Since the 1940s, the state's population has grown rapidly, to approximately six million residents, and it is among the most densely populated U.S. states. As of 2015[update], Maryland had thehighest median household income of any state, owing in large part to its proximity to Washington, D.C., and a highly diversified economy spanning manufacturing, retail services, public administration, real estate, higher education, information technology, defense contracting, health care, and biotechnology.[19] Maryland is one of the most multicultural states in the country; it is one of the six states wherenon-Whites compose a majority of the population, with the fifth-highest percentage ofAfrican Americans, and high numbers of residents born inAfrica,Asia,Central America, and theCaribbean. The state's central role in U.S. history is reflected by its hosting of some of thehighest numbers of historic landmarks per capita.
Thewestern portion of the state contains stretches of theAppalachian Mountains, thecentral portion is primarily composed of thePiedmont, and theeastern side of the state makes up a significant portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Sixteen of Maryland's twenty-three counties, and the city of Baltimore, border the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay estuary and its many tributaries,[20][12] which combined total more than 4,000 miles of shoreline. Although one of the smallest states in the U.S., it features a variety of climates and topographical features that have earned it the moniker ofAmerica in Miniature.[21] In a similar vein, Maryland's geography, culture, and history combine elements of the Mid-Atlantic,Northeastern, andSouthern regions of the country.
The original capital of Maryland wasSt. Mary's City, on the north shore of thePotomac River, and the county surrounding it, the first erected/created in the province,[25] was first called Augusta Carolina, after the King, and later named St. Mary's County.[26]
Lord Baltimore's first settlers arrived in the new colony in March 1634, with his younger brother the HonorableLeonard Calvert (1606–1647), as first provincialGovernor of Maryland. They made their first permanent settlement atSt. Mary's City in what is nowSt. Mary's County. They purchased the site from theparamount chief of the region, who was eager to establish trade. St. Mary's became the firstcapital of Maryland, and remained so for 60 years until 1695. More settlers soon followed. Their tobacco crops were successful and quickly made the new colony profitable. However, given the incidence ofmalaria,yellow fever, andtyphoid, life expectancy in Maryland was about 10 years less than inNew England.[27]
Maryland was founded to provide a haven for England'sRoman Catholic minority.[28]Although Maryland was the most heavily Catholic of the English mainland colonies, the religion was still in the minority, consisting of less than 10% of the total population.[29]
In 1642, a number ofPuritans leftVirginia for Maryland and founded the city of Providence, now calledAnnapolis, on the western shore of the upperChesapeake Bay.[30] A dispute with traders from Virginia overKent Island in the Chesapeake led to armed conflict. In 1644,William Claiborne, a Puritan, seized Kent Island while his associate, thepro-Parliament PuritanRichard Ingle, took over St. Mary's.[31] Both used religion as a tool to gain popular support. The two years from 1644 to 1646 when Claiborne and his Puritan associates held sway were known as "The Plundering Time". They captured Jesuit priests, imprisoned them, then sent them back to England.
In 1646,Leonard Calvert returned with troops, recaptured St. Mary's City, and restored order. The House of Delegates passed the "Act concerning Religion" in 1649 granting religious liberty to allTrinitarian Christians.[27]
In 1650, the Puritans revolted against the proprietary government. "Protestants swept the Catholics out of the legislature... and religious strife returned."[27] The Puritans set up a new government prohibiting bothRoman Catholicism andAnglicanism. The Puritan revolutionary government persecuted Maryland Catholics during its reign, known as the "plundering time". Mobs burned down all the original Catholic churches of southern Maryland. The Puritan rule lasted until 1658 when the Calvert family and Lord Baltimore regained proprietary control and re-enacted the Toleration Act.
After England'sGlorious Revolution in 1688, Maryland outlawed Catholicism. In 1704, the Maryland General Assembly prohibited Catholics from operating schools, limited the corporate ownership of property to hamper religious orders from expanding or supporting themselves, and encouraged the conversion of Catholic children.[29] The celebration of the Catholic sacraments was also officially restricted. This state of affairs lasted until after theAmerican Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Wealthy Catholic planters built chapels on their land to practice their religion in relative secrecy.
