Maryland is a state on the Atlantic coast of the United States
of America and is also known by the nicknames "Old Line State"
and "Free State". In terms of land area, Maryland is the eighth
smallest state. To drive through it completely, for example from
Ocean City to Oakland, you need 5½ hours by car.
Maryland
borders Pennsylvania to the north and
Delaware to the east. It
is bordered by Virginia and
Washington, D.C. to the southwest
and West Virginia to the west. To the east, Maryland is framed
by the deep-leaking Chesapeake Bay, which opens south to the
Atlantic.
It is in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It
borders Pennsylvania to the north, Delaware to the east, and the
Potomac River to the south, which separates it from Virginia,
Washington D.C., and West Virginia. At 32,133 km², it is the
ninth smallest state — ahead of Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode
Island, the smallest. With 180 inhabitants/km² it is the fifth
most densely populated—behind New Jersey, Rhode Island,
Connecticut and Massachusetts. It was admitted to the Union on
April 28, 1788, as the seventh state.
It was named in
honor of Queen Henrietta Maria of France, wife of King Charles I
of England (Maryland in English means "Land of Mary"). It was
one of the Thirteen Colonies that rebelled against British rule
in the region.
The state's nickname is the Old Line
State, in homage to its "troops of the line", who were praised
several times by George Washington for their excellent
performance in the American Revolutionary War. USA.
The
current American anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, was written
by Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and amateur poet who was inspired
by seeing American troops successfully defending an attack by
United Kingdom naval troops (at the time, the greatest military
power in the world) against Baltimore, in the Anglo-American War
of 1812.
West
The quiet interior of Maryland, bordering Pennsylvania.
Hagerstown · Cumberland
Capital Region
The densely
populated area around Washington, D.C. Maryland's four largest
cities, after Baltimore, are located here.
Frederick
Rockville Gaithersburg Bowie
South
The waterfront and
rural realm between the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.
Saint Mary's City
Center
Around the metropolis of
Baltimore and the (relatively small) capital of the state:
Annapolis.
Westminster Aberdeen Havre de Grace Brunswick
East coast
The sparsely populated Delmarva Peninsula to
the east of the Chesapeake Bay. On the east side of the
peninsula, Maryland has 50 km of Atlantic coast with lots of
beach life.
Salisbury · Cambridge
Annapolis is the state capital.
Baltimore is the state's
largest city.
Bethesda is a hot spot in the suburbs of the
District of Columbia with two hundred restaurants.
Frederick
is a bustling historic town near Harpers Ferry.
Hagerstown is
a historic town near the site of the Battle of Antietam at the
foot of the Appalachians.
St. Michaels - urban development
consists exclusively of historical buildings of the XVIII-XIX
centuries.
Antietam National Battlefield is known as a single worst loss of life in a single day in a battle between the Union forces and Confederates.
Fort McHenry heroic stance against the British inspired the poem that became later the American national anthem.
Glenn Dale Hospital located outside of American capital is famous for its haunting and paranormal activity.
Located in the Chesapeake Bay, Kent Island is the largest island in the state. The British established Kent Fort here in 1631, their first base in what is now Maryland. Nothing remains of the fort, but the main towns of Stevensville and Chester attract some visitors in the summer. Bridges connect the island to both sides of the bay.
The major activities here are either sporting events or outdoor sports.
Baltimore is a city so passionate about Baltimore Ravens football that
half of the city's businesses wear the team's colors. The Baltimore
Orioles baseball team is also important to the city. The University of
Maryland Terrapins, located in College Park, draw large crowds from the
counties surrounding the school.
Outdoor sports are concentrated
in the eastern and western parts of the state, with the central part
covered by dense suburbs. Boating and crabbing are popular on the
Chesapeake Bay, and beach camping is available on Assateague Island. The
west offers trekking in the Appalachian Mountains, including the
Appalachian Trail. The Maryland Trail offers rock climbing at Annapolis
Rock. Larger state parks such as Catoctin Mountain Park and Patapsco
Valley State Park offer many truly spectacular forest hiking trails.
Other quirky activities include:
Duckpin Bowling Maryland is one
of the few places to experience this declining sport. Smaller bowling
balls, oddly shaped pins, and three throws per frame make duckpin a
unique experience in the region.
Lacrosse Maryland is perhaps the
hotbed of high school and college lacrosse, becoming the official state
team sport in 2004. Johns Hopkins is a regular participant in the men's
national tournament, and the University of Maryland is a powerhouse in
the women's game. Tickets to these games offer a different spectator
experience than football, baseball, or basketball games. The Lacrosse
Hall of Fame is also located in Sparks, Maryland (a suburb of Baltimore)
and offers free admission and free parking (open Monday through Friday).
Maryland Renaissance Festival, toll-free: +1-800-296-7304. Crownsville,
Maryland The Renaissance Festival, celebrating its 45th anniversary as
of 2021, is held each fall on the last weekend of August through the
third weekend of October (and Labor Day). The festival is held every
fall from the last weekend in August through the third weekend in
October (and Labor Day). It is perhaps the only chance to see jousting,
the sport of Maryland.
Maryland State Fair Timonium, Maryland. From
livestock shows, entertainment, a sprawling midway filled with thrill
rides and carnival attractions, and horse races, the Maryland State Fair
runs from the last week of August through the first day of September.
