Maryland is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States of America. It is characterized by diversity, including both sea and mountain, urban and rural, historic and modern opportunities for the visitor. One of its nicknames is "America in Miniature" because it has a little bit of everything. Maryland is bordered by the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.
Regions
Cities
Other destinations
Understand
The largest and most well known geographic feature of Maryland is the Chesapeake Bay, the world's largest estuary. At one time it was called the world's protein basket because it produced so much seafood in the form of fish and shellfish, in particular its most famous product, Blue Crabs. Today the bay is a poster child for what happens from overfishing and pollution, but Maryland leads the country in many progressive "Save the Bay" programs to save wetlands, and halt the flow of pollutants from the more than 12 million people who live in its watershed from Pennsylvania to Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay is a magnet for sailing and fishing sports activities.
The state is bounded to the south by the Potomac River, which offers opportunities for boating, and bicycling along the disused Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal Trail, leading from Washington (D.C.) to Cumberland.
The western part of the state is much more mountainous than the eastern lowlands, and offers hiking along the Appalachian Trail, whitewater recreation in the Youghiogheny River, and historical sites such as Antietam Battlefield, where the events of the bloodiest single day in American history unfolded.
Ocean City offers an economy that caters to the huge seasonal influx of beach-goers. It has an odd charm in the winter, with discounted hotels, deserted beaches and empty restaurants.
Geography and Climate
The state crosses many different geographical zones, from the low, sandy barrier islands of the Atlantic Coast to the fertile, lowlands of the Chesapeake Basin, which rise into the foothills of the Piedmont, and eventually the rugged terrain of the Appalachian Mountains. Maryland has been called "America in Minature" because of the great difference of landscape one can experience in such a small area.
The climate of Maryland varies as much as its topography. The lower elevation Atlantic Coastal Plain, which surrounds the Chesapeake Bay and includes the major cities of Baltimore, Annapolis, and Salisbury has a mild subtropical climate, with hot, humid summers and cool winters with very little snow. As one moves away from the Bay and higher in elevation, the climate becomes more continental, with milder summers and colder winters. In the mountains of the west summers are cool, and winters can be very cold with heavy snows. The mountains protect the eastern half of Maryland from much of the harsh winter weather experienced in the Great Lakes region.
Get in
Airplane: Many international and domestic flights arrive into the states's main airport, Baltimore-Washington International (BWI). Many air travelers to Maryland arrive at Reagan National Airport (DCA) and Dulles International Airport (IAD), both located in northern Virginia. In addition, regional flights can be booked to Hagerstown (HGR), and Salisbury.
Train: Amtrak trains arrive at stations in Aberdeen, Baltimore, BWI, Cumberland, New Carrollton, Rockville, and Salisbury.
Car: Maryland is served by several main Interstate highways, and a number of other routes enter the state. Interstates 68 and 70 are the main east-west interstate highways in the state, and Interstates 81, 83, 95 and 97 are major north-south routes. In addition, US Routes 219, 220, 29, 11, 15, 1, and 13 are major north-south arteries.
Get around
Do
Drink
Beer lovers will want to try a few of the state's great craft brews. Wild Goose and Blue Ridge Ales are among the most popular. Both brands offer a variety of styles - stouts, porters, ales, ESBs, IPAs,and Goldens. Also, Clipper City, Deep Creek, and Foggy Bottom are brands worth sampling.
Get out
Maryland (IPA: /ˈmɛɹ.ə.lənd/) is a state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States of America. According to the most recent information provided by the 2005 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, Maryland is the second wealthiest state in the United States, with a median household income of $61,592.[1]
Maryland is classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a South-Atlantic state. It is also commonly referred to as a Mid Atlantic state. It was the seventh state to ratify the United States Constitution, and is nicknamed the Old Line State and the Free State. Its history as a border state has led it to exhibit characteristics of both the Northern and Southern regions of the United States. As a general rule, the rural areas of Maryland — such as Western, Southern, and Eastern Maryland-are more Southern in culture while densely populated Central Maryland —- areas in the Baltimore and Washington Beltway Regions —- exhibit more Northern characteristics.