Into the 18th century, individual priests and lay leaders claimed Maryland farms belonging to the Jesuits as personal property andbequeathed them in order to evade the legal restrictions on religious organizations' owning property.[29]
The royal charter granted Maryland the land north of thePotomac River up to the40th parallel. A problem arose whenCharles II granted a charter forPennsylvania. The grant defined Pennsylvania's southern border as identical to Maryland's northern border, the 40th parallel. But the grant indicated that Charles II andWilliam Penn assumed the 40th parallel would pass close toNew Castle, Delaware when it falls north ofPhiladelphia, the site of which Penn had already selected for his colony's capital city. Negotiations ensued after the problem was discovered in 1681.
A compromise proposed by Charles II in 1682 was undermined by Penn's receiving the additional grant of what is now Delaware.[33] Penn successfully argued that the Maryland charter entitled Lord Baltimore only to unsettled lands, and Dutch settlement in Delaware predated his charter. The dispute remained unresolved for nearly a century, carried on by the descendants of William Penn and Lord Baltimore—theCalvert family, which controlled Maryland, and thePenn family, which controlled Pennsylvania.[33]
The border dispute with Pennsylvania led to Cresap's War in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 and escalated through the first half of the decade, culminating in the deployment of military forces by Maryland in 1736 and by Pennsylvania in 1737. The armed phase of the conflict ended in May 1738 with the intervention of King George II, who compelled the negotiation of a cease-fire. A provisional agreement had been established in 1732.[33]
Negotiations continued until a final agreement was signed in 1760. The agreement defined the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania as the line of latitude now known as theMason–Dixon line. Maryland's border with Delaware was based on theTranspeninsular Line and theTwelve-Mile Circle around New Castle.[33]
Most of the English colonists arrived in Maryland asindentured servants, and had to serve a several years' term as laborers to pay for their passage.[34] In the early years, the line between indentured servants and African slaves or laborers was fluid, and white and black laborers commonly lived and worked together, and formed unions.Mixed-race children born to white mothers were considered free by the principle ofpartus sequitur ventrem, by which children took the social status of their mothers, a principle of slave law that was adopted throughout the colonies, following Virginia in 1662.
Many of the free black families migrated to Delaware, where land was cheaper.[35] As the flow of indentured laborers to the colony decreased with improving economic conditions in England, planters in Maryland imported thousands more slaves and racial caste lines hardened.
Influenced by a changing economy, revolutionary ideals, and preaching by ministers, numerous planters in Maryland freed their slaves in the 20 years after theRevolutionary War. Across the Upper South the free black population increased from less than 1% before the war to 14% by 1810.[36] AbolitionistsHarriet Tubman andFrederick Douglass were born slaves during this time inDorchester County andTalbot County, respectively.[37][38]
National Road, later renamedU.S. Route 40, was authorized in 1817 as the federal highway, and ran fromBaltimore toSt. Louis. TheBaltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the first chartered railroad in the United States, opened its first section of track for regular operation in 1830 between Baltimore andEllicott City,[39] and in 1852 it became the first rail line to reach theOhio River from the eastern seaboard.[40]
The state remained in the Union during theAmerican Civil War,[41] due in significant part to demographics and Federal intervention. The 1860 census, held shortly before the outbreak of the civil war, showed that 49% of Maryland's African Americans werefree.[36]
GovernorThomas Holliday Hicks suspended the state legislature, and to help ensurethe election of a new pro-union governor and legislature, PresidentAbraham Lincoln had a number of its pro-slavery politicians arrested, including the Mayor of Baltimore,George William Brown; suspended several civil liberties, includinghabeas corpus; and ordered artillery placed onFederal Hill overlooking Baltimore.
In April 1861, Federal units and state regiments were attacked as they marched through Baltimore, sparking theBaltimore riot of 1861, the first bloodshed in the Civil War.[42] Of the 115,000 Marylanders who joined the military during the Civil War, around 85,000, or 77%, joined theUnion army, while the remainder joined theConfederate Army.[citation needed] The largest and most significant battle in the state was theBattle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, nearSharpsburg. Although a tactical draw, the battle was considered a strategic Union victory and aturning point of the war.
A new state constitution in 1864abolished slavery and Maryland was first recognized as a "Free State" in that context.[43] Following passage of constitutional amendments that granted voting rights tofreedmen, in 1867 the state extended suffrage to non-white males.
TheDemocratic Party rapidly regained power in the state fromRepublicans. Democrats replaced the Constitution of 1864 with theConstitution of 1867. Following the end of Reconstruction in 1877, Democrats devised means ofdisenfranchising blacks, initially by physical intimidation and voter fraud, later by constitutional amendments and laws. Blacks and immigrants, however, resisted Democratic Party disfranchisement efforts in the state. Maryland blacks were part of a biracial Republican coalition elected to state government in 1896–1904 and comprised 20% of the electorate.[44]
Compared to some other states, blacks were better established both before and after the civil war. Nearly half the black population was free before the war, and some had accumulated property. Half the population lived in cities. Literacy was high among blacks and, as Democrats crafted means to exclude them, suffrage campaigns helped reach blacks and teach them how to resist.[44] Whites did imposeracial segregation in public facilities andJim Crow laws, which effectively lasted until the passage of federal civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s.
Cumberland was Maryland's second-largest city in the 19th century. Nearby supplies of natural resources along with railroads fostered its growth into a major manufacturing center.[45]
TheProgressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought political reforms. In a series of laws passed between 1892 and 1908, reformers worked for standard state-issued ballots (rather than those distributed and marked by the parties); obtained closed voting booths to prevent party workers from "assisting" voters; initiatedprimary elections to keep party bosses from selecting candidates; and had candidates listed without party symbols, which discouraged theilliterate from participating. These measures worked against ill-educated whites and blacks. Blacks resisted such efforts, with suffrage groups conducting voter education.Blacks defeated three efforts to disenfranchise them, making alliances with immigrants to resist various Democratic campaigns.[44] Disenfranchisement bills in 1905, 1907, and 1911 were rebuffed, in large part because of black opposition. Blacks comprised 20% of the electorate and immigrants comprised 15%, and the legislature had difficulty devising requirements against blacks that did not also disadvantage immigrants.[44]
The Progressive Era also brought reforms in working conditions for Maryland's labor force. In 1902, the state regulated conditions inmines; outlawedchild laborers under the age of 12; mandated compulsory school attendance; and enacted the nation's firstworkers' compensation law. The workers' compensation law was overturned in the courts, but was redrafted and finally enacted in 1910.
TheGreat Baltimore Fire of 1904 burned for more than 30 hours, destroying 1,526 buildings and spanning 70 city blocks. More than 1,231firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control.
After Georgia congressmanWilliam D. Upshaw criticized Maryland openly in 1923 for not passingProhibition laws,Baltimore Sun editor Hamilton Owens coined the "Free State" nickname for Maryland in that context, which was popularized byH. L. Mencken in a series of newspaper editorials.[43][46]
Maryland's urban and rural communities had different experiences during theGreat Depression. The "Bonus Army" marched through the state in 1932 on its way to Washington, D.C. Maryland instituted its firstincome tax in 1937 to generate revenue for schools and welfare.[47]
Passenger and freight steamboat service, once important throughout Chesapeake Bay and its many tributary rivers, ended in 1962.[48]
Maryland experienced population growth following World War II. Beginning in the 1960s, as suburban growth took hold around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, the state began to take on a more mid-Atlantic culture as opposed to the traditionally Southern and Tidewater culture that previously dominated most of the state. Agricultural tracts gave way to residential communities, some of them carefully planned such asColumbia,St. Charles, andMontgomery Village. Concurrently theInterstate Highway System was built throughout the state, most notablyI-95,I-695, and theCapital Beltway, altering travel patterns. In 1952, the eastern and western halves of Maryland were linked for the first time by theChesapeake Bay Bridge, which replaced a nearbyferry service.[49]
Maryland's regions experienced economic changes following WWII. Heavy manufacturing declined in Baltimore. In Maryland's four westernmost counties, industrial, railroad, and coal mining jobs declined. On the lowerEastern Shore, family farms were bought up by major concerns and large-scale poultry farms and vegetable farming became prevalent. In Southern Maryland, tobacco farming nearly vanished due to suburban development and a state tobacco buy-out program in the 1990s.
In an effort to reverse depopulation due to the loss of working-class industries, Baltimore initiatedurban renewal projects in the 1960s withCharles Center and theBaltimore World Trade Center. Some resulted in the break-up of intact residential neighborhoods, producing social volatility, and some older residential areas around the harbor have had units renovated and have become popular with new populations.
Maryland has an area of 12,406.68 square miles (32,133.2 km2) and is comparable in overall area withBelgium [11,787 square miles (30,530 km2)].[50] It is the 42nd-largest and 9th-smallest state and is closest in size to the state ofHawaii [10,930.98 square miles (28,311.1 km2)], the next smallest state. The next largest state is Maryland's neighbor,West Virginia, which is nearly twice the size of Maryland [24,229.76 square miles (62,754.8 km2)].
Maryland possesses a variety oftopography within its borders, contributing to its nicknameAmerica in Miniature.[51] It ranges from sandydunes dotted with seagrass in the east, to low marshlands teeming with wildlife and largebald cypress near the Chesapeake Bay, to gently rolling hills of oak forests in thePiedmont Region, andpine groves in theMaryland mountains to the west.
Most of the state's waterways are part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, with the exceptions of a tiny portion of extreme westernGarrett County (drained by theYoughiogheny River as part of the watershed of theMississippi River), the eastern half of Worcester County (which drains into Maryland's Atlantic coastal bays), and a small portion of the state's northeast corner (which drains into theDelaware River watershed). So prominent is the Chesapeake in Maryland's geography and economic life that there has been periodic agitation to change the state's official nickname to the "Bay State", a nickname that has been used byMassachusetts for decades.
The highest point in Maryland, with an elevation of 3,360 feet (1,020 m), isHoye Crest on Backbone Mountain, in the southwest corner ofGarrett County, near the border with West Virginia, and near the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac River. Close to the small town ofHancock, in western Maryland, about two-thirds of the way across the state, less than 2 miles (3.2 km) separates its borders,[52] theMason–Dixon line to the north, and the northwards-archingPotomac River to the south.
Portions of Maryland are included in various official and unofficial geographic regions. For example, theDelmarva Peninsula is composed of the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland, the entirestate of Delaware, and the two counties that make up theEastern Shore of Virginia, whereas the westernmost counties of Maryland are considered part ofAppalachia. Much of the Baltimore–Washington corridor lies just south of the Piedmont in the Coastal Plain,[53] though it straddles the border between the two regions.
Earthquakes in Maryland are infrequent and small due to the state's distance from seismic/earthquake zones.[54][55] TheM5.8Virginia earthquake in 2011 was felt moderately throughout Maryland. Buildings in the state are not well-designed for earthquakes and can suffer damage easily.[56] As well as this, notablya M4.8 earthquake fromTewksbury in central New Jersey was felt slightly throughout Maryland.[57]
Maryland has no natural lakes, mostly due to the lack of glacial history in the area.[58] All lakes in the state today were constructed, mostly via dams.[59]Buckel's Bog is believed by geologists to have been a remnant of a former natural lake.[60]
Maryland has shale formations containing natural gas, where fracking is theoretically possible.[61]
As is typical of states on theEast Coast, Maryland's plant life is abundant and healthy. An adequate volume of annual precipitation helps to support many types of plants, includingseagrass and variousreeds at the smaller end of the spectrum to the giganticWye Oak, a huge example ofwhite oak, the state tree, which can grow over 70 feet (21 m) tall.
Many foreign species are cultivated in the state, some as ornamentals, others as novelty species. Included among these are thecrape myrtle,Italian cypress,southern magnolia,live oak in the warmer parts of the state,[64] and evenhardy palm trees in the warmer central and eastern parts of the state.[65] USDA planthardiness zones in the state range from Zones 5and6 in the extreme western part of the state to Zone7 in the central part, and Zone8 around the southern part of the coast, the bay area, and parts ofmetropolitan Baltimore.[66] Invasive plant species, such askudzu,tree of heaven,multiflora rose, andJapanese stiltgrass, stifle growth of endemic plant life.[67] Maryland's state flower, theblack-eyed susan, grows in abundance in wild flower groups throughout the state.