Preakness Baltimore, Maryland. The second jewel of the legendary Triple
Crown of Thoroughbred horse racing is held each May at Pimlico Race
Course in northwest Baltimore. Parties, parades, and other events take
place throughout Baltimore.
Adventure Park USA.
Frontier Town.
Originally populated by the Algonquin and the Iroquois to the north,
the country was one of the 13 colonies established by the British Crown
in North America from 1632 to 1776. The province, named after the French
wife of the British King Charles I, was administered for the first 43
years by Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, who primarily wanted to
settle Catholics here. Catholics were little suffered in Britain and the
rest of the colonies, and Baltimore wanted to offer them a safe haven,
but ultimately failed.
The first permanent British settlement was
established in 1642 in southern Maryland at St. Mary's City. The tobacco
industry gave the colony a rapid economic boom. Even before the end of
the colonial period, however, tobacco production declined and gave way
to a mixed economy; While slavery existed in Maryland, it was never as
prevalent here as it was in its southern neighbors. Land disputes with
Pennsylvania were settled in 1763-1767 by drawing the Mason-Dixon Line,
which since then has also separated the northern from the southern
states and has given Maryland the nickname "Old Line State". In 1776
Maryland seceded from Great Britain and joined the United States.
Today's District of Columbia, with the capital Washington, owes its
existence half to a land donation from the young state of Maryland.
In the American Civil War (1861–1865), the majority of soldiers
recruited in Maryland fought on the Union side; just under a quarter,
however, were part of the Confederate army. The historically important
Battle of the Antietam (near Sharpsburg, 1862) ended in a draw and
brought heavy casualties to both sides. Harriett Tubman (ca. 1820–1913),
a former slave, made significant contributions during this period to the
establishment of the Underground Railroad, a widespread network that
assisted slaves from the South to flee to the North.
Baltimore
became one of the most important industrial and port cities in the USA
in the 19th century, but experienced an economic and social collapse in
the 1960s from which it has not recovered to this day. Every fifth
inhabitant of the city lives below the poverty line. Some large
companies still have their headquarters in Maryland, including the
defense and technology companies Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin
and the hotel chain Marriott International. However, the overwhelming
majority of jobs in Maryland today are in the service sector, followed
by those in the military. Many places in Montgomery County and Prince
George's County are actually suburbs of Washington, D.C. become.
Politically, Maryland is a "blue" state; H. residents are more likely to
vote Democratic than Republican.
Famous people who were born or
lived in Maryland include writers Edgar Allen Poe, Dashiell Hammett,
Upton Sinclair and John Barth, singers Billie Holiday and Frank Zappa,
actors Goldie Hawn and David Hasselhoff, and athletes Babe Ruth and
Michael Phelps. Must-reads for bookworms visiting Maryland include The
Silence of the Lambs (Thomas Harris) and Mason & Dixon (Thomas Pynchon),
as well as the works of John Barth and Ronald Malfi. Movie fans might
want to watch Maryland (1940), The Mating Game (1959), Patriot Games
(1992), True Lies (1994), Eraser (1996), Shadow Conspiracy (1997), Enemy
of the State (1998), The Blair to set the mood Witch Project, Runaway
Bride (both 1999), Traffic (2000), Swimmers (2005), Live Free or Die
Hard (2007), Red (2010) or The Bourne Legacy (2012).
In Ballmer, Baltimore and Nap Lis, Annapolis, from Warshin, Washington to Chest Peak, Chesapeake Bay - in fact, all over Merlin, Maryland - a vernacular of English is spoken that newcomers need to listen to carefully, especially those new to it coming from Yerp (Europe) via the Allanic (Atlantic). Locals greet each other with hi hon and say goodbye with slong. There are weird foods in Maryland like bulled eggs (boiled eggs) and colleyflare (cauliflower); arnjuice (orange juice), warter (water) and Natty Boh (National Bohemian, the local beer) are drunk. Houses are equipped with winders (windows), meers (mirrors), a far place (fireplace) and a zink (sink) in the kitchen, and on the street there are payment (pavement), pohleese cars (police cars), and faren gins (fire engines). The fodlaw (that's the man of the mudnlaw, mother-in-law) hopefully doesn't mow the flares (flowers) in the garden, but the lawn with a paramore (power mower), and anyone who gets a headache from the noise takes care of themselves Sem Elem (Seven Eleven) aspern.
By Airplane.
Maryland's main airport, Thurgood Marshall Baltimore
Washington International Airport (BWI IATA), serves many international
and domestic arrivals. Many visitors to Maryland arrive at Reagan
National Airport (DCA IATA) and Dulles International Airport (IAD IATA),
both located in northern Virginia. Regional flights can also be booked
to Salisbury Airport (SBY IATA) in the east and Hagerstown Airport (HGR
IATA) in the west.
Railroads
Maryland is well served by rail.
Amtrak's mainline train, the Acela Express, runs hourly from Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. to Maryland's largest city,
Baltimore, and BWI Marshall Airport. The slower Northeast Regional
connects the same cities, but with stops in between, and also operates
from several Virginia cities. It stops in the following Maryland cities:
Aberdeen, Baltimore, BWI Marshall Airport, Cumberland, New Carrollton,
Rockville, and Salisbury.
In addition, the Cardinal (New
York-Chicago), Carolinian (New York-Charlotte), Chrisent (New York-New
Orleans), Palmetto (New York-Savannah), Silver Meteor, Silver Star (New
York-Miami), Washington D.C. Long distance routes also serve Baltimore,
including the Vermonter between Washington, D.C. and St. Albans.
There is also the Vermonter between Washington D.C. and St. Albans.
By Car.
Maryland is served by several major interstate highways
and many other routes into the state. Interstates 68 and 70 are
Maryland's major east-west interstate highways. State Routes 40 and 50
are also major east-west arteries. Interstates 81, 83, 95, and 97 are
major north-south routes. U.S. Highways 219, 220, 29, 11, 15, 1, and 13
are also major north-south arteries.
Cell Phone Use While Driving
Throughout the state, talking on a cell phone (without a hands-free
device) while driving is illegal, as is texting while driving.
Walking
The American Discovery Trail connects Maryland with West
Virginia, Washington, D.C., Delaware, and both coasts.
The MARC is a regional train system with three lines, 42 stations and
a 300 km route network (network overview). It connects numerous
locations in Maryland with the federal capital Washington, where all
three lines end.
Brunswick Line: Washington–Martinsburg or
Frederick (via Rockville and Gaithersburg)
Camden Line:
Washington–Camden Yards (via College Park, Greenbelt and Laurel)
Penn
Line: Washington–Perryville (via New Carrollton, Baltimore and Aberdeen)
– The Penn Line reaches speeds of up to 200 km/h, making it the fastest
commuter rail service in North America.
The sales tax, which is the "value added tax" that is still added to
the purchase price, is slightly higher in Maryland than in neighboring
Virginia at an average of 6.25%, but slightly lower than in West
Virginia and Pennsylvania. If you really want to save on sales tax, shop
in Delaware, which doesn't collect sales tax at all.
The largest
shopping mall in Maryland is the Annapolis Mall (officially "Westfield
Annapolis") near Annapolis. 203 retailers, restaurants and service
providers (mainly the usual chains).
The regional quality
supermarket chains are called Giant Food, Food King, Food Lion, Shop 'n
Save and Weis Markets.
Lovers of South and East Asian cuisines
will love strolling through one of the 6 Maryland locations of Lotte
Plaza, a regional supermarket chain specializing in imported Asian
groceries.
Maryland's local cuisine is exotic and rich. Unfortunately, Maryland
cuisine is sometimes hard to come by because it is underrated and
overfished.
Maryland blue crab, caught in the Chesapeake Bay,
dipped in copious amounts of Old Bay (a peppery mixture of celery salt,
bay leaf, mustard seed, black pepper, red pepper, cinnamon, and ginger),
and served with copious amounts of beer , is arguably the It is arguably
the state's number one specialty. The state symbol, the blue crab,
adorns driver's licenses and other state paraphernalia and is the pride
of the state. It is unfortunate that the Gulf of Mexico blue crabs,
unless you catch them yourself, are the only crabs you will eat, as the
farms that feed into the bay from the nine states in the Chesapeake
watershed have decimated the blue crab population and severely
restricted their catch. Nevertheless, the crab feast continues to be no
less wonderful in the small crab shacks and restaurants along and around
the bay, around Annapolis and Baltimore, and throughout the Chesapeake
Bay area.
Another Maryland staple, the soft-shell blue crab, is a
high-end delicacy served in fine restaurants around the world, but here
it is routinely served in bars during the summer months. The Chesapeake
Blue Crab is a bit of an oddity in that it "molts" each year as its
shell grows. The shell will grow back, but smart fishermen don't give it
a chance. Don't worry about how this crab eats. They open their mouths,
start biting, and eat the whole thing. The real pleasure of eating the
"delicacy" on a humble hamburger bun with lettuce, mustard, and tomato
while sheltering from the summer sun at the beach or elsewhere is
exceptional.
One of Maryland's most popular crab dishes is the
crab cake, which comes in a variety of varieties. You can find them in
any American restaurant in Maryland. However, the quality varies wildly,
and most of the time you will find yourself thinking, "I only wanted
crab." For the undisputed best, rated by Maxim as one of the top ten in
the world, go to Fade's, a stand-up eatery in Baltimore's Lexington
Market, and order a pair of jumbo-ranked crabs.
Crabs aside,
shellfish in general are a classic staple of Maryland cuisine (not
surprising, given that "Chesapeake" means "great shellfish bay" in
Algonquin), and half-shell raw oysters are a local delicacy. Grilled raw
oysters on the half-shell are a local specialty, typically served with
hot sauce. Bertha's in Baltimore serves the state's most famous (and
tastiest) mussels.
Traditional desserts in the state include
Smith Island Cake (a 10-layer vanilla or sponge cake with frosting
(often chocolate)) and Burger Cookies (shortbread cookies with a thick
layer of chocolate fudge or frosting). ), and burger cookies (shortbread
cookies covered with a thick layer of chocolate fudge or frosting).
From here, the cuisine gets even weirder and harder to find:
Maryland fried chicken. Maryland fried chicken. Yes, fried chicken is a
Maryland specialty, and there are countless places in Kentucky that sell
fried chicken. Unlike most southern fried chicken, "MFC" is pan-fried
with only half an inch of lard or oil, so the skin is crispy but not
fried, and the chicken is covered with a generous dollop of creamy,
peppery gravy. It's hard to find unless you know an old-time Marylander
on the Eastern Shore, but the unassuming shacks on US-50 toward Ocean
City with the "Chicken" sign and Crisfield's in Silver Spring are some
of Maryland's oldest establishments! The "Chicken" sign is a good place
to start. If you just want good chicken, go to the gas station at Royal
Farms (the busier the better).