Maryland is a life sciences hub with over 350 biotechnology firms, making it third-largest such cluster in the nation. Institutions and agencies located throughout Maryland include University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Geography
Maryland possesses a great variety of topography, hence its nickname: "America in Miniature." It ranges from sandy dunes dotted with seagrass in the east, to low marshlands teeming with water snakes and large bald cypress near the bay, to gently rolling hills of oak forest in the Piedmont Region, and mountain pine groves in the west.
Maryland is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania, on the west by West Virginia, on the north and east by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south, across the Potomac River, by West Virginia and Virginia. The mid-portion of this border is interrupted on the Maryland side by Washington, DC, which sits on land originally part of Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state, and the counties east of the bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore. A portion of extreme western Maryland in Garrett County is drained by the Youghiogheny River, as part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, and the eastern half of Worcester County drains into Maryland's Atlantic Coastal Bays. The remainder is in the Chesapeake watershed except for a small portion of the state's northeast corner draining into the Delaware River. 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 "Bay State," a name currently used by Massachusetts.
The highest point in Maryland is Hoye Crest on Backbone Mountain, which is the southwest corner of Garrett County, near the border with West Virginia and near the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac. In western Maryland, about two-thirds of the way across the state, is a point at which the state is only about 1 mile wide. This geographical curiosity, which makes Maryland the narrowest state, is located near the small town of Hancock, and results from Maryland's northern and southern boundaries being marked by the Mason-Dixon Line and the north-arching Potomac River, respectively.
The Delmarva Peninsula comprises the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland, the entire state of Delaware, and the two counties that make up the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
A quirk of Maryland's geography is that the state contains no natural lakes. During the last Ice Age, glaciers did not reach as far south as Maryland, and therefore did not carve out deep natural lakes as exist in northern states. There are numerous man-made lakes, the largest being Deep Creek Lake, a reservoir in Garrett County. The lack of glacial history also accounts for Maryland's soil, which is more sandy and muddy than the rocky soils of the Northeast.
Climate
Maryland has wide array of climates for a state of its size. It depends on numerous variables, such as proximity to water, elevation, and protection from northern weather due to downslope winds.
The eastern half of Maryland lies on the Atlantic Coastal Plain, with very flat topography and very sandy or muddy soil. This region has a humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers and a short, mild to cool winter. This region includes the cities of Salisbury, Annapolis, Ocean City, and southern and eastern greater Baltimore.
Beyond this region lies the Piedmont which lies in the transition zone between the humid subtropical climate and the humid continental climate (Koppen Dfa) of hot, humid summers and moderately cold winters where significant snowfall and significant subfreezing temperatures are an annual occurrence. This region includes Frederick, Hagerstown, Westminster, Gaithersburg and northern and western greater Baltimore.
Extreme western Maryland, in the higher elevations of Allegany County and Garrett County has a true humid continental climate (Koppen Dfa) due to elevation (more typical of inland New England and the Midwestern U.S.) with warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters.
Precipitation in the state is very generous, as it is on most of the East Coast. Annual rainfall ranges from 40-45 inches (1000-1150 mm) in virtually every part of the state, falling very evenly. Nearly every part of Maryland receives 3.5-4.5 inches (95-110 mm) per month of precipitation. Snowfall varies from 9 inches (23 cm) in the coastal areas to over 100 inches (250 cm) a winter in the western mountains of the state.
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 to the south provide a large buffer, such that a strike from a major hurricane (category 3 or above) is not very likely. More often, Maryland might get the remnants of a tropical system which has already come ashore which dumps a huge amount of rain. Maryland averages around 30-40 days of thunderstorms a year, and averages around 6 tornado strikes annually.