A feralChincoteague Pony on Assateague Island on Maryland's Atlantic coastal islands
The state harbors a considerable number ofwhite-tailed deer, especially in the woody and mountainous west of the state, and overpopulation can become a problem. Mammals can be found ranging from the mountains in the west to the central areas and includeblack bears,[68]bobcats,[69] foxes,coyotes,[70] raccoons, and otters.[68]
There is a population of rare wild (feral) horses found onAssateague Island.[71] They are believed to be descended from horses who escaped from Spanish galleon shipwrecks.[71] Every year during the last week of July, they are captured and swim across a shallow bay for sale atChincoteague, Virginia, a conservation technique which ensures the tiny island is not overrun by the horses.[71] The ponies and their sale were popularized by the children's book,Misty of Chincoteague.
Maryland joined with neighboring states during the end of the 20th century to improve the health of theChesapeake Bay. The bay's aquatic life and seafood industry have been threatened by development and by fertilizer and livestock waste entering the bay.[77][78]
In 2007, Forbes.com rated Maryland as the fifth "Greenest" state in the country, behind three of thePacific States and Vermont. Maryland ranks 40th in total energy consumption nationwide, and it managed less toxic waste per capita than all but six states in 2005.[79] In April 2007, Maryland joined theRegional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) — a regional initiative, formed by all the Northeastern states, Washington, D.C., and three Canadian provinces, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[80] In March 2017, Maryland became the first state with proven gas reserves to ban fracking by passing a law against it. Vermont has such a law, but no shale gas, and New York has such a ban, though it was made by executive order.[61]
In 2023,AES Corporation announced its intent to retire the 23-year-oldWarrior Run coal plant in June 2024. It was the state's last coal-fired power plant that did not already have plans to shut down.[81]
Maryland has a wide array of climates, due to local variances in elevation, proximity to water, and protection from colder weather due todownslope winds.The eastern half of Maryland, which includesOcean City,Salisbury,Annapolis, and the southern and eastern suburbs of Washington, D.C., andBaltimore, lies on theAtlantic Coastal Plain, with flat topography and sandy or muddy soil. This region has ahumid subtropical climate (KöppenCfa), with hot, humid summers and cool to cold winters; it falls under USDAHardiness zone 8a.[66]
ThePiedmont region, which includes northern and western greater Baltimore,Westminster,Gaithersburg,Frederick, andHagerstown, has average seasonal snowfall totals generally exceeding 20 inches (51 cm), and, as part of USDA Hardiness zones 7b and 7a,[66] temperatures below 10 °F (−12 °C) are less rare. From theCumberland Valley on westward, the climate begins to transition to ahumid continental climate (KöppenDfa).
In western Maryland, the higher elevations ofAllegany andGarrett counties, including the cities ofCumberland,Frostburg, andOakland, display more characteristics of the humid continental zone, due in part to elevation. They fall under USDA Hardiness zones 6b and below.[66]
Precipitation in the state is characteristic of theEast Coast. Annual rainfall ranges from 35 to 45 inches (890 to 1,140 mm) with more in higher elevations. Nearly every part of Maryland receives 3.5–4.5 inches (89–114 mm) per month of rain. Average annual snowfall varies from 9 inches (23 cm) in the coastal areas to over 100 inches (250 cm) in the western mountains of the state.[82]
Because of its location near theAtlantic Coast, Maryland is somewhat vulnerable totropical cyclones, although theDelmarva Peninsula and the outer banks ofNorth Carolina provide a large buffer, such that strikes from major hurricanes (category3 or above) occur infrequently. More often, Maryland gets the remnants of a tropical system that has already come ashore and released most of its energy. Maryland averages around 30–40 days of thunderstorms a year, and averages around six tornado strikes annually.[83]
Monthly average high and low temperatures for various Maryland cities and landmarks(covering breadth and width of the state)
Most of the population of Maryland lives in the central region of the state, in theBaltimore metropolitan area andWashington metropolitan area, both of which are part of theBaltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The majority of Maryland's population is concentrated in the cities and suburbs surroundingWashington, D.C., and in and aroundBaltimore, Maryland's most populous city. Historically, these and many other Maryland cities developed along theFall Line, the line along which rivers, brooks, and streams are interrupted by rapids and waterfalls. Maryland's capital city,Annapolis, is one exception to this pattern since it lies along the banks of theSevern River, close to where it empties into theChesapeake Bay.