The most esoteric Maryland dishes
range from roasted terrapin to fried muskrat to roasted eel to boiled
raccoon. Good luck finding it though. Faidley's in Baltimore is also a
good choice here, although these wildly rare dishes are only served
seasonally. Hopefully, top local chefs will come to their senses and
start cooking upscale variations of these interesting local dishes and
realize that the upscale Italian-French-American restaurants found in
cities all over the country are a bit lacking in ingenuity.
Finally, there are a few Mid-Atlantic foods worth seeking out, primarily
at diners. Breakfast scrapple, despite its origins (pig offal and
scraps), is a delicious, deep-fried must-have that will strike fear into
the hearts of the uninitiated and the timid.
If you're looking to dance, have a beer, or listen to live music,
you'll find great opportunities in all parts of Maryland. Here is a
selection of the most popular nightlife hot spots:
West
Hagerstown: Cancun Cantina West and Breakaway II Sports Lounge
McHenry: Moon Shadow Cafe
Cumberland: New Embassy Theatre
Oakland:
Honi-Honi Bar
Capital Region
Frederick: Cafe Nola
Bethesda:
Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club and Bowlmor Lanes
Rockville: FM
Karaoke
Fort Washington: Martini's Restaurant and Lounge
South
Solomons: The CD Cafe and Next Door Lounge
Leonardtown: The Rex
Lysby: Vera's White Sands Beach Club
North Beach: The Westlawn Inn
California: Bollywood Masala
Center
Baltimore: Power Plant
Live (Inner Harbor; Clubs, Bars, Live Music & Restaurants)
in suburbs
of Baltimore: Maryland Live! Casino (Arundel Mills Mall), Magooby's Joke
House (in the Lutherville-Timonium suburb) and Bengie's Drive-In Theater
(Middle River)
Annapolis: Metropolitan Kitchen & Lounge
East
coast
Ocean City: Ocean City Brewing Company
Berlin: Burley Oak
Brewing Company
Kent Narrows: Red Eye's Dock Bar
Salisbury:
Evolution Craft Brewing Company & Public House
Maryland has
particularly strict alcohol laws. Persons under the age of 21 may not
drink or possess alcohol without exception. Liquor—including beer—is
sold only in liquor stores in most counties. Only in far south Maryland
is it possible to buy alcohol in the supermarket.
In Baltimore, the major tourist areas are very safe (heavily
patrolled by police). The rest of Prince George's County and Annapolis,
with the exception of some non-touristy parts of Annapolis, are very
safe.
Wildlife in the state is relatively unthreatened; wolves
and cougars disappeared several years ago. However, black bears are
breeding in the four westernmost counties. Deer are present throughout
the state and are a danger to motorists.
Maryland is a culturally and politically diverse state and was the
scene of a major conflict during the Civil War. That was 150 years ago
and is thankfully in the past, but there is still a cultural divide
between the affluent and cosmopolitan central region and the Eastern
Shore and some areas on the western and southern ends of the state.
These areas are relatively traditional and historically identified with
Appalachia and the South. On the other hand, the far more populous and
urbanized center of the state is part of the Northeast (with comparable
East Coast attitudes). This can cause tensions when tourists from the
"Western Shore" encroach on the Eastern Shore, causing rising prices and
congestion.
On the other side of the state, the far western
panhandle has long been identified more with West Virginia and Western
Pennsylvania than with other parts of the state. It is not unheard of to
see pickup trucks with Confederate flags and stickers in remote rural
areas, and people in these areas may not be comfortable with being
criticized by urbanites. However, this is rarely a problem in everyday
life, and most residents get along just fine despite, or rather because
of, the wonderful diversity of the area. There are so many things that
tie Marylanders together, most notably the state flag (found on
everything from socks to underwear), Old Bay seasoning, and a somewhat
humorous obsession with crab cakes.
Algonquin Native Americans lived in the region for about ten thousand
years before the arrival of the first Europeans. The first of them was
the Spaniard Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, then the governor of the Spanish
colony of Florida. He had explored the Chesapeake Bay, now part of
Maryland, in 1572. The British merchant William Claiborne, from
Virginia, founded the first trading post in 1631.
That same year,
George Calvert, a British nobleman, petitioned the British Crown for the
right to own and govern the Chesapeake Bay region. Calvert was Catholic
and wanted a colony in America where the British of that religion,
discriminated against in their country (with a Protestant majority),
could practice their worship. His request was accepted by King Charles I
of England in 1632. However, Calvert would die in April of the same
year. Charles I then gave Calvert's son, Cæcilius, Maryland ("Mary's
Lands"), in homage to Queen Henrietta Marie of France, wife of Charles
I. Cæcilius was also Catholic, and sent the first settlers, who landed
in 1634 on the promontory directly north of the Potomac River.
Cæcilius was obliged to obey the customs of the Anglican Church. He
appointed his brother Leonard governor of the colony, and at the same
time encouraged the colonists to petition for laws and to assist him in
administration. In 1649, the Colonial Assembly approved a law
guaranteeing the free exercise of cults that accepted the dogma of the
Trinity. This attracted numerous Catholics from other North American
colonies, especially Virginia, but constituted a barrier for members of
other religions. , like the Jews.
William Claiborne was a
Protestant with a trading settlement who refused to recognize the
authority of the Calverts. In 1654, he led a group of Protestants who
forced them out of the government. He controlled the state until 1658,
when the British crown forced him to return government to the Calverts.
Cæcilius pressured the Colonial Assembly to maintain the law allowing
religious freedom, and it granted his request. However, Protestant
groups did not accept a Catholic leader. In 1689, the Calverts again
lost possession of the region, this time, to a Protestant group called
The Protestant Association, which demanded from the British government a
new Protestant governor, who was sent in 1691. Since the first
revolution led by Claiborne, Virtually all the Catholic churches in the
province were burned by the Protestants.
The Calverts regained
possession of the region in 1715. The region became governed by Benedict
Leonard Calvert, a Protestant. The Catholics of the province would lose
the right to vote in 1718. The Calverts would continue to govern until
the start of the War of Independence. The population of the English
colony began to grow dramatically after the 1750s, with the prosperity
of the tobacco industry.
Maryland actively participated in the Revolutionary War. Its
representatives participated in all Continental Congresses. In the first
of them, held in Philadelphia, they actively defended an end to any
commercial relationship with the British. Its troops fought actively
during the Revolutionary War, especially Baltimore, as an industrial
center and manufacturer of weapons and supplies. Although few battles
took place in the state, the bravery of his troops caused George
Washington to constantly praise them.
He ratified the U.S.
Constitution on April 28, 1788, becoming the eighth state to join the
Union.
In 1789 the Maryland-born Jesuit missionary Bishop John
Carroll was named the first bishop of the Catholic Church in the United
States.
In 1791, a rectangular piece of land in the southeast of
the state was ceded to the government for the construction of the new
and current capital of the United States, Washington, D.C.
It was
attacked twice by British troops during the War of 1812. In the first,
the British, in 1813, defeated an American force in the north of the
state, and later continued towards Washington, D.C., where British
troops burned various government structures. Americans. These same
British troops would continue in the direction of Baltimore. This was
surrounded by land and sea by British land and naval forces. But the
Americans successfully defended the city. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer
and amateur poet who witnessed the city's defense, was inspired by
images of the battle to write the current United States anthem, The
Star-Spangled Banner.
Baltimore became one of the country's
largest industrial centers during the first decades of the 19th century.
The city became the largest ship manufacturer in the United States
during the 1840s, and also a major manufacturer of steam trains. It was
here that the first American steam locomotive was built. However, the
state's economy still depended in part on agriculture. Maryland allowed
the practice of slavery. In 1861 the American Civil War began. The
state's population was divided. Many wanted the state to secede from the
Union and join the newly formed Confederate States of
America—slave-based. Others, for their part, wanted the state to remain
in the Union — the states of the industrialized North of the United
States, or the United States proper — which were against slavery.
The Union did not wait for Maryland to decide whether to join the
Confederacy. This, because Virginia was one of those who did. If
Maryland had done the same, the capital, Washington D.C., located
between the two states, would have been completely surrounded by the
Confederacy. For this reason, the Union invaded it immediately after the
start of the war, and for this reason it participated in the war as a
Northern state. However, many of his men fled and joined Confederate
troops. It was also the scene of numerous battles, of which Antietam
stands out, where more than 22,000 soldiers died in one day (12,000
northerners and the rest southerners). In 1864 he approved a new
Constitution that abolished slavery and imposed severe penalties for
those who supported the Confederacy.
Maryland prospered economically during the early decades of the 20th
century, especially the years of World War I. Baltimore, then the
largest manufacturer of military ships in the United States, became a
major port center with the construction of several factories in the
city, as well as a military base.
In 1919, the US Congress passed
a law prohibiting the production, sale, purchase and transportation of
alcoholic beverages, popularly known as "Prohibition." The majority of
the state's population was against this measure, and several political
leaders stood out as critics and opponents of this law, considering it a
violation of their state rights. As a result, the state became known as
The Free State, a nickname still used today, as a tribute to the state's
traditions of political and religious freedom.
The Great
Depression seriously affected its economy. Many businesses and factories
went bankrupt or closed, and unemployment increased. Baltimore, a
primarily industrial city, was hit hard by the Depression. In 1933, more
than 40% of the city's population was unemployed. To minimize the
effects of the Depression, the state created social assistance programs
and built numerous shelters to shelter the state's "homeless", homeless
because they could not afford the costs of rent.
The state's
economy recovered with the start of World War II. The years of the
Second World War were years of great industrial development in the
state, and the rural exodus, that is, the migration of the rural
population to the cities, increased drastically. At the end of the war,
it became a fundamentally urban and industrial state. Industrialization
and urbanization of the state continued in the decades after the end of
the war. The state also began to receive a large number of African
Americans from the states of the Southern Region, who settled mainly in
Baltimore. As a result, many white families moved from Baltimore to
nearby suburbs.
Until 1954, its schools were segregated, with
schools for whites and others, generally of lower quality, for African
Americans. However, this year, the United States Supreme Court ruled
that such segregation was unconstitutional. Baltimore united its school
system immediately, but in other, less populated and mostly white
cities, desegregation took much longer, up to three decades in some
small inland cities.
Beginning in the 1960s, many manufacturing
industries moved to other states that had cheaper labor available. The
state's shipbuilding and railroad industry, previously Maryland's
largest source of income, virtually disappeared, after the closure of
numerous factories and the transfer of several others to Southern
states. Currently, the manufacturing industry contributes little to the
state's economy, currently dominated by commerce and services.
In
1985, the local government began a program to clean up the then highly
polluted waters of the Chesapeake Bay. This program is supported by the
states of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware, as well as the District
of Columbia. This program is expected to be completed around 2010.
It borders Pennsylvania to the north, West Virginia to the west,
Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and Virginia to the south,
separated by the Potomac River. Near the center of the state, on the
banks of the Potomac River, is the capital of the United States,
Washington D.C.. The Chesapeake Bay almost divides the state in two. If
you count the Susquehanna River, which flows into the bay, the state is
effectively divided in two.
The length of its coastline with the
Atlantic Ocean is 50 kilometers. Counting all the regions bathed by the
sea - bays, estuaries and oceanic islands - this extension rises to
5,134 kilometers, thanks to the Chesapeake Bay. Most of the state's
rivers flow into that bay. There are no natural lakes, although there
are artificial lakes, created by dams in order to generate electricity.
The largest of these artificial lakes has 1600 hectares. About 40% of
the state is covered by forests.
It is divided into five
different geographical regions:
The Appalachian Highlands, stretching
from Georgia to New York, occupy the western edge of the state. It is
characterized by its rugged and mountainous terrain. The highest point,
Hoye Crest (on Backbone Mountain), with its 1,024 meters of altitude, is
located in this region.
The Appalachian Valley, which extends from
Alabama to New Jersey, passes through Maryland, and is located
immediately east of the Appalachian Highlands. The Appalachian Valley
section of Maryland is characterized by its length. This section
separates Pennsylvania from West Virginia, and is only a few miles
wide—only 2.9 at the narrowest part. Characterized by its mountainous,
rugged terrain, and by its forests, which occupy more than 70% of the
region.
The Blue Ridge, which extends from Georgia to Pennsylvania
and passes through the state, is located immediately east of the
Appalachian Valley. The Blue Ridge is only a few kilometers long as it
passes through Maryland. Characterized by its high mountains (the region
has an average altitude of 600 meters) and by the blue fog that
sometimes covers the region.
The Piemonte, which extends from Alabama
to New Jersey, forms a strip 80 kilometers long, which extends to the
vicinity of the Chesapeake Bay. It is characterized by its extremely
fertile soil, and is where most of the state's agriculture takes place.
The Atlantic Plains, which occupy approximately 45% of the state, are
located in the east and in the extreme south, characterized by their low
altitude and their swamps, located mainly to the east of the bay.
Most of its population lives in the central region of the state, in
the cities and residential neighborhoods surrounding Washington D.C. and
the most populous city, Baltimore. Both are often considered part of a
single metropolis. Other major demographic centers include the suburban
cores of Columbia in Howard County, Silver Spring, Rockville, and
Gaithersburg in Montgomery County, Frederick in Frederick County, and
Hagerstown in Washington County. The eastern, southern, and western
parts of the state tend to be more rural, though with pockets of
regionally important cities such as Salisbury and Ocean City on the
Eastern Shore, Lexington Park in the south, and Cumberland in the west.
It has a temperate climate. For a relatively small state like this,
average annual temperature and precipitation vary greatly from region to
region. Thanks to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, it has relatively
pleasant winters and warm summers. The average winter temperature is 1°C
in Baltimore and -3°C in the extreme northwest of the state, with lows
between -16°C and 10°C, and highs between -12°C and 17°C. In summer, the
average temperature is 27 °C in Baltimore and 22 °C in the far
northwest, with minimums of up to 13 °C, and maximums of up to 38 °C.
The lowest temperature recorded was in Oakland, where a low of -40°C
was recorded on January 13, 1912. The highest temperature recorded in
the state was in Allegany County on July 3, 1898, and in Cumberland on
July 10, 1936, where maximums of 43 °C were recorded.
It receives
about 109 centimeters of average annual precipitation of rain, and about
198 centimeters of average annual precipitation of snow.
The current Constitution was adopted in 1867. Other older
Constitutions were adopted in 1776, 1856 and 1864. Amendments to the
Constitution can be proposed by the Legislative Branch, and to be
approved they require at least 60% of the votes of both chambers. of the
Legislature and that are subsequently approved in a vote by at least 51%
of the electoral population of the state, in a referendum.
The
main official of the Executive Branch is the governor. He is elected by
the state's population for terms of up to four years in length, and
there is no limit on the number of re-elections. Three other officers
are also elected by the population for four-year terms. The governor
chooses a Secretary of State and the majority of the officers of the
different councils of the state. The chambers of the Legislative Branch
elect a Treasurer for a four-year term.
The Legislative Branch,
officially called the General Assembly, is made up of the Senate and the
House of Delegates. The Senate has a total of 47 members, while the
House of Delegates has a total of 141 members. Maryland is divided into
47 congressional districts. Electors in each district elect one senator
and three delegates, who represent each district in the Senate or the
House of Delegates. Both senators and delegates serve terms of up to
four years in length.
The highest Court of the Judiciary is the
Court of Appeal of Maryland, followed by the Court of Special Appeals of
Maryland and 24 other lower, regional courts. All judges are chosen by
the governor, for terms of up to one year in duration, when they are
definitively approved by the Legislature after a vote, for terms of up
to ten years in duration (15 years, in the case of the 24 minor courts).
.
More than half of the local government budget is generated by
state taxes. The rest comes from budgets received from the federal
government and from loans. In 2002, the state government spent 23,317
million dollars, having generated 20,788 million dollars. The public
debt is 12,309 million dollars. The debt per capita is $2,258, the value
of state taxes per capita is $1,985, and the value of government
expenditures per capita is $4,278.
It is a state dominated
politically by the Democratic Party, with the Republicans possessing
greater political strength in only some rural counties. The core of the
Democratic electorate is in Baltimore. In all history, only five
Republicans were appointed as governors of the state. Currently, the
state's two senators in the United States Senate and six of its eight
representatives in the House of Representatives are Democrats, with both
chambers of the State Legislature dominated by Democrats. In American
presidential elections, since the 1920s, however, the electorate has
supported a similar number of Republican and Democratic candidates, with
the latter dominating the last four presidential elections (with
Democrat John Kerry winning 55.9% of the vote). the votes).
The 2000 census of the United States Census Bureau established the
population at 5,296,486 inhabitants, a growth of 11% in relation to the
state's population in 1990, of 4,781,468 inhabitants. In the 2010
census, a population of 5,773,552 inhabitants was established for the
state,3 9% more than that corresponding to the 2000 census and 20.75%
more than in 1990.
The natural population growth between 2000 and
2005 was 165,707 inhabitants (395,775 births minus 230,068 deaths) the
population growth caused by immigration was 108,972 inhabitants, while
interstate migration increased by 9,752 inhabitants. Between 2000 and
2005, the population grew by 303,882 inhabitants, and between 2005 and
2006, by 15,339 inhabitants. In 2005, about 583,900 inhabitants were
born outside the country (10.6% of the state's population), of which it
is estimated that 56,000 (1% of the population) are illegal aliens.
About 93% of the state's population lives in one of the five
metropolitan regions: Baltimore, Cumberland and Hagerstown, located in
the state, and in urban areas belonging to the metropolitan regions of
Washington D. C. (District of Columbia) and Wilmington ( Delaware).
Historically, these cities and many others developed along the fall
line, the point at which rivers are no longer navigable from sea level
due to the presence of rapids or waterfalls. The capital, Annapolis, is
an exception to this rule, as it is located along the Severn River near
its mouth into the Chesapeake Bay. In total, more than 95% of the
state's population lives in cities.
Racial composition of the population:
58.3% are white (European or
of European descent).
28.9% are African American.
6.0% are Latino
or Hispanic.
4.9% are Asian.
The rest are made up of people of
other races.
The six largest groups by ancestry are: African
Americans, Germans (15.7%), Irish (11.7%), English (9%), Italians
(6.8%), and Poles (6.2%). African Americans are concentrated primarily
in Baltimore and the Washington suburbs. Most of the eastern and
southern seaboards are populated by Americans of English descent. The
state's western and northern population are primarily of German descent
and the state's northern population is predominantly Italian. Although
the current proportion of African Americans is not as high as it was
during the 19th century, it still has the largest African American
population outside the southern tip of the United States.
The
population of Latino/Hispanic origin is the fastest growing, due to the
high fertility rate of Latina women residing in the United States, and
also due to legal and illegal immigration from Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Population by religious affiliation 2019:
Catholic Church – 15% -
936,004
Protestantism – 53% - 3,307,214
Orthodox Christians –
1%-62,400
Other religions – 8% - 499,202
No religion – 23% -
1,435,206
It was founded with the purpose of offering religious
tolerance to the British Catholic population. Even so, the British crown
would later decide to reverse this policy. Despite being the main reason
for the founding of the state, the Catholic population never made up the
majority of the population since it began to be explored and colonized
by Europeans.
In the urban area of Silver Spring is the world
headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Christian
denomination that has a membership of 0.3% of the population in the
United States.
During the years when it was a colony of the United Kingdom, only the
children of wealthy families received education from the then colonial
province of Maryland, from the Catholic Church or from private teachers,
since both options were available only to those with conditions. to bear
the costs of the salaries of these religious tutors or private teachers.
It was in 1694 when the first public school was founded in the
state. This school became a college in 1784. In 1824, the local
government passed a law requiring any urban area with more than 250
inhabitants to have at least one school. The state began providing funds
to cities so that they could support the costs of creating and
maintaining public school systems. In 1870, the state established the
State Board of Education, which dictates rules and instructions that
public education systems need to follow.
Currently, all
educational institutions need to follow the regulations issued by the
State Council of Education. This board directly controls the state's
public school system, which is divided into different school districts.
All school districts are administered directly by the counties or cities
where they operate. The responsibility for providing education in less
densely populated regions lies with the counties. It allows the
operation of so-called "charter schools"—independent public schools,
which are not managed by school districts, but which depend on public
budgets for their operation. School attendance is mandatory for all
children and adolescents over six years of age, until the completion of
secondary education or up to sixteen years of age.
According to
the National Center for Education Statistics of the United States
Department of Education, in 2005-2006 the state's elementary and
secondary schools served 860,020 students, employing 56,685 teachers (a
ratio of 15.2 students per teacher), in a total of 1,430 schools. The
state's public school system spent $9.886 million in 2004-2005,
resulting in public school spending of approximately $11,500 per
student. In 2000, 83.8% of the state's inhabitants over 25 years of age
had a high school diploma or higher.
The first institution of
higher education, Washington College, was founded in 1782. It currently
has 59 institutions of higher education, of which 30 are public and 29
are private. The state's public university system is the University
System of Maryland , which manages a total of 14 campuses, located in
different cities. The campus of this system in College Park is
considered the largest institution of higher education in the state. In
Annapolis is the United States Naval Academy, which does not belong to
the University System.
The first libraries were built in 1699,
when a Catholic bishop ordered the construction of 30 religious
libraries in the colonial province, and a central library in Annapolis.
In 1885, Enoch Pratt began construction of a library system in
Baltimore. He donated these libraries to the city, with the condition
that they be open to the general public. This system was inaugurated the
following year, being one of the first public municipal library systems
in the country. It currently has 16 main and 162 secondary public
library systems.
The economy is mainly and largely concentrated in the tertiary
sector. The state's gross domestic product (GDP) was $212 billion in
2003. The state's per capita income was $39,447, the fourth highest in
the country. The unemployment rate is 2.9%, making it the third lowest
in the country. The economic, financial and industrial center of the
state is Baltimore.
The primary sector accounts for 1% of GDP.
Agriculture and livestock together contribute about 0.9% of the state's
GDP, and employ about 53,600 people. It has about twelve thousand farms,
which cover about 30% of the state. The main products grown or raised in
the state are corn, soybeans, chickens, eggs and milk. Forestry only
accounts for 0.10% of the state's GDP and employs approximately a
thousand people. Fishing barely accounts for 0.04% of the state's GDP
and employs approximately twelve hundred people. The total value of the
fish caught is 56 million dollars.
The secondary sector
corresponds to 14% of the GDP. The manufacturing industry accounts for
8% of the state's GDP and employs approximately 188,000 people. The
total value of products manufactured in the state per year is $20
billion. The construction industry accounts for 6% of the state's GDP
and employs about 204,000 people. Mining accounts for 1% of the state's
GDP and employs approximately 1,200 people.
The tertiary sector
accounts for 85% of GDP. Services contribute 25% of the state's GDP, and
employ more than 1.2 million people. It is a great financial center.
Financial and real estate services account for 21% of the state's GDP
and employ nearly 250,000 people. Public services account for 17% of the
state's GDP and employ more than 516,000 people. Wholesale and retail
trade contribute 15% of the state's GDP and employ more than 636,000
people. Transportation, telecommunications and public utilities account
for 7% of the state's GDP and employ nearly 136,000 people.
About
60% of the electricity generated in the state is produced in coal-fired
thermoelectric plants, 25% in nuclear plants, and most of the rest is
generated in hydroelectric plants or thermoelectric plants fired by oil
or natural gas.
Transport
From the beginning of European colonization of the
region, the Chesapeake Bay was a natural obstacle to transportation in
the colonial province of Maryland. At the beginning of the 19th century,
the first ferry services began, steamboats that traveled from one side
of the bay to the other, transporting cargo and passengers. In 1829, the
Chesapeake-Delaware Canal was opened, connecting the Delaware River to
the Chesapeake Bay.
The main airport is Baltimore. In 1828, the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was inaugurated, the first railway system in
the world to transport freight and passengers in a single train. In
2002, it owned 1,223 kilometers of railway tracks. In 2003, the state
owned 49,388 kilometers of public roads, of which 774 kilometers were
interstate highways, considered part of the United States federal
highway system.
The first newspaper was The Maryland Gazette, first published in
Annapolis in 1727, running until 1734. It was one of the first
newspapers published in the Thirteen Colonies. Currently, about 125
newspapers are published in the state, of which 15 are daily newspapers.
More than 450 newspapers are printed in the state.
The world's
first telegraph line was opened in the state in 1844, between Baltimore
and Washington, D.C. The first radio station was founded in 1922, and
the first television station was founded in 1947, both in Baltimore.
Currently the state has 15 television channels and nearly 100 radio
stations.
Previously, the Baltimore Colts played in the National Football
League from 1953 to 1983. The Baltimore Ravens have competed in the
competition since 1996. Likewise, the Washington Redskins play in
Maryland, near the border with Washington.
Other professional
sports teams include the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball and
the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. Additionally, the
Washington Wizards also previously played in Maryland.
In terms
of university sports, it has two outstanding programs. The Maryland
Terrapins have won 11 conference titles and 11 bowl titles in football,
including one Sugar Bowl and one Peach Bowl, as well as four conference
championships and one national championship in men's basketball. For
their part, the Navy Midshipmen have won a Sugar Bowl and a Cotton Bowl
in American football.
The Preakness Stakes, one of the three
Triple Crown horse races, has been held at Pimlico Race Course since
1873.
The United States Open, PGA Championship, United States
Veterans Open, Veterans PGA Championship, Kemper Open and currently the
Quicken Loans National have been played on the Congressional and
Aronimink golf courses.
Elly Kedward (1729-February 1785) was an Irish immigrant who was banished from the town of Blair after several local children accused her, after having invited them to her home, of taking their blood. The parents of her children expelled her from the village for practicing witchcraft. The villagers tied her to a cart and pushed her into the woods in the dead of winter. The people of Blair thought she had died of cold and came back to her life. In November 1786, half of the town's children, including those who betrayed Elly, disappeared without a trace. Fearing a curse, the inhabitants of Blair left the place and swore never to speak the name of Elly Kedwards again.