Flora and fauna
As is typical of states on the East Coast, Maryland's plant life is abundant and healthy. A good dose of annual precipitation help 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 in excess of 70 feet (20 m) tall. Maryland also posses an abundance of pines and maples among its endemic tree life. Many foreign species are cultivated in the state, some as ornamentals, others as novelty species. Included among these are the Crape Myrtle, Italian Cypress, live oak in the warmer parts of the state, and even hardy palm trees along the coast and in the bay area. USDA plant hardiness zones in the state range from Zone 5 in the extreme western part of the state to 6 and 7 in the central part, and Zone 8 around the southern part of the coast, the bay area, and most of metropolitan Baltimore.
The state harbors a great number of deer, particularly in the woody and mountainous west of the state, and overpopulation can become a problem from year-to-year. The Chesapeake Bay provides the state with its huge cash crop of blue crabs, and the southern and eastern portion of Maryland is warm enough to support a tobacco cash crop.
Lawns in Maryland carry a variety of species, mostly due to its location in the Transition Zone for lawngrasses. The western part of the state is cold enough to support Kentucky Bluegrass, and Fine Fescues, which are widespread from the foothills west. The area around the Chesapeake Bay is usually turfed with transition species such as Zoysia, Tall fescue, and Bermudagrass. St. Augustine grass can be grown in the parts of the state that are in Zone 8.
National Park Service
Areas under the control and protection of the National Park Service include:
- Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg
- Antietam National Cemetery
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail
- Assateague Island National Seashore
- Baltimore-Washington Parkway
- Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont, Maryland
- Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park on the Potomac River
- Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network
- Clara Barton National Historic Site at Port Tobacco
- Fort Foote Park in Oxon Hill, Maryland
- Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore
- Fort Washington Park in Fort Washington
- George Washington Memorial Parkway
- Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo
- Greenbelt Park at Greenbelt
- Hampton National Historic Site near Towson
- Harmony Hall in Prince George's County
- Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick
- Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm in Oxon Hill
- Piscataway Park in Accokeek
- Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, the corridor between the Chesapeake Bay and the Allegheny Highlands
- Suitland Parkway in Prince Georges County
- Thomas Stone National Historic Site in Tobacco, Maryland|Port Tobacco
In 1629, George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore in the Irish House of Lords, fresh from his failure further north with Newfoundland's Avalon colony, applied to Charles I for a new royal charter for what was to become the Province of Maryland. Calvert's interest in creating a colony derived from his Catholicism and his desire for the creation of a haven for Catholics in the new world. George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland Colony" (in Latin, "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, on June 20, 1632. The new colony was named in honor of Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of Charles I.
On March 25, 1634, Lord Baltimore sent the first settlers into this area, which would soon become one of the few predominantly Catholic regions in the British Empire (another was Newfoundland, where religious disputes led to the first flag's coloring). Maryland was also one of the key destinations of tens of thousands of British convicts. The Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 was one of the first laws that explicitly dictated religious tolerance (as long as it was Christian). The act is sometimes seen as a precursor to the First Amendment.
The royal charter granted Maryland the Potomac River and territory northward to the fortieth parallel. This proved a problem, because the northern boundary would put Philadelphia, the major city in Pennsylvania, partially within Maryland, resulting in conflict between the Calvert family, which controlled Maryland, and the Penn family, which controlled Pennsylvania. This lead to the Cresap's War (also known as the Conojocular War), a border conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland, fought in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 with a series of violent incidents prompted by disputes over property rights and law enforcement, 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 final settlement was not achieved until 1767, when the Mason-Dixon Line was recognized as the permanent boundary between the two colonies.
After Virginia made the practice of Anglicanism mandatory, a large number of Puritans migrated from Virginia to Maryland, and were given land for a settlement called Providence (now Annapolis). In 1650, the Puritans revolted against the proprietary government and set up a new government that outlawed both Catholicism and Anglicanism. This lasted until 1658, when the Calvert family regained control and re-enacted the Toleration Act. However, after England's "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, when William of Orange and his wife Mary came to the throne and firmly established the Protestant faith in England, Catholicism was again outlawed in Maryland, until after the U.S. Revolutionary War. Many wealthy plantation owners built chapels on their land so they could practice their Catholicism in relative secrecy. During the persecution of Maryland Catholics by the Puritan revolutionary government, all of the original Catholic churches of southern Maryland were burned down.
St. Mary's City was the largest site of the original Maryland colony, and was the seat of the colonial government until 1708. St Mary's is now an archaeological site, with a small tourist center. In 1708, the seat of government was moved to Providence, which had been renamed Annapolis in honor of Queen Anne in 1694.
Maryland was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. On February 2, 1781, Maryland became the 13th state to approve the ratification of the Articles of Confederation which brought into being the United States as a united, sovereign and national state. It also became the seventh state admitted to the US after ratifying the new Constitution. The following year, in December of 1790, Maryland ceded land selected by President George Washington to the federal government for the creation of Washington, D.C.. The land was provided from Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, as well as from Fairfax County and Alexandria in Virginia (though the lands from Virginia were later returned through retrocession).
During the War of 1812, the British military attempted to capture the port of Baltimore, which was protected by Fort McHenry. It was during this bombardment that the Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key.
Despite widespread support for the Confederate States of America among many wealthy landowners, who had a vested interest in slavery, Maryland did not secede from the Union during the American Civil War. This maybe due in part to the temporary suspension of the Legislature by Governor Hicks and arrest of many of its fire eaters by Lincoln prior to its reconvening. Many historians contend that the votes for secession would not have been there regardless of these actions. Of the 115,000 men who joined the militaries during the Civil War, 85,000, or 77%, joined the Union army. To help ensure Maryland's inclusion in the Union, President Lincoln suspended several civil liberties, including the writ of habeas corpus, an act deemed illegal by Maryland native Chief Justice Roger Taney, ordered US troops to place artillery on Federal Hill to directly threaten the city of Baltimore and helped ensure the election of a new pro-union governor and legislature. As mentioned above, President Lincoln even went so far as to jail certain pro-South members of the state legislature at Fort McHenry including the grandson of Francis Scott Key. The Constitutionality of these actions is still a source of controversy and debate. Because Maryland remained in the Union, it was exempted from the anti-slavery provisions of the Emancipation Proclamation (The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to states in rebellion). A constitutional convention was held during 1864 that culminated in the passage of a new state constitution on November 1 of that year. Article 24 of that document outlawed the practice of slavery. The right to vote was extended to non-white males in 1867.
Demographics
As of 2006, Maryland has an estimated population of 5,615,727, which is an increase of 26,128, or 0.5%, from the prior year and an increase of 319,221, or 6.0%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 189,158 people (that is 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.
In 2006, 645,744 were counted as foreign born, which represents mainly people from Latin America and Asia. About 4.0% are undocumented (illegal) immigrants.
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 Eastern Shore is less populous and more rural, as are the counties of western and southern Maryland.
The three counties of Western Maryland (Allegany, Garrett, and Washington) are mountainous and sparsely populated, resembling West Virginia more than they do the rest of Maryland. Although the African American proportion is not as high as it was during the eighteenth century peak of tobacco plantation production (when it was 38%), Maryland still has the largest black population of any state outside of the Deep South. Maryland also has the south's second largest Korean American population, trailing only Texas. In fact, 1.7% are Korean, while as a whole, almost 6.0% are Asian.
The center of population of Maryland is located on the county line between Anne Arundel County and Howard County, in the unincorporated town of Jessup [2].
Race
The five largest reported ancestries in Maryland are German (15.7%), Irish (11.7%), English (9%), American (5.8%), and Italian (5.1%[3]).
African Americans are concentrated in Baltimore City, Prince George's County, and the southern Eastern Shore. Most of the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland are populated by Marylanders of British ancestry. Western and northern Maryland have large German-American populations. Italians and Poles are centered mostly in the large city of Baltimore.
Maryland has one of the largest proportions of racial minorities in the country, trailing only the four minority-majority states.
Religion
Maryland was founded for the purpose of providing religious toleration of England's Catholic minority. Nevertheless, Parliament later reversed that policy and discouraged the practice of Catholicism in Maryland. Despite the founding intent of the colony, Catholics have never been in a majority in Maryland since early Colonial times. Nonetheless, it is the largest single denomination in Maryland. The present religious composition of the state is shown below:
- Christian – 82%
- Protestant – 56%
- Baptist – 18%
- Methodist – 11%
- Lutheran – 5%
- Episcopal – 3%
- Other Protestant or general Protestant – 19%
- Roman Catholic – 23%
- Other Christian – 3%
- Jewish – 3%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious – 14%
Economy
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Maryland's gross state product in 2004 was US$228 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was US$37,446, 5th in the nation. Average household income in 2002 was US$53,043, also 5th in the nation.
Maryland's economic activity is strongly concentrated in the tertiary service sector, and this sector, in turn, is strongly influenced by location. One major service activity is transportation, centered around the Port of Baltimore and its related rail and trucking access. The port ranked 10th in the U.S. by tonnage in 2002 (Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "Waterborn Commerce Statistics"). 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 different brands of imported motor vehicles.
A second service activity takes advantage of the close location of the center of government in Washington, D.C. and emphasizes 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. In addition many educational and medical research institutions are located in the state. In fact, the various components of 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% of Maryland's labor force, one of the highest state percentages in the country.
Many Federal government agencies are located in Maryland, including:
- Census Bureau
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
- Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), formerly the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
- National Security Agency (NSA)
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)
- Social Security Administration (SSA)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Aberdeen Proving Ground
- Andrews Air Force Base
- Army Research Laboratory
- Bainbridge Naval Training Center (closed in 1976)
- Camp David
- Fort Meade
- Fort Detrick
- Indian Head Naval Surface Weapons Center
- National Naval Medical Center
- Naval Air Station Patuxent River
- School of Military Packing Technology
- United States Naval Academy
- Webster Field
Maryland has large areas of fertile agricultural land in its coastal and Piedmont zones, although this land use is being encroached upon by urbanization. Agriculture is oriented to dairying 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). In addition, 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. There is also a large chicken-farming sector in the state; Salisbury is home to Perdue Farms.
The third component of the food producing sector is Maryland's food-processing plants, which are the most significant type of manufacturing by value in the state.
Manufacturing, while large in dollar value, is highly diversified with no sub-sector contributing over 20% of the total. Typical forms of manufacturing include electronics, computer equipment, and chemicals. The once mighty primary metals sub-sector, which at one time included what was then the largest steel factory in the world at Sparrows Point, still exists, but is pressed with foreign competition, bankruptcies, and company mergers.
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-1800s, were once a predominant natural resource. Historically, there used to be small gold-mining operations in Maryland, some surprisingly near Washington, but these no longer exist.
Maryland imposes 4 income tax brackets, ranging from 2% to 4.75% of personal income. The city of Baltimore and Maryland's 23 counties levy local "piggyback" income taxes at rates between 1.25% and 3.2% of Maryland taxable income. Local officials set the rates and the revenue is returned to the local governments quarterly. Maryland's state sales tax is 5%. All real property in Maryland is subject to the property tax. 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. Property tax rates vary widely. 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. These rates can increase, decrease or remain the same from year to year. If the proposed tax rate increases the total property tax revenues, the governing body must advertise that fact and hold a public hearing on the new tax rate. This is called the Constant Yield Tax Rate process.
Baltimore City is the eighth largest port in the nation, and was at the center of the February 2006 controversy over the Dubai Ports World deal because it was considered to be of such strategic importance. 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.
Transportation
Roads
Maryland's Interstate highways include I-95, which enters the northeast portion of the state, goes through Baltimore, and becomes part of the eastern section of the Capital Beltway to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I-68 connects the western portions of the state to I-70 at the small town of Hancock. I-70 continues east to Baltimore, connecting Hagerstown and Frederick along the way. I-83 connects Baltimore to southern central Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and York, Pennsylvania). Maryland also has a portion of I-81 that runs through the state near Hagerstown. I-97, fully contained within Anne Arundel County and the shortest one- or two-digit Interstate highway outside of Hawaii, connects the Baltimore area to the Annapolis area.
There are also several auxiliary Interstate highways in Maryland. Among them are I-695, the McKeldin (Baltimore) Beltway, which encircles Baltimore; a portion of I-495, the Capital Beltway, which encircles Washington, D.C.; and I-270, which connects the Frederick area with the Washington area. The Capital Beltway is currently heavily congested; however, the ICC or Intercounty Connector, which may begin construction in 2006 or early 2007, could be the beginning of an outer, second beltway. 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.
Maryland also has a state highway system that contains routes numbered from 2 through 999, however most of the higher-numbered routes are either not signed or are relatively short. Major state highways include Routes 2 (Governor Ritchie Highway/Solomons Island Road), 4, 5, 32, 100, 210 (Indian Head Highway), 295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway), 355, and 404.
Airports
Maryland's largest airport is Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (formerly known as Friendship Airport and recently renamed for former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was born in Baltimore). The only other airports with commercial service are at Hagerstown and Salisbury. The Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., are also serviced by the other two airports in the region, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport, both in Northern Virginia. For the year to date, BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport has received the highest number of passengers out of all the airports in Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan area.
Trains
Amtrak trains serve Baltimore's Penn Station, BWI Airport, New Carrollton, and Aberdeen along the Northeast Corridor. In addition, train service is provided to Rockville and Cumberland on the Amtrak Capitol Limited. MARC trains, operated by the State's Transit Authority, connect nearby Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and other towns. The Washington Metro subway and bus system serve Montgomery County and Prince George's County. The Maryland Transportation Authority's light rail and subway system serve Baltimore City and adjacent suburbs.
Law and government
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. Maryland is a republic; the United States guarantees her "republican form of government" although there is considerable disagreement about the meaning of that phrase.
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 most 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. Virtually all state and county elections are held in even-numbered years not divisible by four, in which the President of the United States is not elected - this, as in other states, is intended to divide state and federal politics.
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 $25,000.00, all equitable jurisdiction and major criminal proceedings. The intermediate appellate court is known as the "Court of Special Appeals" and the state supreme court is the "Court of Appeals". The appearance of the judges of the Maryland Court of Appeals is unique in that Maryland is the only state whose judges wear red robes.
Politics
Since pre-Civil War times, Maryland politics has been largely controlled by the Democrats. Even as the politics of the Democratic party have shifted, over the last century, the views of the state have shifted with them. Blue-collar "Reagan Democrats" frequently vote Republican, but Maryland is nonetheless well-known for its loyalty to the Democratic Party, especially inside metropolitan areas. The state is dominated by the two urban/inner suburban regions of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. . In addition, many jobs are directly or indirectly dependent upon the federal government. As a result, Baltimore, Montgomery County and Prince George's County often decide statewide elections. This is balanced by lesser populated areas on the Eastern Shore, Western Maryland, and outer suburbs that tend to support Republicans, even though seven of nine Shore counties have Democratic-majority voter rolls.
Maryland has supported the Democratic nominee in the last four presidential elections, and by an average of 15.4%. In 1980, it was one of just six states to vote for Jimmy Carter. Maryland is often among the Democratic nominees' best states. In 1992, Bill Clinton fared better in Maryland than any other state except his home state of Arkansas. In 1996, Maryland was Clinton's 6th best, in 2000 Maryland ranked 4th for Gore and in 2004 John Kerry showed his 5th best performance in Maryland.
Both Maryland Senators and six of its eight Representatives in Congress are Democrats, and Democrats hold super-majorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates. The previous Governor, Robert Ehrlich was the first Republican to be elected to that office in four decades, and after one term lost his seat to Martin O'Malley, a Democrat.
U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer, a member of the Democratic party, is the Majority Leader for the 110th Congress of the U.S. House of Representatives. Majority Leader Hoyer currently represents the fifth congressional district of Maryland covering parts of Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties, in addition to all of Charles, Calvert and St. Mary's counties in southern Maryland.
John Kerry easily won the state's 10 electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 13 percentage points with 55.9% of the vote. However, presidential election years are not deeply contested as national party resources are spent mostly in swing states.
The 2006 election cycle witnessed no significant change in this pattern of Democratic dominance, even though there were two major highly-contested races. After Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes announced that he was retiring, Democratic Congressman Benjamin Cardin defeated Republican Lieutenant Governor Michael S. Steele, with fifty-five percent of the vote, against Steele's forty-four percent. The governorship was also a point of interest, as Republican incumbent Robert Ehrlich was defeated by Democratic party challenger Martin O'Malley, the Mayor of Baltimore, 53%-46%. Doug Duncan, another leading candidate for the Democratic slot, pulled out of the highly anticipated primary, announcing his withdrawal on June 22, 2006, citing clinical depression.
While Maryland is a Democratic party stronghold, perhaps its best known political figure is a Republican--former Governor Spiro Agnew, who served as United States Vice President under Richard Nixon. He was Vice President from 1969 to 1973, when he resigned in the aftermath of revelations that he had taken bribes while he was Governor of Maryland. In late 1973, a court found Agnew guilty of violating tax laws
The late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was raised in Baltimore, and during his time on the bench represented the liberal wing of the court that helped protect abortion on a federal level, and uphold laws eliminating racial discrimination in the public and private spheres.
Important places
- Aberdeen – home to Aberdeen Proving Grounds
- Annapolis – state capital, home of United States Naval Academy and a large historic district
- Baltimore – most populous city in Maryland; commercial and cultural hub
- Bethesda – home to National Institutes of Health and Bethesda Naval Hospital; best-educated city in US with population above 50,000
- Bowie – a historic rail town
- Chevy Chase – one of the first streetcar suburbs in America
- College Park – home of University of Maryland, College Park and College Park Airport, the oldest continuously-operated airport in the United States
- Columbia – large master-planned community in Howard County
- Cumberland – An original gateway to the West, terminus of the C&O Canal and the National Road and commercial center for Western Maryland
- Ellicott City – seat of Howard County and original terminus of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
- Frederick – 2nd most populous city , important historical significance and county seat of Frederick County
- Germantown – home to the Department of Energy
- Gaithersburg – 3rd most populous city , home to National Institute of Standards and Technology and Kentlands, an early example of new urbanism
- Greenbelt – large master-planned community in Prince George's County built during the New Deal, and home to Goddard Space Flight Center
- Hagerstown – nicknamed "Hub City" because of its center for transportation for western Maryland, one of the highest densities of retail shopping in the country, and home to many historical sights (including nearby Antietam National Battlefield and C&O Canal National Historical Park Headquarters)
- Indian Head – home of Naval Surface Weapons Center military facility
- Laurel – home of Laurel Park Racecourse, Thoroughbred race course and scene of assassination attempt on George Wallace in 1972
- Lexington Park – home of Patuxent River Naval Air Station military facility
- Ocean City – beach resort on Atlantic coastline; 2nd most populous city during the summer months
- Rockville – seat of Montgomery County; 4th largest city in state[4]
- Salisbury – The Crossroads of Delmarva and the most important urban district on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
- Silver Spring – largest urban district in the state after Baltimore,
- St. Mary's City – site of original settlement in Maryland (the 4th in British North America) and Maryland's first capital
Colleges and universities
- Allegany College of Maryland
- Anne Arundel Community College
- Baltimore City Community College
- Baltimore Hebrew University
- Baltimore International College
- Carroll Community College
- Capitol College
- Cecil Community College
- Chesapeake College
- College of Notre Dame of Maryland
- College of Southern Maryland
- Columbia Union College
- Community College of Baltimore County
- Frederick Community College
- Frostburg State University
- Garrett College
- Goucher College
- Hagerstown Business College
- Hagerstown Community College
- Harford Community College
- Hood College
- Howard Community College
- Johns Hopkins University
- Loyola College in Maryland
- Maryland Institute College of Art
- McDaniel College
- Montgomery College
- Morgan State University
- Mount St. Mary's University
- Ner Israel Rabbinical College
- Prince George's Community College
- St. John's College, Annapolis
- St. Mary's College of Maryland
- St. Mary's Seminary and University
- Sojourner-Douglass College
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
- United States Naval Academy
- University System of Maryland
- Bowie State University
- Coppin State University
- Frostburg State University
- Salisbury University
- Towson University
- University of Baltimore
- University of Maryland, Baltimore
- University of Maryland Baltimore County
- University of Maryland, College Park
- University of Maryland Eastern Shore
- University of Maryland University College
- University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
- University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
- Universities at Shady Grove
- USM Hagerstown
- Washington Bible College
- Washington College
- Wor-Wic Community College
- Villa Julie College
- Baltimore Orioles, Major League Baseball
- Baltimore Ravens, National Football League
- Baltimore Blast, Major Indoor Soccer League
- Baltimore Pearls, American Basketball Association
- Maryland Nighthawks, American Basketball Association
- Washington Redskins, National Football League
- Maryland Championship Wrestling
- Minor league baseball teams
- Hagerstown Suns
- Bowie Baysox
- Frederick Keys
- Aberdeen IronBirds
- Delmarva Shorebirds
- Former professional teams
- Baltimore Orioles , National League (defunct)
- Baltimore Orioles , American League (moved to New York, New York and are now the New York Yankees)
- Baltimore Colts, National Football League (moved to Indianapolis, Indiana and are now the Indianapolis Colts)
- Baltimore Bullets, National Basketball Association (moved to Washington, D.C. and are now the Washington Wizards)
- Baltimore Colts , National Football League (defunct)
- Baltimore Bullets , National Basketball Association/Basketball Association of America/American Basketball League (defunct)
- Baltimore Blades (1975-1976), World Hockey Association (defunct)
- Baltimore Clippers (1962-1977), American Hockey League (defunct)
- Baltimore Skipjacks (1982-1993), American Hockey League (defunct)
- Baltimore Bandits (1995-1997), American Hockey League (defunct)
- Baltimore Stallions, Canadian Football League (moved to Montreal, Quebec and are now the Montreal Alouettes)
State symbols
- State bird: Baltimore Oriole
- State boat: skipjack
- State cat: calico cat
- State crustacean: blue crab
- State dinosaur: Astrodon johnstoni
- State dog: Chesapeake Bay Retriever
- State drink: milk
- State fish: rockfish (striped bass)
- State flower: Black-eyed Susan
- State folk dance: square dance
- State fossil: Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae
- State gem: Patuxent River Stone
- State horse: thoroughbred horse
- State insect: Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly
- State nicknames: "The Old Line State" and "The Free State."
- State reptile: diamondback terrapin
- State song: "Maryland, My Maryland"
- State sport: Jousting, Lacrosse (state team sport)
- State theatres: Center Stage and Olney Theatre
- State tree: white oak
- State Poet Laureate: Michael Glaser[5]
The State of Maryland has eight sister states or regions, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
Maryland also has one sister city:
Further reading
- Robert J. Brugger. Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634-1980 (1996) full scale history
- Suzanne Ellery Greene Chappelle, Jean H. Baker, Dean R. Esslinger, and Whitman H. Ridgeway. Maryland: A History of its People (1986)
- Lawrence Denton. A Southern Star for Maryland (1995)
- State of Maryland (government website)
- USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Maryland
- U.S. Census Bureau
- League of the South - Maryland Chapter
- Catholic Encyclopedia article
- Jewish Encyclopedia article
- Maryland State Facts
- Annapolis, Maryland and Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau
