Maryland State Outline

Small, densely populated Maryland is one of the richest states in the United States. This is where the cultural border runs between the northern and southern states.

Maryland is a US state and is located in the east directly on the Atlantic coast. The capital of the state is called Annapolis. The neighboring states are Virginia, Washington, DC, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Maryland is one of the smaller but particularly densely populated states. Around 6 million people live in an area of around 32,000 km² (as of 2016). 53% of them are white. Maryland is a pretty wealthy state. In 2018, Maryland had the second highest median household income of any state in the United States after Massachusetts.

Brief outline of the history of Maryland

The founding of the state of Maryland goes back to the British statesman George Calvert, the 1st Baron Baltimore. He received a piece of land on the northern border of Virginia as a gift from King Charles I of England, which he named Maryland in honor of Henriette Maria, the king’s wife. The first settlers came to the area in March 1634. Maryland became the focus of interest in the 1760s. After land disputes between the two influential Penn and Calvert families, land surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon established the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland. It became famous as the Mason-Dixon Line and marks the geographic and cultural boundary between the US northern and southern states.

Maryland in modern times

In the course of industrialization, many immigrants from Europe came to Maryland at the end of the 19th century. Especially immigrants of German origin settled in the state, whose hymn Maryland, my Maryland is sung to the tune of Oh Tannenbaum. During the Great Migration (1916, 1970) then millions of African Americans from the rural districts of the south strived for the industrial cities, including Baltimore, the largest city in the state with over 600,000 residents (as of 2010). Baltimore is also home to the entire biotechnology, medical technology, mechanical engineering, and chemical industries of Maryland.

Largest Counties in Maryland by Area

According to Countryaah, the biggest counties in Maryland are listed as below: