 2014). "Top states for millionaires per capita". CNBC. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
maryland, this, article, about, state, other, uses, disambiguation, listen, merr, ənd, state, atlantic, region, united, states, shares, borders, with, virginia, west, virginia, district, columbia, south, west, pennsylvania, north, delaware, atlantic, ocean, ea. This article is about the U S state For other uses see Maryland disambiguation Maryland US ˈ m ɛr ɪ l e n d listen MERR il end b is a state in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States 10 11 It shares borders with Virginia West Virginia and the District of Columbia to its south and west Pennsylvania to its north and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to its east Baltimore 12 is the largest city in the state and the capital is Annapolis Among its occasional nicknames are Old Line State the Free State and the Chesapeake Bay State It is named after Henrietta Maria the French born queen of England Scotland and Ireland who was known then in England as Mary 13 14 MarylandStateState of MarylandFlagSealNickname s Old Line State Free State Little America 1 America in Miniature 2 Mottoes Fatti maschii parole femine English Strong Deeds Gentle Words 3 The Latin text encircling the seal Scuto bonae voluntatis tuae coronasti nos With Favor Wilt Thou Compass Us as with a Shield Psalm 5 12 4 Anthem None a Map of the United States with Maryland highlightedCountryUnited StatesBefore statehoodProvince of MarylandAdmitted to the UnionApril 28 1788 7th CapitalAnnapolisLargest cityBaltimoreLargest metro and urban areasWashington Baltimore combined Baltimore metro and urban Government GovernorLarry Hogan R Lieutenant GovernorBoyd Rutherford R LegislatureGeneral Assembly Upper houseSenate Lower houseHouse of DelegatesJudiciaryMaryland Court of AppealsU S senatorsBen Cardin D Chris Van Hollen D U S House delegation7 Democrats1 Republican list Area Total12 407 sq mi 32 133 km2 Land9 776 sq mi 25 314 km2 Water2 633 sq mi 6 819 km2 21 Rank42ndDimensions Length250 mi 400 km Width100 mi 200 km Elevation350 ft 110 m Highest elevation Hoye Crest 6 7 3 360 ft 1 024 m Lowest elevation Atlantic Ocean 6 0 ft 0 m Population 2020 8 Total6 177 224 Rank18th Density632 sq mi 244 km2 Rank4th Median household income 87 063 Income rank1stDemonymMarylanderLanguage Official languageNone English de facto Time zoneUTC 05 00 Eastern Summer DST UTC 04 00 EDT USPS abbreviationMDISO 3166 codeUS MDTraditional abbreviationMd Latitude37 53 N to 39 43 NLongitude75 03 W to 79 29 WWebsitewww wbr maryland wbr govMaryland state symbolsFlag of MarylandLiving insigniaBirdBaltimore orioleCat breedCalico catCrustaceanBlue crabDog breedChesapeake Bay RetrieverFishRock fishFlowerBlack eyed SusanHorse breedThoroughbredInsectBaltimore checkerspot butterflyReptileDiamondback terrapinTreeWhite oakInanimate insigniaBeverageMilkDanceSquare danceDinosaurAstrodon johnstoniFoodSmith Island cakeFossilEcphora gardnerae gardneraeGemstonePatuxent River stoneShipSkipjackSongNone Formerly Maryland My Maryland by James Ryder Randall 1861 adopted 1939 repealed 2021 SportJoustingLacrosseState route markerState quarterReleased in 2000Lists of United States state symbolsBefore its coastline was explored by Europeans in the 16th century Maryland was inhabited by several groups of Native Americans mostly by Algonquian peoples and to a lesser degree Iroquoian and Siouan 15 As one of the original Thirteen Colonies of England Maryland was founded by George Calvert 1st Baron Baltimore a Catholic convert 16 17 who sought to provide a religious haven for Catholics persecuted in England 18 In 1632 Charles I of England granted Lord Baltimore a colonial charter naming the colony after his wife Henrietta Maria 19 Unlike the Pilgrims and Puritans who rejected Catholicism in their settlements Lord Baltimore envisioned a colony where people of different religious sects would coexist under the principle of toleration 18 Accordingly in 1649 the Maryland General Assembly passed an Act Concerning Religion which enshrined this principle by penalizing anyone who reproached a fellow Marylander based on religious affiliation 20 Nevertheless religious strife was common in the early years and Catholics remained a minority albeit in greater numbers than in any other English colony Maryland s early settlements and population centers clustered around rivers and other waterways that empty into the Chesapeake Bay Its economy was heavily plantation based and centered mostly on the cultivation of tobacco Demand for cheap labor from Maryland colonists led to the importation of numerous indentured servants and enslaved Africans In 1760 Maryland s current boundaries took form following the settlement of a long running border dispute with Pennsylvania Maryland was an active participant in the events leading up to the American Revolution and by 1776 its delegates signed the Declaration of Independence Many of its citizens subsequently played key political and military roles in the war In 1790 the state ceded land for the establishment of the U S capital of Washington D C Although then a slave state Maryland remained in the Union during the American Civil War its strategic location giving it a significant role in the conflict After the Civil War Maryland took part in the Industrial Revolution driven by its seaports railroad networks and mass immigration from Europe Since the 1940s the state s population has grown rapidly to approximately six million residents and it is among the most densely populated U S states As of 2015 update Maryland had the highest median household income of any state owing in large part to its proximity to Washington D C and a highly diversified economy spanning manufacturing retail services public administration real estate higher education information technology defense contracting health care and biotechnology 21 The state s central role in U S history is reflected by its hosting of some of the highest numbers of historic landmarks per capita Sixteen of Maryland s twenty three counties as well as the city of Baltimore border the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay estuary and its many tributaries 22 12 which combined total more than 4 000 miles of shoreline Although one of the smallest states in the U S it features a variety of climates and topographical features that have earned it the moniker of America in Miniature 23 In a similar vein Maryland s geography culture and history combine elements of the Mid Atlantic Northeastern and Southern regions of the country Contents 1 History 1 1 17th century 1 1 1 Maryland s first colonial settlement 1 1 2 Persecution of Catholics 1 2 Border disputes 1681 1760 1 3 18th century 1 4 19th century 1 4 1 Civil War 1 4 2 After the war 1 5 20th and 21st centuries 1 5 1 Early 20th century 1 5 2 1950 present 2 Geography 2 1 Description 2 2 Geology 2 3 Flora 2 4 Fauna 2 5 Environment 2 6 Climate 2 7 Cities and metro areas 3 Demographics 3 1 Birth data 3 2 Language 3 3 Religion 4 Economy 4 1 Port of Baltimore 4 2 Fishing 4 3 Agriculture 4 4 Biotechnology 4 5 Tourism 4 6 Healthcare 5 Transportation 5 1 Roads 5 2 Airports 5 3 Rail 6 Law and government 6 1 Taxation 6 2 Elections 6 3 LGBT rights and community 7 Media 8 Education 8 1 Primary and secondary education 8 2 Colleges and universities 8 3 Public libraries 9 Sports 10 Friendship partners 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 Bibliography 15 External linksHistory EditMain article History of Maryland 17th century Edit Maryland s first colonial settlement Edit Main article Province of Maryland Cecil Calvert 2nd Baron Baltimore 1st Proprietor of the Province of Maryland George Calvert 1st Baron Baltimore 1579 1632 sought a charter from King Charles I for the territory between Massachusetts to the north and Virginia to the immediate south 24 After Baltimore died in April 1632 the charter was granted to his son Cecilius Calvert 2nd Baron Baltimore 1605 1675 on June 20 1632 Officially the new Maryland Colony was named in honor of Henrietta Maria of France wife of Charles I of England 25 Lord Baltimore initially proposed the name Crescentia the land of growth or increase but the King proposed Terra Mariae Mary Land which was concluded on and Inserted in the bill 18 The original capital of Maryland was St Mary s City on the north shore of the Potomac River and the county surrounding it the first erected created in the province 26 was first called Augusta Carolina after the King and later named St Mary s County 27 Lord Baltimore s first settlers arrived in the new colony in March 1634 with his younger brother the Honorable Leonard Calvert 1606 1647 as first provincial Governor of Maryland They made their first permanent settlement at St Mary s City in what is now St Mary s County They purchased the site from the paramount chief of the region who was eager to establish trade St Mary s became the first capital of Maryland and remained so for 60 years until 1695 More settlers soon followed Their tobacco crops were successful and quickly made the new colony profitable However given the incidence of malaria yellow fever and typhoid life expectancy in Maryland was about 10 years less than in New England 28 Persecution of Catholics Edit See also Plundering Time Maryland was founded to provide a haven for England s Roman Catholic minority 29 Although Maryland was the most heavily Catholic of the English mainland colonies the religion was still in the minority consisting of less than 10 of the total population 30 In 1642 a number of Puritans left Virginia for Maryland and founded Providence now called Annapolis on the western shore of the upper Chesapeake Bay 31 A dispute with traders from Virginia over Kent Island in the Chesapeake led to armed conflict In 1644 William Claiborne a Puritan seized Kent Island while his associate the pro Parliament Puritan Richard Ingle took over St Mary s 32 Both used religion as a tool to gain popular support The two years from 1644 to 1646 when Claiborne and his Puritan associates held sway were known as The Plundering Time They captured Jesuit priests imprisoned them then sent them back to England In 1646 Leonard Calvert returned with troops recaptured St Mary s City and restored order The House of Delegates passed the Act concerning Religion in 1649 granting religious liberty to all Trinitarian Christians 28 In 1650 the Puritans revolted against the proprietary government Protestants swept the Catholics out of the legislature and religious strife returned 28 The Puritans set up a new government prohibiting both Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism The Puritan revolutionary government persecuted Maryland Catholics during its reign known as the plundering time Mobs burned down all the original Catholic churches of southern Maryland The Puritan rule lasted until 1658 when the Calvert family and Lord Baltimore regained proprietary control and re enacted the Toleration Act After England s Glorious Revolution of 1688 Maryland outlawed Catholicism In 1704 the Maryland General Assembly prohibited Catholics from operating schools limited the corporate ownership of property to hamper religious orders from expanding or supporting themselves and encouraged the conversion of Catholic children 30 The celebration of the Catholic sacraments was also officially restricted This state of affairs lasted until after the American Revolutionary War 1775 1783 Wealthy Catholic planters built chapels on their land to practice their religion in relative secrecy Into the 18th century individual priests and lay leaders claimed Maryland farms belonging to the Jesuits as personal property and bequeathed them in order to evade the legal restrictions on religious organizations owning property 30 Border disputes 1681 1760 Edit Main articles Penn Calvert Boundary Dispute and Cresap s War 1732 map of Maryland 33 The royal charter granted Maryland the land north of the Potomac River up to the 40th parallel A problem arose when Charles II granted a charter for Pennsylvania The grant defined Pennsylvania s southern border as identical to Maryland s northern border the 40th parallel But the grant indicated that Charles II and William Penn assumed the 40th parallel would pass close to New Castle Delaware when it falls north of Philadelphia the site of which Penn had already selected for his colony s capital city Negotiations ensued after the problem was discovered in 1681 A compromise proposed by Charles II in 1682 was undermined by Penn s receiving the additional grant of what is now Delaware 34 Penn successfully argued that the Maryland charter entitled Lord Baltimore only to unsettled lands and Dutch settlement in Delaware predated his charter The dispute remained unresolved for nearly a century carried on by the descendants of William Penn and Lord Baltimore the Calvert family which controlled Maryland and the Penn family which controlled Pennsylvania 34 The border dispute with Pennsylvania led to Cresap s War in the 1730s Hostilities erupted in 1730 and escalated through the first half of the decade culminating in the deployment of military forces by Maryland in 1736 and by Pennsylvania in 1737 The armed phase of the conflict ended in May 1738 with the intervention of King George II who compelled the negotiation of a cease fire A provisional agreement had been established in 1732 34 Negotiations continued until a final agreement was signed in 1760 The agreement defined the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania as the line of latitude now known as the Mason Dixon line Maryland s border with Delaware was based on a Transpeninsular Line and the Twelve Mile Circle around New Castle 34 18th century Edit Main articles American Revolutionary War Maryland in the American Revolution Lee Resolution United States Declaration of Independence Philadelphia campaign Articles of Confederation Ratification Treaty of Paris 1783 Mount Vernon Conference Annapolis Convention 1786 Constitutional Convention United States Admission to the Union and List of U S states by date of admission to the Union Most of the English colonists arrived in Maryland as indentured servants and had to serve a several years term as laborers to pay for their passage 35 In the early years the line between indentured servants and African slaves or laborers was fluid and white and black laborers commonly lived and worked together and formed unions Mixed race children born to white mothers were considered free by the principle of partus sequitur ventrem by which children took the social status of their mothers a principle of slave law that was adopted throughout the colonies following Virginia in 1662 During the colonial era families of free people of color were formed most often by unions of white women and African men 36 Many of the free black families migrated to Delaware where land was cheaper 36 As the flow of indentured laborers to the colony decreased with improving economic conditions in England planters in Maryland imported thousands more slaves and racial caste lines hardened The economy s growth and prosperity were based on slave labor devoted first to the production of tobacco as the commodity crop Maryland was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution Near the end of the American Revolutionary War 1775 1783 on February 2 1781 Maryland became the last and 13th state to approve the ratification of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union first proposed in 1776 and adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1778 which brought into being the United States as a united sovereign and national state It also became the seventh state admitted to the Union after ratifying the new federal Constitution in 1788 In December 1790 Maryland donated land selected by first President George Washington to the federal government for the creation of the new national capital of Washington D C The land was provided along the north shore of the Potomac River from Montgomery and Prince George s counties as well as from Fairfax County and Alexandria on the south shore of the Potomac in Virginia however the land donated by the Commonwealth of Virginia was later returned to that state by the District of Columbia retrocession in 1846 19th century Edit The bombardment of Fort McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore inspired The Star Spangled Banner Influenced by a changing economy revolutionary ideals and preaching by ministers numerous planters in Maryland freed their slaves in the 20 years after the Revolutionary War Across the Upper South the free black population increased from less than 1 before the war to 14 by 1810 37 Abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass were born slaves during this time in Dorchester County and Talbot County respectively 38 39 During the War of 1812 the British military attempted to capture Baltimore which was protected by Fort McHenry During this bombardment the song Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key it was later adopted as the national anthem The National Road U S Hwy 40 today was authorized in 1817 and ran from Baltimore to St Louis the first federal highway The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad B amp O was the first chartered railroad in the United States It opened its first section of track for regular operation in 1830 between Baltimore and Ellicott City 40 and in 1852 it became the first rail line to reach the Ohio River from the eastern seaboard 41 Civil War Edit Main article Maryland in the American Civil War The Battle of Antietam in 1862 was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War with nearly 23 000 casualties The state remained with the Union during the Civil War 42 due in significant part to demographics and Federal intervention The 1860 census held shortly before the outbreak of the civil war showed that 49 of Maryland s African Americans were free blacks 37 Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks suspended the state legislature and to help ensure the election of a new pro union governor and legislature President Abraham Lincoln had a number of its pro slavery politicians arrested including the Mayor of Baltimore George William Brown suspended several civil liberties including habeas corpus and ordered artillery placed on Federal Hill overlooking Baltimore Historians debate the constitutionality of these wartime actions and the suspension of civil liberties was later deemed illegal by the U S Supreme Court citation needed In April 1861 Federal units and state regiments were attacked as they marched through Baltimore sparking the Baltimore riot of 1861 the first bloodshed in the Civil War 43 Of the 115 000 Marylanders who joined the military during the Civil War around 85 000 or 77 joined the Union army while the remainder joined the Confederate Army citation needed The largest and most significant battle in the state was the Battle of Antietam on September 17 1862 near Sharpsburg Although a tactical draw the battle was considered a strategic Union victory and a turning point of the war After the war Edit A new state constitution in 1864 abolished slavery and Maryland was first recognized as a Free State in that context 44 Following passage of constitutional amendments that granted voting rights to freedmen in 1867 the state extended suffrage to non white males The Democratic Party rapidly regained power in the state from Republicans Democrats replaced the Constitution of 1864 with the Constitution of 1867 Following the end of Reconstruction in 1877 Democrats devised means of disenfranchising blacks initially by physical intimidation and voter fraud later by constitutional amendments and laws Blacks and immigrants however resisted Democratic Party disfranchisement efforts in the state Maryland blacks were part of a biracial Republican coalition elected to state government in 1896 1904 and comprised 20 of the electorate 45 Compared to some other states blacks were better established both before and after the civil war Nearly half the black population was free before the war and some had accumulated property Half the population lived in cities Literacy was high among blacks and as Democrats crafted means to exclude them suffrage campaigns helped reach blacks and teach them how to resist 45 Whites did impose racial segregation in public facilities and Jim Crow laws which effectively lasted until the passage of federal civil rights legislation in the mid 1960s Baltimore grew significantly during the Industrial Revolution due in large part to its seaport and good railroad connections attracting European immigrant labor Many manufacturing businesses were established in the Baltimore area after the Civil War Baltimore businessmen including Johns Hopkins Enoch Pratt George Peabody and Henry Walters founded notable city institutions that bear their names including respectively a university library system music and dance conservatory and art museum Cumberland was Maryland s second largest city in the 19th century Nearby supplies of natural resources along with railroads fostered its growth into a major manufacturing center 46 20th and 21st centuries Edit Early 20th century Edit Ruin left by the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 The Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought political reforms In a series of laws passed between 1892 and 1908 reformers worked for standard state issued ballots rather than those distributed and marked by the parties obtained closed voting booths to prevent party workers from assisting voters initiated primary elections to keep party bosses from selecting candidates and had candidates listed without party symbols which discouraged the illiterate from participating These measures worked against ill educated whites and blacks Blacks resisted such efforts with suffrage groups conducting voter education Blacks defeated three efforts to disenfranchise them making alliances with immigrants to resist various Democratic campaigns 45 Disenfranchisement bills in 1905 1907 and 1911 were rebuffed in large part because of black opposition Blacks comprised 20 of the electorate and immigrants comprised 15 and the legislature had difficulty devising requirements against blacks that did not also disadvantage immigrants 45 The Progressive Era also brought reforms in working conditions for Maryland s labor force In 1902 the state regulated conditions in mines outlawed child laborers under the age of 12 mandated compulsory school attendance and enacted the nation s first workers compensation law The workers compensation law was overturned in the courts but was redrafted and finally enacted in 1910 The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 burned for more than 30 hours destroying 1 526 buildings and spanning 70 city blocks More than 1 231 firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control With the nation s entry into World War I in 1917 new military bases such as Camp Meade the Aberdeen Proving Ground and the Edgewood Arsenal were established Existing facilities including Fort McHenry were greatly expanded After Georgia congressman William D Upshaw criticized Maryland openly in 1923 for not passing Prohibition laws Baltimore Sun editor Hamilton Owens coined the Free State nickname for Maryland in that context which was popularized by H L Mencken in a series of newspaper editorials 44 47 Maryland s urban and rural communities had different experiences during the Great Depression The Bonus Army marched through the state in 1932 on its way to Washington D C Maryland instituted its first income tax in 1937 to generate revenue for schools and welfare 48 Passenger and freight steamboat service once important throughout Chesapeake Bay and its many tributary rivers ended in 1962 49 Baltimore was a major war production center during World War II The biggest operations were Bethlehem Steel s Fairfield Yard which built Liberty ships and Glenn Martin an aircraft manufacturer 1950 present Edit Maryland experienced population growth following World War II Beginning in the 1960s as suburban growth took hold around Washington D C and Baltimore the state began to take on a more mid Atlantic culture as opposed to the traditionally Southern and Tidewater culture that previously dominated most of the state Agricultural tracts gave way to residential communities some of them carefully planned such as Columbia St Charles and Montgomery Village Concurrently the Interstate Highway System was built throughout the state most notably I 95 I 695 and the Capital Beltway altering travel patterns In 1952 the eastern and western halves of Maryland were linked for the first time by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge which replaced a nearby ferry service 50 Maryland s regions experienced economic changes following WWII Heavy manufacturing declined in Baltimore In Maryland s four westernmost counties industrial railroad and coal mining jobs declined On the lower Eastern Shore family farms were bought up by major concerns and large scale poultry farms and vegetable farming became prevalent In Southern Maryland tobacco farming nearly vanished due to suburban development and a state tobacco buy out program in the 1990s In an effort to reverse depopulation due to the loss of working class industries Baltimore initiated urban renewal projects in the 1960s with Charles Center and the Baltimore World Trade Center Some resulted in the break up of intact residential neighborhoods producing social volatility and some older residential areas around the harbor have had units renovated and have become popular with new populations Geography EditSee also Geography of Maryland List of islands of Maryland and List of rivers of Maryland Physical regions of Maryland Maryland has an area of 12 406 68 square miles 32 133 2 km2 and is comparable in overall area with Belgium 11 787 square miles 30 530 km2 51 It is the 42nd largest and 9th smallest state and is closest in size to the state of Hawaii 10 930 98 square miles 28 311 1 km2 the next smallest state The next largest state its neighbor West Virginia is almost twice the size of Maryland 24 229 76 square miles 62 754 8 km2 Description Edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Western Maryland is known for its heavily forested mountains A panoramic view of Deep Creek Lake and the surrounding Appalachian Mountains in Garrett County Great Falls on the Potomac River Patapsco River includes the Thomas Viaduct and is part of the Patapsco Valley State Park The river forms Baltimore s Inner Harbor as it empties into the Chesapeake Bay Sunset over a marsh at Cardinal Cove on the Patuxent River Tidal wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay the largest estuary in the nation and the largest water feature in Maryland Maryland possesses a variety of topography within its borders contributing to its nickname America in Miniature It ranges from sandy dunes dotted with seagrass in the east to low marshlands teeming with wildlife and large bald cypress near the Chesapeake Bay to gently rolling hills of oak forests in the Piedmont Region and pine groves in the Maryland mountains to the west Maryland is bounded on its north by Pennsylvania on its north and east by Delaware on its east by the Atlantic Ocean and on its south and west across the Potomac River by West Virginia and Virginia The mid portion of this latter border is interrupted by the District of Columbia which sits on land that was originally part of Montgomery and Prince George s counties and including the town of Georgetown Maryland This land was ceded to the United States Federal Government in 1790 to form the District of Columbia The Commonwealth of Virginia gave land south of the Potomac including the town of Alexandria Virginia however Virginia retroceded its portion in 1846 The Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state and the counties east of the bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore Most of the state s waterways are part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed with the exceptions of a tiny portion of extreme western Garrett County drained by the Youghiogheny River as part of the watershed of the Mississippi River the eastern half of Worcester County which drains into Maryland s Atlantic coastal bays and a small portion of the state s northeast corner which drains into the Delaware River watershed So prominent is the Chesapeake in Maryland s geography and economic life that there has been periodic agitation to change the state s official nickname to the Bay State a nickname that has been used by Massachusetts for decades The highest point in Maryland with an elevation of 3 360 feet 1 020 m is Hoye Crest on Backbone Mountain in the southwest corner of Garrett County near the border with West Virginia and near the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac River Close to the small town of Hancock in western Maryland about two thirds of the way across the state less than 2 miles 3 2 km separates its borders 52 the Mason Dixon line to the north and the northwards arching Potomac River to the south Portions of Maryland are included in various official and unofficial geographic regions For example the Delmarva Peninsula is composed of the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland the entire state of Delaware and the two counties that make up the Eastern Shore of Virginia whereas the westernmost counties of Maryland are considered part of Appalachia Much of the Baltimore Washington corridor lies just south of the Piedmont in the Coastal Plain 53 though it straddles the border between the two regions Geology Edit Earthquakes in Maryland are infrequent and small due to the state s distance from seismic earthquake zones 54 55 The M5 8 Virginia earthquake in 2011 was felt moderately throughout Maryland Buildings in the state are not well designed for earthquakes and can suffer damage easily 56 Maryland has no natural lakes mostly due to the lack of glacial history in the area 57 All lakes in the state today were constructed mostly via dams 58 Buckel s Bog is believed by geologists to have been a remnant of a former natural lake 59 Maryland has shale formations containing natural gas where fracking is theoretically possible 60 Flora Edit Black eyed susans the state flower grow throughout much of the state 61 Mature Trachycarpus fortunei in Solomons Maryland As is typical of states on the East Coast Maryland s plant life is abundant and healthy A modest volume of annual precipitation helps to support many types of plants including seagrass and various reeds at the smaller end of the spectrum to the gigantic Wye Oak a huge example of white oak the state tree which can grow over 70 feet 21 m tall Middle Atlantic coastal forests typical of the southeastern Atlantic coastal plain grow around Chesapeake Bay and on the Delmarva Peninsula Moving west a mixture of Northeastern coastal forests and Southeastern mixed forests cover the central part of the state The Appalachian Mountains of western Maryland are home to Appalachian Blue Ridge forests These give way to Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests near the West Virginia border 62 Many foreign species are cultivated in the state some as ornamentals others as novelty species Included among these are the crape myrtle Italian cypress southern magnolia live oak in the warmer parts of the state 63 and even hardy palm trees in the warmer central and eastern parts of the state 64 USDA plant hardiness zones in the state range from Zones 5 and 6 in the extreme western part of the state to Zone 7 in the central part and Zone 8 around the southern part of the coast the bay area and parts of metropolitan Baltimore 65 Invasive plant species such as kudzu tree of heaven multiflora rose and Japanese stiltgrass stifle growth of endemic plant life 66 Maryland s state flower the black eyed susan grows in abundance in wild flower groups throughout the state Fauna Edit A feral Chincoteague Pony on Assateague Island on Maryland s Atlantic coastal islands The state harbors a considerable number of white tailed deer especially in the woody and mountainous west of the state and overpopulation can become a problem Mammals can be found ranging from the mountains in the west to the central areas and include black bears 67 bobcats 68 foxes coyotes 69 raccoons and otters 67 There is a population of rare wild feral horses found on Assateague Island 70 They are believed to be descended from horses who escaped from Spanish galleon shipwrecks 70 Every year during the last week of July they are captured and swim across a shallow bay for sale at Chincoteague Virginia a conservation technique which ensures the tiny island is not overrun by the horses 70 The ponies and their sale were popularized by the children s book Misty of Chincoteague The purebred Chesapeake Bay Retriever dog was bred specifically for water sports hunting and search and rescue in the Chesapeake area 71 In 1878 the Chesapeake Bay Retriever was the first individual retriever breed recognized by the American Kennel Club 71 and was later adopted by the University of Maryland Baltimore County as their mascot Maryland s reptile and amphibian population includes the diamondback terrapin turtle which was adopted as the mascot of University of Maryland College Park as well as the threatened Eastern box turtle 72 The state is part of the territory of the Baltimore oriole which is the official state bird and mascot of the MLB team the Baltimore Orioles 73 Aside from the oriole 435 other species of birds have been reported from Maryland 74 The state insect is the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly although it is not as common in Maryland as it is in the southern edge of its range 75 Environment Edit Maryland joined with neighboring states during the end of the 20th century to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay The bay s aquatic life and seafood industry have been threatened by development and by fertilizer and livestock waste entering the bay 76 77 In 2007 Forbes com rated Maryland as the fifth Greenest state in the country behind three of the Pacific States and Vermont Maryland ranks 40th in total energy consumption nationwide and it managed less toxic waste per capita than all but six states in 2005 78 In April 2007 Maryland joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative RGGI a regional initiative formed by all the Northeastern states Washington D C and three Canadian provinces to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 79 In March 2017 Maryland became the first state with proven gas reserves to ban fracking by passing a law against it Vermont has such a law but no shale gas and New York has such a ban though it was made by executive order 60 Climate Edit Further information Climate change in Maryland Koppen climate types of Maryland using 1991 2020 climate normals Winter on Lancaster Street in Baltimore s Fells Point Maryland has a wide array of climates due to local variances in elevation proximity to water and protection from colder weather due to downslope winds The eastern half of Maryland which includes the cities of Ocean City Salisbury Annapolis and the southern and eastern suburbs of Washington D C and Baltimore lies on the Atlantic Coastal Plain with flat topography and sandy or muddy soil This region has a humid subtropical climate Koppen Cfa with hot humid summers and a cool to cold winter it falls under USDA Hardiness zone 8a 65 The Piedmont region which includes northern and western greater Baltimore Westminster Gaithersburg Frederick and Hagerstown has average seasonal snowfall totals generally exceeding 20 inches 51 cm and as part of USDA Hardiness zones 7b and 7a 65 temperatures below 10 F 12 C are less rare From the Cumberland Valley on westward the climate begins to transition to a humid continental climate Koppen Dfa In western Maryland the higher elevations of Allegany and Garrett counties including the cities of Cumberland Frostburg and Oakland display more characteristics of the humid continental zone due in part to elevation They fall under USDA Hardiness zones 6b and below 65 Precipitation in the state is characteristic of the East Coast Annual rainfall ranges from 35 to 45 inches 890 to 1 140 mm with more in higher elevations Nearly every part of Maryland receives 3 5 4 5 inches 89 114 mm per month of rain Average annual snowfall varies from 9 inches 23 cm in the coastal areas to over 100 inches 250 cm in the western mountains of the state 80 Because of its location near the Atlantic Coast Maryland is somewhat vulnerable to tropical cyclones although the Delmarva Peninsula and the outer banks of North Carolina provide a large buffer such that strikes from major hurricanes category 3 or above occur infrequently More often Maryland gets the remnants of a tropical system that has already come ashore and released most of its energy Maryland averages around 30 40 days of thunderstorms a year and averages around six tornado strikes annually 81 Monthly average high and low temperatures for various Maryland cities and landmarks covering breadth and width of the state City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov DecOakland 34 F 1 C 16 F 9 C 38 F 3 C 17 F 8 C 48 F 9 C 25 F 4 C 59 F 15 C 34 F 1 C 68 F 20 C 45 F 7 C 75 F 24 C 53 F 12 C 79 F 26 C 58 F 14 C 78 F 26 C 56 F 13 C 71 F 22 C 49 F 9 C 62 F 17 C 37 F 3 C 50 F 10 C 28 F 2 C 39 F 4 C 21 F 6 C Cumberland 41 F 5 C 22 F 6 C 46 F 8 C 24 F 4 C 56 F 13 C 32 F 0 C 68 F 20 C 41 F 5 C 77 F 25 C 51 F 11 C 85 F 29 C 60 F 16 C 89 F 32 C 65 F 18 C 87 F 31 C 63 F 17 C 80 F 27 C 55 F 13 C 69 F 21 C 43 F 6 C 57 F 14 C 34 F 1 C 45 F 7 C 26 F 3 C Hagerstown 39 F 4 C 22 F 6 C 42 F 6 C 23 F 5 C 52 F 11 C 30 F 1 C 63 F 17 C 39 F 4 C 72 F 22 C 50 F 10 C 81 F 27 C 59 F 15 C 85 F 29 C 64 F 18 C 83 F 28 C 62 F 17 C 76 F 24 C 54 F 12 C 65 F 18 C 43 F 6 C 54 F 12 C 34 F 1 C 43 F 6 C 26 F 3 C Frederick 42 F 6 C 26 F 3 C 47 F 8 C 28 F 2 C 56 F 13 C 35 F 2 C 68 F 20 C 45 F 7 C 77 F 25 C 54 F 12 C 85 F 29 C 63 F 17 C 89 F 32 C 68 F 20 C 87 F 31 C 66 F 19 C 80 F 27 C 59 F 15 C 68 F 20 C 47 F 8 C 56 F 13 C 38 F 3 C 45 F 7 C 30 F 1 C Baltimore 42 F 6 C 29 F 2 C 46 F 8 C 31 F 1 C 54 F 12 C 39 F 4 C 65 F 18 C 48 F 9 C 75 F 24 C 57 F 14 C 85 F 29 C 67 F 19 C 90 F 32 C 72 F 22 C 87 F 31 C 71 F 22 C 80 F 27 C 64 F 18 C 68 F 20 C 52 F 11 C 58 F 14 C 43 F 6 C 46 F 8 C 33 F 1 C Elkton 42 F 6 C 24 F 4 C 46 F 8 C 26 F 3 C 55 F 13 C 32 F 0 C 67 F 19 C 42 F 6 C 76 F 24 C 51 F 11 C 85 F 29 C 61 F 16 C 88 F 31 C 66 F 19 C 87 F 31 C 65 F 18 C 80 F 27 C 57 F 14 C 69 F 21 C 45 F 7 C 58 F 14 C 36 F 2 C 46 F 8 C 28 F 2 C Ocean City 45 F 7 C 28 F 2 C 46 F 8 C 29 F 2 C 53 F 12 C 35 F 2 C 61 F 16 C 44 F 7 C 70 F 21 C 53 F 12 C 79 F 26 C 63 F 17 C 84 F 29 C 68 F 20 C 82 F 28 C 67 F 19 C 77 F 25 C 60 F 16 C 68 F 20 C 51 F 11 C 58 F 14 C 39 F 4 C 49 F 9 C 32 F 0 C Waldorf 44 F 7 C 26 F 3 C 49 F 9 C 28 F 2 C 58 F 14 C 35 F 2 C 68 F 20 C 43 F 6 C 75 F 24 C 53 F 12 C 81 F 27 C 62 F 17 C 85 F 29 C 67 F 19 C 83 F 28 C 65 F 18 C 78 F 26 C 59 F 15 C 68 F 20 C 47 F 8 C 59 F 15 C 38 F 3 C 48 F 9 C 30 F 1 C Point Lookout State Park 47 F 8 C 29 F 2 C 51 F 11 C 31 F 1 C 60 F 16 C 38 F 3 C 70 F 21 C 46 F 8 C 78 F 26 C 55 F 13 C 86 F 30 C 64 F 18 C 89 F 32 C 69 F 21 C 87 F 31 C 67 F 19 C 81 F 27 C 60 F 16 C 71 F 22 C 49 F 9 C 61 F 16 C 41 F 5 C 50 F 10 C 32 F 0 C 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 Cities and metro areas Edit See also Maryland statistical areas Maryland population distribution map Maryland s population is concentrated mostly in the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas Most of the population of Maryland lives in the central region of the state in the Baltimore metropolitan area and Washington metropolitan area both of which are part of the Baltimore Washington metropolitan area The majority of Maryland s population is concentrated in the cities and suburbs surrounding Washington D C as well as in and around Maryland s most populous city Baltimore Historically these and many other Maryland cities developed along the Fall Line the line along which rivers brooks and streams are interrupted by rapids and waterfalls Maryland s capital city Annapolis is one exception to this pattern since it lies along the banks of the Severn River close to where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay The Eastern Shore is less populous and more rural as are the counties of western Maryland The two westernmost counties of Maryland Allegany and Garrett are mountainous and sparsely populated resembling West Virginia and Appalachia more than they do the rest of the state Both eastern and western Maryland are however dotted with cities of regional importance such as Ocean City Princess Anne and Salisbury on the Eastern Shore and Cumberland Frostburg and Hancock in Western Maryland Southern Maryland is still somewhat rural but suburbanization from Washington D C has encroached significantly since the 1960s important local population centers include Lexington Park Prince Frederick California and Waldorf 92 93 vte Largest cities or towns in Maryland 2020 U S Census populationsRank Name County Pop Baltimore Columbia 1 Baltimore Independent city 585 708 Germantown Waldorf2 Columbia Howard 104 6813 Germantown Montgomery 91 2494 Waldorf Charles 81 4105 Silver Spring Montgomery 81 0156 Frederick Frederick 78 1717 Ellicott City Howard 75 9478 Glen Burnie Anne Arundel 72 8919 Gaithersburg Montgomery 69 65710 Bethesda Montgomery 68 056Demographics EditSee also List of counties in Maryland List of incorporated places in Maryland and List of census designated places in Maryland Maryland s counties Historical populationCensus Pop 1790319 728 1800341 5486 8 1810380 54611 4 1820407 3507 0 1830447 0409 7 1840470 0195 1 1850583 03424 0 1860687 04917 8 1870780 89413 7 1880934 94319 7 18901 042 39011 5 19001 188 04414 0 19101 295 3469 0 19201 449 66111 9 19301 631 52612 5 19401 821 24411 6 19502 343 00128 6 19603 100 68932 3 19703 922 39926 5 19804 216 9757 5 19904 781 46813 4 20005 296 48610 8 20105 773 5529 0 20206 177 2247 0 2022 est 6 164 660 0 2 Source 1910 2020 94 In the 2020 United States census the United States Census Bureau found that population of Maryland was 6 185 278 people a 7 1 increase from the 2010 United States census 94 The United States Census Bureau estimated that the population of Maryland was 6 045 680 on July 1 2019 a 4 71 increase from the 2010 United States census and an increase of 2 962 from the prior year This includes a natural increase since the last census of 269 166 464 251 births minus 275 093 deaths and an increase due to net migration of 116 713 people into the state Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 129 730 people and migration within the country produced a net loss of 13 017 people 95 The center of population of Maryland is located on the county line between Anne Arundel County and Howard County in the unincorporated community of Jessup 96 Maryland s history as a border state has led it to exhibit characteristics of both the Northern and the Southern regions of the United States Generally rural Western Maryland between the West Virginian Panhandle and Pennsylvania has an Appalachian culture the Southern and Eastern Shore regions of Maryland embody a Southern culture 97 while densely populated Central Maryland radiating outward from Baltimore and Washington D C has more in common with that of the Northeast 98 The U S Census Bureau designates Maryland as one of the South Atlantic States but it is commonly associated with the Mid Atlantic States and Northeastern United States by other federal agencies the media and some residents 99 100 101 102 103 Birth data Edit As of 2011 58 0 percent of Maryland s population younger than age 1 were minority background 104 Note Births in the table do not add up because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race giving a higher overall number Live births by single race ethnicity of mother Race 2013 105 2014 106 2015 107 2016 108 2017 109 2018 110 2019 111 2020 112 White 41 474 57 6 42 525 57 5 42 471 57 7 gt non Hispanic 32 568 45 2 33 178 44 9 32 412 44 0 31 278 42 8 29 809 41 6 29 585 41 6 28 846 41 1 28 060 40 9 Black 24 764 34 4 25 339 34 3 25 017 34 0 22 829 31 2 22 327 31 1 21 893 30 8 21 494 30 6 20 869 30 4 Asian 5 415 7 5 5 797 7 8 5 849 7 9 5 282 7 2 5 276 7 3 4 928 6 9 4 928 7 0 4 595 6 7 American Indian 300 0 4 260 0 3 279 0 4 104 0 1 127 0 2 114 0 2 113 0 2 79 0 1 Hispanic of any race 10 515 14 6 10 974 14 8 11 750 16 0 11 872 16 2 12 223 17 1 12 470 17 5 12 872 18 3 13 034 19 0 Total Maryland 71 953 100 73 921 100 73 616 100 73 136 100 71 641 100 71 080 100 70 178 100 68 554 100 Since 2016 data for births of White Hispanic origin are not collected but included in one Hispanic group persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race Language Edit Racial Makeup of Maryland excluding Hispanics from racial categories 2019 113 NH Non Hispanic White NH 49 82 Black NH 29 75 Asian NH 6 35 Native American NH 0 25 Pacific Islander NH 0 04 Two or more races NH 2 85 Other NH 0 31 Hispanic Any Race 10 64 Spanish including Spanish Creole is the second most spoken language in Maryland after English The third and fourth most spoken languages are French including Patois and Cajun and Chinese Other commonly spoken languages include various African languages Korean German Tagalog Russian Vietnamese Italian various Asian languages Persian Hindi and other Indic languages Greek and Arabic 114 Racial breakdown of population of Maryland Racial composition 1970 115 1990 115 2000 116 2010 117 2020 118 White 81 5 71 0 64 0 60 8 58 5 Black 17 8 24 9 27 9 29 8 31 1 Asian 0 5 2 9 4 0 5 5 6 7 Native American 0 1 0 3 0 3 0 3 0 6 Other race 0 1 0 9 1 8 3 6 Two or more races 2 0 2 9 2 9 Non Hispanic whites 80 4 69 6 62 1 54 7 50 0 Map of counties in Maryland by racial plurality according to 2020 U S census findings Non Hispanic White 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 80 90 90 Black or African American 50 60 60 70 In 1970 the U S Census Bureau reported Maryland s population as 17 8 percent African American and 80 4 percent non Hispanic White 119 African Americans form a sizable portion of the state s population 31 1 as of 2020 118 Most are descendants of people transported to the area as slaves from West Africa and many are of mixed race including European and Native American ancestry Concentrations of African Americans live in Baltimore City Prince George s County a suburb of Washington D C where many work Charles County western parts of Baltimore County and the southern Eastern Shore New residents of African descent include 20th century and later immigrants from Nigeria particularly of the Igbo and Yoruba tribes 120 Maryland also hosts populations from other African and Caribbean nations Many immigrants from the Horn of Africa have settled in Maryland with large communities existing in the suburbs of Washington D C particularly Montgomery County and Prince George s County and the city of Baltimore The Greater Washington area has the largest population of Ethiopians outside of Africa 121 The Ethiopian community of Greater D C was historically based in Washington D C s Adams Morgan and Shaw neighborhoods but as the community has grown many Ethiopians have settled in Silver Spring 122 The Washington D C metropolitan area is also home to large Eritrean and Somali communities The top reported ancestries by Maryland residents are German 15 Irish 11 English 8 American 7 Italian 6 and Polish 3 123 Irish American populations can be found throughout the Baltimore area 124 and the Northern and Eastern suburbs of Washington D C in Maryland descendants of those who moved out to the suburbs 125 of Washington s once predominantly Irish neighborhoods 125 126 as well as Western Maryland where Irish immigrant laborers helped to build the B amp O Railroad 124 Smaller but much older Irish populations can be found in Southern Maryland with some roots dating as far back as the early Maryland colony 127 This population however still remains culturally very active and yearly festivals are held 128 A large percentage of the population of the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland are descendants of British American ancestry The Eastern Shore was settled by Protestants chiefly Methodist and the southern counties were initially settled by English Catholics Western and northern Maryland have large German American populations More recent European immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th century settled first in Baltimore attracted to its industrial jobs Many of their ethnic Italian Polish Czech Lithuanian and Greek descendants still live in the area Large ethnic minorities include Eastern Europeans such as Croatians Belarusians Russians and Ukrainians The shares of European immigrants born in Eastern Europe increased significantly between 1990 and 2010 Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia many immigrants from Eastern Europe came to the United States 12 percent of whom currently reside in Maryland 129 130 Hispanic immigrants of the later 20th century have settled in Aspen Hill Hyattsville Langley Park Glenmont Wheaton Bladensburg Riverdale Park Gaithersburg as well as Highlandtown and Greektown in East Baltimore Salvadorans are the largest Hispanic group in Maryland Other Hispanic groups with significant populations in the state include Mexicans and Puerto Ricans and Hondurans Though the Salvadoran population is more concentrated in the area around Washington D C and the Puerto Rican population is more concentrated in the Baltimore area all other major Hispanic groups in the state are evenly dispersed between these two areas Maryland has one of the most diverse Hispanic populations in the country with significant populations from various Caribbean and Central American nations 131 Asian Americans are concentrated in the suburban counties surrounding Washington D C and in Howard County with Korean American and Taiwanese American communities in Rockville Gaithersburg and Germantown and a Filipino American community in Fort Washington Numerous Indian Americans live across the state especially in central Maryland Attracting educated Asians and Africans to the professional jobs in the region Maryland has the fifth largest proportions of racial minorities in the country 132 In 2006 645 744 were counted as foreign born which represents mainly people from Latin America and Asia About four percent are undocumented immigrants 133 Maryland also has a large Korean American population 134 In fact 1 7 percent are Korean while as a whole 6 7 percent are Asian 135 According to The Williams Institute s analysis of the 2010 U S census 12 538 same sex couples are living in Maryland representing 5 8 same sex couples per 1 000 households 136 In 2019 non Hispanic white Americans were 49 8 of Maryland s population White Americans including White Hispanics were 57 3 which made Maryland a majority minority state 137 50 2 of Maryland s population is non white or is Hispanic or Latino the highest percentage of any state on the East Coast and the highest percentage after the majority minority states of Hawaii New Mexico Texas California and Nevada 138 By 2031 minorities are projected to become the majority of voting eligible residents of Maryland 139 Religion Edit Baltimore Basilica was the first Catholic cathedral built in the U S Murugan Temple of North America in Lanham Religion in Maryland 2014 140 religion percentProtestant 52 None 23 Catholic 15 Jewish 3 Other faiths 2 Buddhist 1 Hindu 1 Islam 1 Mormon 1 Orthodox Christian 1 Maryland has been historically prominent to American Catholic tradition because the English colony of Maryland was intended by George Calvert as a haven for English Catholics Baltimore was the seat of the first Catholic bishop in the U S 1789 and Emmitsburg was the home and burial place of the first American born citizen to be canonized St Elizabeth Ann Seton Georgetown University the first Catholic University was founded in 1789 in what was then part of Maryland it became a part of the District of Columbia when it was created in the 1790s The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Baltimore was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States and the Archbishop of Baltimore is albeit without formal primacy the United States quasi primate citation needed and often a cardinal Among the immigrants of the 19th and 20th centuries from eastern and southern Europe were many Catholics Despite its historic relevance to the Catholic Church in the United States the percentage of Catholics in the state of Maryland is below the national average of 20 Demographically both Protestants and those identifying with no religion are more numerous than Catholics According to the Pew Research Center in 2014 69 percent of Maryland s population identifies themselves as Christian Nearly 52 of the adult population are Protestants c Following Protestantism Catholicism is the second largest religious affiliation comprising 15 percent of the population 140 141 Amish Mennonite communities are found in St Mary s Garrett and Cecil counties 142 Judaism is the largest non Christian religion in Maryland with 241 000 adherents or four percent of the total population 143 Jews are numerous throughout Montgomery County and in Pikesville and Owings Mills northwest of Baltimore An estimated 81 500 Jewish Americans live in Montgomery County constituting approximately 10 of the total population 144 The Seventh day Adventist Church s world headquarters and Ahmadiyya Muslims national headquarters are located in Silver Spring just outside the District of Columbia Per the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020 61 percent of Maryland s population identified with Christianity 145 Protestantism and Roman Catholicism continued to dominate the Christian landscape and the Jewish community remained at 3 of the total religious population Of the unaffiliated the PRRI study determined their increase to 28 of the population Economy EditSee also Business in Maryland List of federal installations in Maryland List of shopping malls in Maryland and Maryland locations by per capita income A map showing Maryland s median income by county Data is sourced from the 2014 ACS five year estimate report published by the U S Census Bureau The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Maryland s gross state product in 2016 was 382 4 billion 146 However Maryland has been using Genuine Progress Indicator an indicator of well being to guide the state s development rather than relying only on growth indicators like GDP 147 148 According to the U S Census Bureau Maryland households are currently the wealthiest in the country with a 2013 median household income of 72 483 149 which puts it ahead of New Jersey and Connecticut which are second and third respectively Two of Maryland s counties Howard and Montgomery are the second and eleventh wealthiest counties in the nation respectively Maryland has the most millionaires per capita in 2013 with a ratio of 7 7 percent 150 Also the state s poverty rate of 7 8 percent is the lowest in the country 151 152 153 Per capita personal income in 2006 was 43 500 fifth in the nation As of March 2022 the state s unemployment rate was 4 6 percent 154 Maryland s economy benefits from the state s proximity to the federal government in Washington D C with an emphasis on technical and administrative tasks for the defense aerospace industry and bio research laboratories as well as staffing of satellite government headquarters in the suburban or exurban Baltimore Washington area Ft Meade serves as the headquarters of the Defense Information Systems Agency United States Cyber Command and the National Security Agency Central Security Service In addition a number of educational and medical research institutions are located in the state In fact the various components of The Johns Hopkins University and its medical research facilities are now the largest single employer in the Baltimore area Altogether white collar technical and administrative workers comprise 25 percent of Maryland s labor force citation needed attributable in part to nearby Maryland being a part of the Washington Metro Area where the federal government office employment is relatively high Manufacturing while large in dollar value is highly diversified with no sub sector contributing over 20 percent of the total Typical forms of manufacturing include electronics computer equipment and chemicals The once mighty primary metals sub sector which once included what was then the largest steel factory in the world at Sparrows Point still exists but is pressed with foreign competition bankruptcies and mergers During World War II the Glenn Martin Company now part of Lockheed Martin airplane factory employed some 40 000 people Mining other than construction materials is virtually limited to coal which is located in the mountainous western part of the state The brownstone quarries in the east which gave Baltimore and Washington much of their characteristic architecture in the mid 19th century were once a predominant natural resource Historically there used to be small gold mining operations in Maryland some near Washington but these no longer exist Port of Baltimore Edit One major service activity is transportation centered on the Port of Baltimore and its related rail and trucking access The port ranked 17th in the U S by tonnage in 2008 155 Although the port handles a wide variety of products the most typical imports are raw materials and bulk commodities such as iron ore petroleum sugar and fertilizers often distributed to the relatively close manufacturing centers of the inland Midwest via good overland transportation The port also receives several brands of imported motor vehicles and is the number one auto port in the U S 156 Baltimore City is among the top 15 largest ports in the nation 157 and was one of six major U S ports that were part of the February 2006 controversy over the Dubai Ports World deal 158 The state as a whole is heavily industrialized with a booming economy and influential technology centers Its computer industries are some of the most sophisticated in the United States and the federal government has invested heavily in the area Maryland is home to several large military bases and scores of high level government jobs The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is a 14 miles 23 km canal on the Eastern Shore that connects the waters of the Delaware River with those of the Chesapeake Bay and in particular with the Port of Baltimore carrying 40 percent of the port s ship traffic 159 Fishing Edit Maryland has a large food production sector A large component of this is commercial fishing centered in the Chesapeake Bay but also including activity off the short Atlantic seacoast The largest catches by species are the blue crab oysters striped bass and menhaden The Bay also has overwintering waterfowl in its wildlife refuges The waterfowl support a tourism sector of sportsmen Agriculture Edit Agriculture is an important part of Maryland s economy Maryland has large areas of fertile agricultural land in its coastal and Piedmont zones though this land use is being encroached upon by urbanization Agriculture is oriented to dairy farming especially in foothill and piedmont areas for nearby large city milksheads plus specialty perishable horticulture crops such as cucumbers watermelons sweet corn tomatoes muskmelons squash and peas Source USDA Crop Profiles The southern counties of the western shoreline of Chesapeake Bay are warm enough to support a tobacco cash crop zone which has existed since early Colonial times but declined greatly after a state government buy out in the 1990s There is also a large automated chicken farming sector in the state s southeastern part Salisbury is home to Perdue Farms Maryland s food processing plants are the most significant type of manufacturing by value in the state Farming suffers from weeds as anywhere else including an unusual multiply resistant ragweed Ambrosia artemisiifolia found by Rousonelos et al 2012 with both ALS and PPO resistances 160 and which by 2016 had developed a third EPSP resistance 161 This ragweed population is a drag on soybean cultivation and as of May 7 2022 update is the worst multiresistant weed problem in the state 161 Biotechnology Edit Maryland is a major center for life sciences research and development With more than 400 biotechnology companies located there Maryland is the fourth largest nexus in this field in the United States 162 Institutions and government agencies with an interest in research and development located in Maryland include the Johns Hopkins University the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory more than one campus of the University System of Maryland Goddard Space Flight Center the United States Census Bureau the National Institutes of Health NIH the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST the National Institute of Mental Health NIMH the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center the federal Food and Drug Administration FDA the Howard Hughes Medical Institute the Celera Genomics company the J Craig Venter Institute JCVI and AstraZeneca formerly MedImmune Maryland is home to defense contractor Emergent BioSolutions which manufactures and provides an anthrax vaccine to U S government military personnel 163 Tourism Edit See also List of National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Ocean City a beach resort along the Atlantic Ocean is a popular tourist destination in Maryland Tourism is popular in Maryland Many tourists visit Baltimore the beaches of the Eastern Shore and the nature of western Maryland Attractions in Baltimore include the Harborplace the Baltimore Aquarium Fort McHenry as well as the Camden Yards baseball stadium Ocean City on the Atlantic Coast has been a popular beach destination in summer particularly since the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was built in 1952 connecting the Eastern Shore to the more populated Maryland cities 50 The state capital of Annapolis offers sites such as the state capitol building the historic district and the waterfront Maryland also has several sites of interest to military history given Maryland s role in the American Civil War and in the War of 1812 Other attractions include the historic and picturesque towns along the Chesapeake Bay such as Saint Mary s Maryland s first colonial settlement and original capital 164 Healthcare Edit Main articles List of hospitals in Maryland and Maryland hospital payment system As of 2017 the top two health insurers including all types of insurance were CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield with 47 market share followed by UnitedHealth Group at 15 165 Maryland has experimented with healthcare payment reforms notably beginning in the 1970s with an all payer rate setting program regulated by the Health Services Cost Review Commission 166 In 2014 it switched to a global budget revenue system whereby hospitals receive a capitated payment to care for their population 166 Transportation EditThe Maryland Department of Transportation oversees most transportation in the state through its various administration level agencies 167 The independent Maryland Transportation Authority maintains and operates the state s eight toll facilities Roads Edit See also List of Interstate Highways in Maryland List of Maryland state highways List of minor Maryland state highways and List of former Maryland state highways The Chesapeake Bay Bridge connects Maryland s Eastern and Western Shores Maryland s Interstate highways include 110 miles 180 km of Interstate 95 I 95 which enters the northeast portion of the state travels through Baltimore and becomes part of the eastern section of the Capital Beltway to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge I 68 travels 81 miles 130 km connecting the western portions of the state to I 70 at the small town of Hancock I 70 enters from Pennsylvania north of Hancock and continues east for 93 miles 150 km to Baltimore connecting Hagerstown and Frederick along the way I 83 has 34 miles 55 km in Maryland and connects Baltimore to southern central Pennsylvania Harrisburg and York Pennsylvania Maryland also has an 11 mile 18 km portion of I 81 that travels through the state near Hagerstown I 97 fully contained within Anne Arundel County and the shortest 17 6 miles 28 3 km one or two digit interstate highway in the contiguous US connects the Baltimore area to the Annapolis area There are also several auxiliary Interstate highways in Maryland Among them are two beltways encircling the major cities of the region I 695 the McKeldin Baltimore Beltway which encircles Baltimore and a portion of I 495 the Capital Beltway which encircles Washington D C I 270 which connects the Frederick area with Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia through major suburbs to the northwest of Washington is a major commuter route and is as wide as fourteen lanes at points I 895 also known as the Harbor Tunnel Thruway provides an alternate route to I 95 across the Baltimore Harbor Both I 270 and the Capital Beltway were extremely congested however the Intercounty Connector ICC MD 200 has alleviated some congestion over time Construction of the ICC was a major part of the campaign platform of former Governor Robert Ehrlich who was in office from 2003 until 2007 and of Governor Martin O Malley who succeeded him I 595 which is an unsigned highway concurrent with US 50 US 301 is the longest unsigned interstate in the country and connects Prince George s County and Washington D C with Annapolis and the Eastern Shore via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Maryland also has a state highway system that contains routes numbered from 2 through 999 however most of the higher numbered routes are either unsigned or are relatively short Major state highways include Routes 2 Governor Ritchie Highway Solomons Island Road Southern Maryland Blvd 4 Pennsylvania Avenue Southern Maryland Blvd Patuxent Beach Road St Andrew s Church Road 5 Branch Avenue Leonardtown Road Point Lookout Road 32 45 York Road 97 Georgia Avenue 100 Paul T Pitcher Memorial Highway 210 Indian Head Highway 235 Three Notch Road 295 Baltimore Washington Parkway 355 Wisconsin Avenue Rockville Pike Frederick Road 404 Queen Anne Highway Shore Highway and 650 New Hampshire Avenue Airports Edit See also Aviation in Maryland and List of airports in Maryland Maryland s largest airport is Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport more commonly referred to as BWI The airport is named for the Baltimore born Thurgood Marshall the first African American Supreme Court justice The only other airports with commercial service are at Hagerstown and Salisbury The Maryland suburbs of Washington D C are also served by the other two airports in the region Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport both in Northern Virginia The College Park Airport is the nation s oldest founded in 1909 and is still used Wilbur Wright trained military aviators at this location 168 169 Rail Edit See also List of Maryland railroads vteMaryland passenger rail stationsLegendCapitol Limitedto Chicago Cumberland Northeast CorridorBrunswick Perryville Point of Rocks Aberdeen EdgewoodFrederick Martin Airport Monocacy Penn Station West Baltimore Dickerson Halethorpe Camden Station Barnesville BWI Airport Boyds St Denis DorseyGermantown Odenton JessupMetropolitan Grove Savage Bowie StateGaithersburg Laurel Race Track LaurelWashington Grove Seabrook Muirkirk Rockville Greenbelt Garrett Park New Carrollton Kensington College Park Silver Spring RiverdaleCapitol Limited MARCto Washington D C Northeast Corridor MARC Ellicott City Station on the original B amp O Railroad line is the oldest remaining passenger station in the nation The rail line is still used by CSX Transportation for freight trains and the station is now a museum Amtrak trains including the high speed Acela Express serve Baltimore s Penn Station BWI Airport New Carrollton and Aberdeen along the Washington D C to Boston Northeast Corridor In addition train service is provided to Rockville and Cumberland by Amtrak s Washington D C to Chicago Capitol Limited The WMATA s Metrorail rapid transit and Metrobus local bus systems the 2nd and 6th busiest in the nation of their respective modes provide service in Montgomery and Prince George s counties and connect them to Washington D C with the express Metrobus Route B30 serving BWI Airport The Maryland Transit Administration often abbreviated as MTA Maryland a state agency part of the Maryland Department of Transportation also provides transit services within the state Headquartered in Baltimore MTA s transit services are largely focused on central Maryland as well as some portions of the Eastern Shore and Southern MD Baltimore s Light RailLink and Metro SubwayLink systems serve its densely populated inner city and the surrounding suburbs The MTA also serves the city and its suburbs with its local bus service the 9th largest system in the nation The MTA s Commuter Bus system provides express coach service on longer routes connecting Washington D C and Baltimore to parts of Central and Southern MD as well as the Eastern Shore The commuter rail service known as MARC operates three lines which all terminate at Washington Union Station and provide service to Baltimore s Penn and Camden stations Perryville Frederick and Martinsburg WV In addition many suburban counties operate local bus systems which connect to and complement the larger MTA and WMATA Metro services The MTA will also administer the Purple Line an under construction light rail line that will connect the Maryland branches of the Red Green Yellow and Orange lines of the Washington Metro as well as offer transfers to all three lines of the MARC commuter rail system 170 171 Freight rail transport is handled principally by two Class I railroads as well as several smaller regional and local carriers CSX Transportation has more extensive trackage throughout the state with 560 miles 900 km 172 followed by Norfolk Southern Railway Major rail yards are located in Baltimore and Cumberland 172 with an intermodal terminal rail truck and marine in Baltimore 173 Law and government EditMain article Government of Maryland See also List of Governors of Maryland Maryland Army National Guard and Maryland Air National Guard The Maryland State House in Annapolis dates to 1772 and houses the Maryland General Assembly and offices of the governor The historical coat of arms of Maryland in 1876 The government of Maryland is conducted according to the state constitution The government of Maryland like the other 49 state governments has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state s borders except as limited by the Constitution of the United States Power in Maryland is divided among three branches of government executive legislative and judicial The Maryland General Assembly is composed of the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate Maryland s governor is unique in the United States as the office is vested with significant authority in budgeting The legislature may not increase the governor s proposed budget expenditures Unlike many other states significant autonomy is granted to many of Maryland s counties Most of the business of government is conducted in Annapolis the state capital however some cabinet departments and state officials have their offices in Baltimore Elections for governor and most statewide offices as well as most county elections are held in midterm election years even numbered years not divisible by four The judicial branch of state government consists of one united District Court of Maryland that sits in every county and Baltimore City as well as 24 Circuit Courts sitting in each County and Baltimore City the latter being courts of general jurisdiction for all civil disputes over 30 000 all equitable jurisdiction and major criminal proceedings The intermediate appellate court is known as the Appellate Court of Maryland and the state supreme court is the Supreme Court of Maryland The appearance of the justices of the Supreme Court of Maryland is unique Maryland is the only state whose justices wear red robes 174 Taxation Edit Maryland imposes five income tax brackets ranging from 2 to 6 25 percent of personal income 175 The city of Baltimore and Maryland s 23 counties levy local piggyback income taxes at rates between 1 25 and 3 2 percent of Maryland taxable income Local officials set the rates and the revenue is returned to the local governments quarterly The top income tax bracket of 9 45 percent is the fifth highest combined state and local income tax rates in the country behind New York City s 11 35 percent California s 10 3 percent Rhode Island s 9 9 percent and Vermont s 9 5 percent 176 Maryland s state sales tax is six percent 177 All real property in Maryland is subject to the property tax 178 Generally properties that are owned and used by religious charitable or educational organizations or property owned by the federal state or local governments are exempt 178 Property tax rates vary widely 178 No restrictions or limitations on property taxes are imposed by the state meaning cities and counties can set tax rates at the level they deem necessary to fund governmental services 178 Elections Edit Main article Elections in Maryland Further information Political party strength in Maryland Spiro Agnew 39th Vice President of the United States is the highest ranking political leader from Maryland since the nation s founding Prior to the American Civil War Maryland s elections were largely controlled by the Democrats which account for 54 9 of all registered voters as of May 2017 179 State elections are dominated by Baltimore and the populous suburban counties bordering Washington D C and Baltimore Montgomery Prince George s Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties As of July 2017 180 66 percent of the state s population resides in these six jurisdictions most of which contain large traditionally Democratic voting blocs African Americans in Baltimore City and Prince George s federal employees in Prince George s Anne Arundel and Montgomery and post graduates in Montgomery The remainder of the state particularly Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore is more supportive of Republicans citation needed One of Maryland s best known political figures is a Republican former governor Spiro Agnew who pled no contest to tax evasion and resigned in 1973 181 In 1980 Maryland was one of six states to vote for Jimmy Carter In 1992 Bill Clinton fared better in Maryland than any other state except his home state of Arkansas In 1996 Maryland was Clinton s sixth best in 2000 Maryland ranked fourth for Gore and in 2004 John Kerry showed his fifth best performance in Maryland In 2008 Barack Obama won the state s 10 electoral votes with 61 9 percent of the vote to John McCain s 36 5 percent In 2002 former Governor Robert Ehrlich was the first Republican to be elected to that office in four decades and after one term he lost his seat to Baltimore Mayor and Democrat Martin O Malley Ehrlich ran again for governor in 2010 losing again to O Malley Voter registration and party enrollment in Maryland 182 Party Total PercentageDemocratic 2 250 961 54 10 Republican 998 905 24 00 Independents and unaffiliated 841 573 20 22 Other parties 70 198 1 68 Total 4 161 637 100 00 The 2006 election brought no change in the pattern of Democratic dominance After Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes announced that he was retiring Democratic Congressman Benjamin Cardin defeated Republican Lieutenant Governor Michael S Steele with 55 percent of the vote against Steele s 44 percent While Republicans usually win more counties by piling up large margins in the west and east they are also usually swamped by the more densely populated and heavily Democratic Baltimore Washington axis In 2008 for instance McCain won 17 counties to Obama s six Obama also carried Baltimore City While McCain won most of the western and eastern counties by margins of 2 to 1 or more he was almost completely shut out in the larger counties surrounding Baltimore and Washington every large county except Anne Arundel went for Obama 183 From 2007 to 2011 U S Congressman Steny Hoyer MD 5 a Democrat was elected as Majority Leader for the 110th Congress and 111th Congress of the House of Representatives serving in that post again starting in 2019 In addition Hoyer served as House Minority Whip from 2003 to 2006 and 2012 to 2018 His district covers parts of Anne Arundel and Prince George s counties in addition to all of Charles Calvert and St Mary s counties in southern Maryland 184 In 2010 Republicans won control of most counties The Democratic Party remained in control of eight county governments including that of Baltimore 185 In 2014 Larry Hogan a moderate Republican 186 was elected Governor of Maryland 187 Hogan is the second Republican to become the Governor of Maryland since Spiro Agnew who resigned in 1969 to become vice president In 2018 Hogan was re elected to a second term of office Per the Constitution of Maryland Hogan is term limited and may not run for a third consecutive term in the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election In a 2020 study Maryland was ranked by the Election Law Journal as the 5th easiest state for citizens to vote in 188 LGBT rights and community Edit The first person known to describe himself as a drag queen was William Dorsey Swann born enslaved in Hancock Maryland Swann was the first American on record who pursued legal and political action to defend the LGBTQ community s right to assemble 189 In February 2010 Attorney General Doug Gansler issued an opinion stating that Maryland law should honor same sex marriages from out of state At the time the state Supreme Court wrote a decision upholding marriage discrimination 136 On March 1 2012 Maryland Governor Martin O Malley signed the freedom to marry bill into law after it passed in the state legislature Opponents of same sex marriage began collecting signatures to overturn the law The law faced a referendum as Question 6 in the November 2012 election 136 A large majority 57 of Maryland voters said they would vote to uphold the freedom to marry with 37 saying they would vote against This is consistent with a January 2011 Gonzales Research amp Marketing Strategies poll showing 51 support for marriage in the state 190 Voters voted 52 to 48 for Question 6 on November 6 2012 Same sex couples began marrying in Maryland on January 1 2013 136 In May 2012 Maryland s Court of Appeals ruled that the state will recognize marriages of same sex couples who married out of state no matter the outcome of the November election 136 Media EditA well known newspaper in Maryland is The Baltimore Sun 191 Many residents of the Washington metropolitan area receive The Washington Post citation needed The most populous areas are served by either Baltimore or Washington D C broadcast stations The Eastern Shore is served primarily by broadcast media based around the Delmarva Peninsula the northeastern section receives both Baltimore and Philadelphia stations Garrett County which is mountainous is served by stations from Pittsburgh and requires cable or satellite for reception Maryland is served by statewide PBS member station Maryland Public Television MPT citation needed Education EditPrimary and secondary education Edit See also List of school districts in Maryland List of high schools in Maryland and Arts and culture of Maryland Memorial Chapel at the University of Maryland Maryland s flagship university UMBC Commons and Quad Education Week ranked Maryland 1 in its nationwide 2009 2013 Quality Counts reports citation needed The College Board s 9th Annual AP Report to the Nation also ranked Maryland first citation needed Primary and secondary education in Maryland is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education which is headquartered in Baltimore 192 The highest educational official in the state is the State Superintendent of Schools who is appointed by the State Board of Education to a four year term of office The Maryland General Assembly has given the Superintendent and State Board autonomy to make educationally related decisions limiting its influence on the day to day functions of public education Each county and county equivalent in Maryland has a local Board of Education charged with running the public schools in that particular jurisdiction The budget for education was 5 5 billion in 2009 representing about 40 percent of the state s general fund 193 Data from the 2017 census shows that among large school districts four Maryland districts are in the top six for per pupil annual spending exceeded only by the Boston and New York City districts 194 Maryland has a broad range of private primary and secondary schools Many of these are affiliated with various religious sects including parochial schools of the Catholic Church Quaker schools Seventh day Adventist schools and Jewish schools In 2003 Maryland law was changed to allow for the creation of publicly funded charter schools although the charter schools must be approved by their local Board of Education and are not exempt from state laws on education including collective bargaining laws In 2008 the state led the entire country in the percentage of students passing Advanced Placement examinations 23 4 percent of students earned passing grades on the AP tests given in May 2008 This marks the first year that Maryland earned this honor 195 Three Maryland high schools in Montgomery County were ranked among the top 100 in the country by US News in 2009 based in large part on AP test scores 196 Colleges and universities Edit See also List of colleges and universities in Maryland Maryland has several historic and renowned private colleges and universities the most prominent of which is Johns Hopkins University founded in 1876 with a grant from Baltimore entrepreneur Johns Hopkins The first public university in the state is the University of Maryland Baltimore which was founded in 1807 and contains the University of Maryland s only public academic health human services and one of two law centers the other being the University of Baltimore School of Law Seven professional and graduate schools train the majority of the state s physicians nurses dentists lawyers social workers and pharmacists 197 The flagship university and largest undergraduate institution in Maryland is the University of Maryland College Park which was founded as the Maryland Agricultural College in 1856 and became a public land grant college in 1864 Towson University founded in 1866 is the state s second largest university In 1974 Maryland along with seven other states mainly in the South submitted plans to desegregate its state universities Maryland s plans were approved by the U S Department of Health Education and Welfare 198 Baltimore is home to the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the Maryland Institute College of Art The majority of public universities in the state Bowie State University Coppin State University Frostburg State University Salisbury University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore are affiliated with the University System of Maryland Two state funded institutions Morgan State University and St Mary s College of Maryland as well as two federally funded institutions the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the United States Naval Academy are not affiliated with the University System of Maryland The University of Maryland Global Campus is the largest public university in Maryland 199 and one of the largest distance learning institutions in the world 200 St John s College in Annapolis and Washington College in Chestertown both private institutions are the oldest colleges in the state and among the oldest in the country Other private institutions include Mount St Mary s University McDaniel College formerly known as Western Maryland College Hood College Stevenson University formerly known as Villa Julie College Loyola University Maryland and Goucher College among others Public libraries Edit Maryland s 24 public library systems deliver public education for everyone in the state of Maryland through a curriculum that comprises three pillars Self Directed Education books and materials in all formats e resources Research Assistance amp Instruction individualized research assistance classes for students of all ages and Instructive amp Enlightening Experiences e g Summer Reading Clubs author events Maryland s library systems include in part Baltimore County Public Library System Cecil County Public Library Enoch Pratt Free Library Frederick County Public Library Harford County Public Library Howard County Public Library Montgomery County Public Libraries Prince George s County Memorial Library System St Mary s County Public Library 201 Many of the library systems have established formalized partnerships with other educational institutions in their counties and regions 202 Sports EditSee also Sports in Maryland and List of people from Maryland Athletes Oriole Park at Camden Yards home of the Baltimore Orioles M amp T Bank Stadium home of the Baltimore Ravens With two major metropolitan areas Maryland has a number of major and minor professional sports franchises Two National Football League teams play in Maryland the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore and the Washington Commanders in Landover The Baltimore Colts represented the NFL in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983 before moving to Indianapolis The Baltimore Orioles are the state s Major League Baseball franchise The National Hockey League s Washington Capitals and the National Basketball Association s Washington Wizards formerly played in Maryland until the construction of an arena in Washington D C in 1997 now known as Capital One Arena University of Maryland s team is the Maryland Terrapins Maryland enjoys considerable historical repute for the talented sports players of its past including Cal Ripken Jr and Babe Ruth In 2012 The Baltimore Sun published a list of Maryland s top ten athletes in the state s history The list includes Babe Ruth Cal Ripken Jr Johnny Unitas Brooks Robinson Frank Robinson Ray Lewis Michael Phelps Jimmie Foxx Jim Parker and Wes Unseld 203 Other professional sports franchises in the state include three affiliated minor league baseball teams one independent league baseball team the Baltimore Blast indoor soccer team two indoor football teams three low level outdoor soccer teams and the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse Maryland is also home to one of the three races in horse racing s annual Triple Crown the Preakness Stakes which is run every spring at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore The Baltimore Stallions were a Canadian Football Team in the CFL that played the 1994 95 season The Congressional Country Club has hosted three golf tournaments for the U S Open and a PGA Championship The official state sport of Maryland since 1962 is jousting the official team sport since 2004 is lacrosse 204 The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame is located on the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore In 2008 intending to promote physical fitness for all ages walking became the official state exercise Maryland is the first state with an official state exercise 205 Friendship partners EditMaryland has relationships with many provinces states and other entities worldwide Bong and Maryland Counties in Liberia 206 Jalisco Mexico 1996 207 Cross River and Ondo States Nigeria 208 209 Kwazulu Natal South Africa 210 Victoria AustraliaSee also Edit Maryland portal United States portalIndex of Maryland related articles Outline of MarylandNotes Edit The previous anthem Maryland My Maryland was repealed in 2021 5 In US English the first syllable is pronounced ˈ m ɛr even by speakers who contrast the vowels in merry ˈ m ɛr i and Mary ˈ m ɛer i which is the minority The pronunciation ˈ m ɛer ɪ l e n d MAIR il end is the predominant one in British received pronunciation 9 Including Evangelical Protestants 18 Mainline Protestants 18 and Historically further explanation needed Black Protestants 16 140 References Edit Maryland s quality of life ranks high compared to other states The Daily Record Baltimore December 11 2004 Retrieved June 4 2009 via FindArticles com permanent dead link Maryland Facts Maryland Office of Tourism Retrieved June 2 2009 Senate Bill 88 PDF Archived from the original PDF on September 29 2017 Great Seal of Maryland reverse Maryland State Archives Retrieved March 4 2014 Maryland state song which refers to Lincoln as tyrant and urges secession is repealed CBS News May 20 2021 Retrieved November 24 2022 a b Elevations and Distances in the United States United States Geological Survey 2001 Archived from the original on October 15 2011 Retrieved October 21 2011 Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988 QuickFacts Maryland United States Census Bureau Retrieved April 3 2022 Wells John C 2008 Longman Pronunciation Dictionary 3rd ed Longman ISBN 978 1 4058 8118 0 Mid Atlantic Home Mid Atlantic Information Office U S Bureau of Labor Statistics www bls gov Archived from the original on April 8 2019 Retrieved July 27 2017 Society National Geographic January 3 2012 United States Regions National Geographic Society Retrieved November 19 2021 a b Baltimore Encyclopaedia Britannica Maryland s Name Catholic History of Maryland Simon amp Schuster Retrieved July 20 2012 Why Is It Named Maryland Ghosts of Baltimore May 19 2015 Retrieved February 19 2018 People Tribes and Bands Maryland Manual On line A Guide to Maryland and its Government Maryland State Archives Retrieved August 25 2019 George Calvert and Cecilius Calvert Barons Baltimore William Hand Browne Nabu Press August 1 2010 ISBN 117662539X ISBN 978 1176625396 Krugler John D 2004 English and Catholic the Lords Baltimore in the seventeenth century Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press ISBN 978 0801879630 OCLC 53967315 a b c Andrews Matthew Page 1929 History of Maryland Province and State Garden City New York Doubleday Doran amp Company Inc pp 3 5 The Charter of Maryland 1632 avalon law yale edu December 18 1998 Retrieved May 2 2018 Avalon Project Maryland Toleration Act September 21 1649 avalon law yale edu Retrieved May 3 2018 State Median Household Income Patterns 1990 2010 U S Census Bureau Retrieved August 6 2012 Tom Horton William Chesapeake Bay Foundation 2013 Turning the Tide Saving the Chesapeake Bay Island Press p 221 ISBN 9781610911160 Maryland Facts Visit Maryland Retrieved April 25 2019 Stewart George R 1967 1945 Names on the Land A Historical Account of Place Naming in the United States Sentry 3rd ed Houghton Mifflin pp 42 43 Marsh 2011 p 5 Masser Kristin P Maryland In Focus St Mary s County Maryland State Archives History of Maryland p 32 a b c Maryland The Catholic Experiment www ushistory org Archived from the original on March 22 2016 Greenwell Megan August 21 2008 Religious Freedom Byway Would Recognize Maryland s Historic Role The Washington Post a b c Wilder Craig Steven 2016 War and Priests Catholic Colleges and Slavery in the Age of Revolution In Beckert Seth Rockman Seth eds Slavery s Capitalism A New History of American Economic Development Philadelphia PA University of Pennsylvania p 233 ISBN 978 0 8122 4841 8 Taylor Owen M History of Annapolis 1872 p 5 Brenner Robert Merchants and Revolution London Verso 2003 ISBN 1 85984 333 6 Tom March 4 2014 Lord Baltimore s Map of Maryland in 1732 Ghosts of Baltimore Retrieved February 24 2019 a b c d Hubbard Bill Jr 2009 American Boundaries the Nation the States the Rectangular Survey University of Chicago Press pp 21 23 ISBN 978 0 226 35591 7 Indentured Servants and the Pursuits of Happiness Archived January 4 2010 at the Wayback Machine Crandall Shifflett Virginia Tech a b Paul Heinegg Free African Americans in Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Maryland and Delaware Retrieved February 15 2008 a b Peter Kolchin American Slavery 1619 1877 New York Hill and Wang 1993 pp 81 82 Harriet Tubman HISTORY Retrieved January 18 2019 Douglass Frederick 2003 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave New York NY Barnes amp Noble Classics p 17 ISBN 978 1 59308 041 9 Dilts James D 1993 The Great Road The Building of the Baltimore and Ohio the Nation s First Railroad 1828 1853 Palo Alto CA Stanford University Press p 80 ISBN 978 0 8047 2235 3 Stover John F 1987 History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad West Lafayette IN Purdue University Press p 18 ISBN 978 0 911198 81 2 Walter Coffey April 29 2016 Maryland Remains in the Union The Civil War Months Walter Coffey Archived from the original on August 17 2016 Retrieved July 7 2016 Vogler Mark E April 18 2009 Civil War Guard on duty in Baltimore to save President Street Station eagletribune com Eagle Tribune Archived from the original on April 19 2009 Retrieved April 28 2015 a b Maryland at a Glance Nicknames Maryland State Archives September 29 2015 Retrieved February 8 2018 a b c d Tuck Stephen Spring 2013 Democratization and the Disfranchisement of African Americans in the US South during the Late 19th Century PDF Reading for Challenges of Democratization via Brandon Kendhammer Ohio University Bird s Eye View of Cumberland Maryland 1906 World Digital Library 1906 Retrieved July 22 2013 Dayhoff Kevin October 7 2012 Eagle Archive Here s a toast to Maryland s origins as The Free State The Baltimore Sun Retrieved February 8 2018 Cairns Huntington December 1937 History and Constitutionality of the Maryland Income Tax Law Maryland Law Review Legal History Theory and Process Commons UM Carey Law pp 1 6 Retrieved August 19 2015 1937 Special Session of the Maryland Legislature imposed an income tax expenditure of public funds for the benefit of able bodied persons whose inability to support themselves arises from the prevalence of widespread unemployment The Steamboats of Chesapeake Bay Archived from the original on August 4 2020 Retrieved March 9 2020 a b William Preston Lane Jr Memorial Bay Bridge History baybridge com Archived from the original on July 1 2008 Retrieved February 5 2008 Belgium CIA World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency May 15 2008 Retrieved May 15 2008 Area comparative about the size of Maryland Hancock C amp O Canal Trust Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Trust Delgado Patricia December 2011 Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Maryland Site Profile PDF Maryland Department of Natural Resources p 54 Retrieved May 21 2017 Map showing Maryland physiographic provinces M2 0 Maryland Archived from the original on January 17 2013 Retrieved November 25 2012 M3 4 Maryland Potomac Shenandoah Region Archived from the original on November 2 2012 Retrieved November 25 2012 Reger James P Earthquakes and Maryland Maryland Geological Survey Retrieved December 25 2018 Maryland s Lakes and Reservoirs FAQ Maryland Geological Survey January 24 2007 Archived from the original on May 29 2010 Retrieved February 3 2008 Maryland gov Maryland at a glance Accessed December 3 2018 Rosenwald Michael S July 30 2012 Fact Maryland has no natural lakes The Washington Post Retrieved June 10 2015 a b Pamela Wood March 27 2017 Maryland General Assembly approves fracking ban The Baltimore Sun Maryland at a Glance State Symbols Maryland State Flower Black Eyed Susan Maryland Manual Online Maryland State Archives Retrieved May 20 2014 Olson D M Dinerstein E et al 2001 Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World A New Map of Life on Earth BioScience 51 11 933 938 doi 10 1641 0006 3568 2001 051 0933 TEOTWA 2 0 CO 2 Zone Hardiness Map through Prairie Frontier Prairiefrontier com Retrieved October 24 2010 John Leeds Bozman 1837 The history of Maryland from its first settlement in 1633 to the restoration in 1660 with a copious introduction and notes and illustrations J Lucas amp E K Deaver p 24 a b c d Hardiness Zones Arbor Day Foundation Retrieved March 5 2013 Invasive Species of concern in Maryland Mdinvasivesp org Retrieved October 24 2010 a b Maryland Animals Archived from the original on August 30 2007 Retrieved August 30 2007 Therres Glenn Fall 2007 Lions in our mountains The mystery of cougars in Maryland PDF Wildlife and Heritage Maryland Department of Natural Resources Archived from the original PDF on April 19 2011 Retrieved July 6 2009 Historically bobcats were distributed statewide but during the post colonization period densities began to plummet By the mid 1900s populations had probably reached all time lows with remnant populations existing only in western Maryland This prompted the Department of Natural Resources DNR to classify them as a state listed Species of Special Concern During the past quarter century occupied range and densities have increased markedly Results from the annual Bowhunter Survey and the Hunter Mail survey have identified bobcat sightings in 14 of Maryland s 23 counties Currently bobcats have dual legal classification in Maryland In addition to the Species of Special Concern designation they are also defined as a Game Animal Furbearer with a closed harvest season Coyotes in Maryland Maryland Department of Natural Resources Archived from the original on August 15 2011 Retrieved September 16 2011 Coyotes were historically a western species with core populations found west of the Mississippi River Alterations and or elimination of competing predators during the post European colonization period facilitated rapid range expansion into eastern North America during the 20th Century Established populations now occur in every state and province in North America Coyotes are a relatively new addition to local ecosystems and were first documented in Maryland during 1972 Initial substantiated sightings occurred in Cecil Frederick and Washington counties Since that time population densities and occupied range have expanded incrementally and coyotes now occur statewide a b c Assateague Island National Seashore wild Ponies Assateagueisland com Retrieved October 24 2010 a b Chesapeake Bay Retriever History K9web com Archived from the original on October 24 2010 Retrieved October 24 2010 Eastern Box Turtle Maryland Biodiversity Project Archived from the original on July 9 2018 Retrieved July 8 2018 Maryland Government Website Maryland State Bird Msa md gov June 7 2010 Retrieved October 24 2010 Official list of the birds of Maryland PDF Maryland District of Columbia Records Committee Archived from the original PDF on July 9 2018 Retrieved May 4 2009 Euphydryas phaeton Drury 1773 Archived September 6 2010 at the Wayback Machine Butterflies and Moths of North America Goodman Peter S August 1 1999 An Unsavory Byproduct Runoff and Pollution Washington Post p A1 Horton Tom January 1 1999 Hog farms waste poses a threat Baltimore Sun Archived from the original on October 12 2013 Retrieved October 5 2013 Wingfield Brian Marcus Miriam October 16 2007 America s Greenest States Forbes com Archived from the original on November 5 2010 Retrieved October 24 2010 Program Design Archive RGGI Inc Retrieved April 20 2018 Snowfall Map Archived from the original on May 22 2010 Retrieved October 24 2010 NOAA National Climatic Data Center Retrieved on October 24 2006 Archived from the original on October 16 2011 Retrieved October 25 2006 NowData NOAA Online Weather Data National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved December 17 2012 Monthly Averages for Oakland MD weather com Retrieved September 28 2013 Station Name MD Cumberland 2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved March 5 2013 Monthly Averages for Hagerstown MD weather com Retrieved September 28 2013 Station Name MD Frederick Police Brks National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved March 5 2013 Station Name MD MD Sci Ctr Baltimore National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved February 27 2013 Monthly Averages for Elkton MD 21921 The Weather Channel Retrieved May 21 2017 Station Name MD Ocean City Muni Ap National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved March 5 2013 Monthly Averages for Waldorf MD The Weather Channel Retrieved May 21 2017 Monthly Averages for Point Lookout State Park Scotland MD The Weather Channel Retrieved May 21 2017 Calvert County Maryland s Success in Controlling Sprawl Environmental Protection Agency Retrieved September 3 2016 Shields Todd February 16 1997 On Edge The Washington Post Retrieved September 3 2016 a b Historical Population Change Data 1910 2020 Census gov United States Census Bureau Archived from the original on April 29 2021 Retrieved May 1 2021 QuickFacts Maryland United States 2018 Population Estimates United States Census Bureau Population Division February 7 2019 Retrieved February 7 2019 Population and Population Centers by State 2000 United States Census Bureau Archived from the original on December 12 2001 Retrieved December 5 2008 The South As It s sic Own Nation League of the South 2004 Archived from the original on June 5 2008 Retrieved May 23 2008 On the other hand areas beyond these thirteen States maintain their Southern culture to varying degrees Much of Missouri remains basically Southern as do parts of southern Maryland and Maryland s eastern shore Beck John Randall Aaron amp Frandsen Wendy June 27 2007 Southern Culture An Introduction PDF Durham North Carolina Carolina Academic Press pp 14 15 Retrieved May 23 2008 Kentucky Missouri West Virginia and Maryland slaveholding states and regions before the Civil War that did not secede from the Union are also often included as part of the South As border states these states always were crossroads of values and customs and today parts of Maryland seem to have become part of the Northeast Regions of the United States American Memory The Library of Congress Retrieved August 11 2009 Region 3 The Mid Atlantic States U S Environmental Protection Agency Retrieved August 11 2009 Your Local FBI Office Federal Bureau of Investigation Archived from the original on August 15 2009 Retrieved August 11 2009 Routes Serving the Northeast National Railroad Passenger Corporation Archived from the original on August 15 2009 Retrieved August 11 2009 Best Regional Colleges The Princeton Review Retrieved August 11 2009 Exner Rich June 3 2012 Americans under age 1 now mostly minorities but not in Ohio Statistical Snapshot The Plain Dealer Retrieved February 19 2020 Births Final Data for 2013 PDF National Vital Statistics Reports National Center for Health Statistics 64 1 35 36 January 15 2015 Retrieved February 19 2020 Births Final Data for 2014 PDF National Vital Statistics Reports National Center for Health Statistics 64 12 35 36 December 23 2015 Retrieved February 19 2020 Births Final Data for 2015 PDF National Vital Statistics Reports National Center for Health Statistics 66 1 38 40 January 5 2017 Retrieved February 19 2020 Births Final Data for 2016 PDF National Vital Statistics Reports National Center for Health Statistics 67 1 25 January 31 2018 Retrieved February 19 2020 Births Final Data for 2017 PDF National Vital Statistics Reports National Center for Health Statistics 67 8 20 November 7 2018 Retrieved February 19 2020 Births Final Data for 2018 PDF National Vital Statistics Reports National Center for Health Statistics 68 13 20 November 27 2019 Retrieved February 19 2020 Data PDF www cdc gov Retrieved March 30 2021 Data PDF www cdc gov Retrieved February 20 2022 B03002 Hispanic or Latino Origin by Race Maryland 2019 American Community Survey 1 Year Estimates U S Census Bureau July 1 2019 Retrieved November 6 2020 Maryland Languages City Data Retrieved September 14 2016 a b Yax Laura K Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race 1790 to 1990 and By Hispanic Origin 1970 to 1990 For The United States Regions Divisions and States Archived from the original on July 25 2008 Population of Maryland Census 2010 and 2000 Interactive Map Demographics Statistics Quick Facts permanent dead link Maryland QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau Archived from the original on February 7 2015 Retrieved January 14 2015 a b QuickFacts Maryland U S Census Bureau Retrieved July 16 2021 Maryland Race and Hispanic Origin 1790 to 1990 U S Census Bureau Archived from the original on July 25 2008 Retrieved April 18 2012 Languages in Maryland PDF U S English Foundation Inc Archived from the original PDF on January 17 2013 Retrieved May 22 2012 Prince George s County has the highest percentage of Kru Ibo Yoruba speakers of any county in the nation Westley Brian Washington Nation s Largest Ethiopian Community Carves Niche Archived March 4 2016 at the Wayback Machine USA Today Associated Press October 17 2005 Washington Nation s Largest Ethiopian Community Carves Niche The Southeast Missourian Associated Press October 23 2005 p 7C Retrieved August 25 2018 DC s Little Ethiopia has moved to Silver Spring and Alexandria Greater Greater Washington Retrieved August 25 2018 Data Access and Dissemination Systems DADS American FactFinder Results Archived from the original on February 12 2020 Retrieved January 14 2015 a b Irish Immigrants in Baltimore Introduction Teaching American History in Maryland Maryland State Archives Retrieved May 21 2017 a b Dastagir Alia E May 23 2011 Swampoodle The neighborhood behind the play ABC Channel 7 TBD online magazine p 2 Archived from the original on June 6 2013 Retrieved June 11 2014 Washington DC Genealogy Research Resources and Records Irish Neighborhoods in Old Washington genweb org Archived from the original on May 25 2017 Retrieved May 21 2017 Mulberry Tree College News Explore Maryland s History in Ireland St Mary s College of Maryland online magazine Spring 2014 Archived from the original on July 14 2014 Retrieved June 11 2014 About the Celtic Society of Southern Maryland CSSM org Celtic Society of Southern Maryland Archived from the original on May 25 2017 Retrieved May 21 2017 European Immigrants in the United States migrationpolicy org Retrieved January 14 2015 Cities with the Highest Percentage of Russians in Maryland Retrieved January 14 2015 Department of Legislative Services June 2008 Overview of Hispanic Community in Maryland PDF pp 6 7 Archived from the original PDF on January 17 2013 Retrieved July 5 2012 Minority population surging in Texas NBC News Associated Press August 18 2005 Retrieved December 7 2009 Turner Brinton Immigration Bill Could Impact Maryland Archived December 21 2013 at the Wayback Machine Capital News Service April 5 2006 Retrieved July 22 2007 Yau Jennifer 2007 The Foreign Born from Korea in the United States Migration Policy Institute Retrieved December 23 2007 U S Census Bureau Maryland U S Census Bureau Retrieved June 16 2021 a b c d e Maryland Freedom to Marry Retrieved September 28 2013 B03002 Hispanic or Latino Origin by Race Maryland 2019 American Community Survey 1 Year Estimates U S Census Bureau July 1 2019 Retrieved November 23 2020 Maryland Quick Facts United States Census Bureau Retrieved July 25 2017 States of Change The Demographic Evolution of the American Electorate 1974 2060 PDF Center for American Progress Retrieved July 25 2016 a b c Religious composition of adults in Maryland Religious Landscape Study The Pew Forum on Religion amp Public Life 2017 Retrieved October 5 2017 State Membership Report www thearda com The Association of Religion Data Archives Archived from the original on December 2 2013 Retrieved November 15 2013 Maryland Amish Amish America Retrieved October 6 2017 Table 77 Christian Church Adherents and Jewish Population States 2008 United States Census Bureau Archived from the original Excel on March 27 2010 Retrieved October 24 2010 2017 Greater Washington Jewish Community Demographic Study PDF Jewish Federation of Greater Washington Retrieved February 28 2019 PRRI American Values Atlas ava prri org Retrieved September 17 2022 Regional Data Archived from the original on August 31 2017 Retrieved March 14 2018 Dolan Karen January 30 2012 A better way of measuring progress in Maryland Baltimore Sun Measuring Prosperity Maryland s Genuine Progress Indicator Solutions Archived October 5 2012 at the Wayback Machine Thesolutionsjournal com Retrieved on July 12 2013 American FactFinder MedImmune Results Archived from the original on February 12 2020 Retrieved July 16 2015 Frank Robert January 15 2014 Top states for millionaires per capita CNBC Retrieved January 21 2014 span, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.