The Eastern Shore is less populous and more rural, as are the counties of western Maryland. The two westernmost counties of Maryland,Allegany andGarrett, are mountainous and sparsely populated, resembling West Virginia andAppalachia more than they do the rest of the state. Both eastern and western Maryland are, however, dotted with cities of regional importance, such asOcean City,Princess Anne, andSalisbury on theEastern Shore andCumberland,Frostburg, andHancock inWestern Maryland. Southern Maryland is still somewhat rural, but suburbanization from Washington, D.C., has encroached significantly since the 1960s; important local population centers includeLexington Park,Prince Frederick,California, andWaldorf.[94][95]
In the2020 United States census, theUnited States Census Bureau found that population of Maryland was 6,185,278 people, a 7.1% increase from the2010 United States census.[96] The United States Census Bureau estimated that the population of Maryland was 6,045,680 on July 1, 2019, a 4.71% increase from the 2010 United States census and an increase of 2,962, from the prior year. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 269,166 (464,251 births minus 275,093 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 116,713 people into the state.Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 129,730 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 13,017 people.[97] In 2018, The top countries of origin for Maryland's immigrants wereEl Salvador (11%),India (6%),China (5%),Nigeria (5%), and thePhilippines (4%).[98] Thecenter of population of Maryland is located on the county line betweenAnne Arundel County andHoward County, in theunincorporated community ofJessup.[99]
Since 2016, data for births ofWhite Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in oneHispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Map of counties in Maryland by racial plurality, according to2020 U.S. census findings
Non-Hispanic White
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
Black or African American
50–60%
60–70%
In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Maryland's population as 17.8 percent African-American and 80.4 percent non-Hispanic White.[129]
In 2019,non-Hispanic white Americans were 49.8% of Maryland's population (White Americans, includingWhite Hispanics, were 57.3%), which made Maryland amajority minority state.[130] 50.2% of Maryland's population is non-white, or is Hispanic or Latino, the highest percentage of any state on theEast Coast, and the highest percentage after the majority-minority states ofHawaii,New Mexico,Texas,California,Nevada, andWashington, D.C.[131] By 2031, minorities are projected to become the majority of voting eligible residents of Maryland.[132] Maryland's multiculturalism and diversity can be explained by its historically large African American population, and immigration brought by the importance of the D.C. and Baltimore areas, especially from Central America, Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia.
African Americans form a sizable portion of the state's population, 31.1% as of 2020.[128] Most are descendants of people transported to the area as slaves from West Africa. Concentrations of African Americans live inBaltimore City,Prince George's County,Charles County, western parts ofBaltimore County, and the southern Eastern Shore. Charles County and Prince George's County are the two counties where African Americans are the most successful monetarily in the country, with average household incomes much higher than in the rest of the country. As a former slave state, Maryland has had a large African-American population for much of its history; African American populations have increased over time with theGreat Migration to the D.C. and Baltimore areas, and in more recent times with theNew Great Migration and with movement out from Washington D.C. into Montgomery, Prince George's, and Charles counties, as a result of gentrification and rising housing costs in D.C. causing many African Americans to leave. Prince George's County in particular has been a magnet for African Americans from D.C. to move to for decades; it is often referred to as "Ward 9" of D.C.
Maryland has by far the highest percentage of residents born in Africa out of any state; residents of African descent include 20th-century and later immigrants fromNigeria, particularly of theIgbo andYoruba tribes;Ethiopia, particularlyAmharas with significantOromo andTigrayan populations;Cameroon,Ghana,Sierra Leone, andKenya.[133] Maryland also hosts populations from other African andCaribbean nations. Maryland's African immigrant population is generally well-educated and is most concentrated in the inner suburbs of Baltimore and D.C. Nigerians are the fourth-largest immigrant group in Maryland, and are largely concentrated in the Baltimore area and surrounding suburbs, as well as Prince George's county. Many immigrants from theHorn of Africa, especiallyEthiopia, have settled in Maryland, with large communities in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., particularly in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. TheWashington metropolitan area has the world's largest population ofEthiopians outside of Ethiopia.[134] The Ethiopian community of Greater D.C. was historically based in theAdams Morgan andShaw neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., but as the community has grown, many Ethiopians have settled inSilver Spring.[135] The Ethiopian American population in Maryland and the rest of the D.C. area is largelyAmharic-speaking, but there are significant numbers of speakers ofOromo andTigrinya speakers as well. The Washington metropolitan area is also home to a largeEritrean community.
Irish American populations can be foundthroughout the Baltimore area,[137] and the Northern and Eastern suburbs of Washington, D.C., in Maryland, who were descendants of those who moved out to the suburbs[138] of Washington, D.C.'s once predominantly Irish neighborhoods[138][139]), as well as Western Maryland, where Irish immigrant laborers helped to build the B&O Railroad.[137] Smaller but much older Irish populations can be found in Southern Maryland, with some roots dating as far back as the early Maryland colony.[140] This population, however, still remains culturally very active and yearly festivals are held.[141]
A large percentage of the population of theEastern Shore andSouthern Maryland are descendants ofBritish American ancestry. The Eastern Shore was settled by Protestants, chieflyMethodist and the southern counties were initially settled by English Catholics. Western and northern Maryland have largeGerman-American populations.
More recent European immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th century settled first in Baltimore, attracted to its industrial jobs. These groups were largely ofJewish,Italian,Greek,Polish,Czech,Lithuanian,Russian andUkrainian descent. The Greek community includes a number ofGreek Jews.[142] TheseSouthern andEastern European immigrants were largely concentrated in Southeast Baltimore and significantly influenced the unique culture of the city; although many have moved out into surrounding areas of Baltimore County due to gentrification, the city retains the culture and influence of these immigrants, and cultural events celebrating these communities are common in Baltimore. Maryland has had a significantJewish American presence since the early 20th century, with large numbers of Jewish immigrants to the Baltimore area, followed by Jewish migration to the Washington D.C. area; Maryland has the fifth-highest percentage of Jewish residents in the country (including Washington D.C.), with 239,000 Jews making up four percent of the population, and theWashington–Baltimore combined statistical area, which has the seventh-largest number of Jews of any combined metropolitan area in the country, with a Jewish population estimated at 300,000.[citation needed]
The shares of European immigrants born in Eastern Europe increased significantly between 1990 and 2010. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia, many immigrants from Eastern Europe came to the United States—12 percent of whom currently reside in Maryland.[143][144]
Caribbean Americans have a significant presence in Maryland, especiallyJamaican Americans, who make up 0.6% of the population and have had a significant presence and influence in Maryland's politics and culture; Maryland's current governor,Wes Moore, is the son of a Jamaican immigrant mother. Other Caribbean American nationalities with a large population in Maryland includeDominicans,Haitians,Trinidadians and Tobagonians, andGuyanese. Caribbean Americans are most concentrated in Prince George's County, the city of Baltimore, and Baltimore County.
Asian Americans are concentrated in the suburban counties surrounding Washington, D.C., and in Baltimore suburbs, especiallyHoward County, withChinese American,Korean American andTaiwanese American communities inRockville,Gaithersburg, andGermantown. Chinese in particular form the second largest group of Asian Americans, and are the largest group in Montgomery County.[citation needed] Maryland also has a large Korean American population, especially in Howard County, where there is aKoreatown inEllicott City.[146][147]Filipino Americans, the largest group of Southeast Asians, form major communities in Montgomery, Prince George's, and Charles counties; other large groups of Southeast Asians include Vietnamese, who are concentrated in Montgomery County, and Burmese, who are concentrated in Frederick, Howard, and Baltimore Counties.[citation needed] Maryland has a very large and diverseSouth Asian American population that has had a major presence in the state since the 1970s.Indian Americans are the largest Asian group in Maryland, making up 1.7 percent of the population, and live throughout the state, especially inMontgomery andHoward counties, with large numbers inBaltimore,Frederick, andPrince George's counties.[citation needed] The Indian American population is culturally and linguistically diverse, with the Indian languages spoken most beingHindi,Gujarati,Telugu, andTamil.[citation needed] There are also largePakistani American populations throughout the D.C. and Baltimore areas, especially in Baltimore County and Howard County, and a largeBangladeshi American community in the D.C. area.[citation needed] Maryland has one of the largest populations ofNepali Americans, includingBhutanese Americans of Nepali descent, in the U.S., many of whom are recent immigrants or refugees who sought asylum afterexpulsion from Bhutan or the2015 Nepal earthquake; there are an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 Nepalis in Maryland, concentrated in the Baltimore area with significant populations in the D.C. area.[citation needed] The first Nepali American elected to a state legislature,Harry Bhandari, was elected in Maryland, representing part of Baltimore County.[148][149] There are threestate-recognized tribes, and in 2020, 31,845 identified as being Native American alone, and 96,805 did in combination with one or more other races.[150]
Attracting educated Asians and Africans to the professional jobs in the region, Maryland has the fifth-largest proportions of racial minorities in the country.[151]
In 2006, 645,744 were counted as foreign born, which represents mainly people from Latin America and Asia. About four percent areundocumented immigrants.[152]
According to The Williams Institute's analysis of the 2010 U.S. census, 12,538 same-sex couples are living in Maryland, representing 5.8 same-sex couples per 1,000 households.[153]
Maryland has been historically prominent toAmerican Catholic tradition because the Englishcolony of Maryland was intended byGeorge Calvert as a haven for English Catholics. Baltimore was the seat of the first Catholic bishop in the U.S. (1789), andEmmitsburg was the home and burial place of the first American-born citizen to becanonized,St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.Georgetown University, the first Catholic University, was founded in 1789 in what was then part of Maryland; it became a part of the District of Columbia when it was created in the 1790s. TheBasilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Baltimore was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States, and theArchbishop of Baltimore is, albeit without formal primacy, the United States' quasi-primate,[citation needed] and often a cardinal. Among the immigrants of the 19th and 20th centuries from eastern and southern Europe were many Catholics.
Despite its historic relevance to the Catholic Church in the United States, the percentage of Catholics in the state of Maryland is below the national average of 20%. Demographically, both Protestants and those identifying with no religion are more numerous than Catholics.
Per thePublic Religion Research Institute in 2020, 61 percent of Maryland's population identified with Christianity.[159] Protestantism and Roman Catholicism continued to dominate the Christian landscape, and the Jewish community remained at 3% of the total religious population. Of the unaffiliated, the PRRI study determined their increase to 28% of the population.
Maryland has one of the highest percentages of LGBT people in its populace out of any state; 5.7% of Marylanders identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, the highest of any state. (Washington, D.C. ranks higher with a LGBT population of 8.6%.) Maryland ranks as one of the best states in the nation for rights of the LGBT community, with protections against discrimination enacted since 2001 for sexuality and 2014 for gender, same-sex marriage legalization in 2013, bans on conversion therapy enacted in 2018, abolition of the gay panic defense in 2021, and issuance in 2023 of an executive order protecting the rights of transgender individuals. In 2020, Montgomery County unanimously passed an ordinance implementing an LGBTIQ+ bill of rights.
In February 2010, Attorney GeneralDoug Gansler issued an opinion stating that Maryland law should honorsame-sex marriages from out of state. At the time, the state Supreme Court wrote a decision upholding marriage discrimination.[153]
On March 1, 2012, Maryland GovernorMartin O'Malley signed the freedom to marry bill into law after it passed in the state legislature. Opponents of same-sex marriage began collecting signatures to overturn the law, which faced a referendum, as Question 6, in the November 2012 election.[153] A January 2011 Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies poll showed 51% support for marriage in the state.[161]
In May 2012, Maryland's Court of Appeals ruled that the state will recognize marriages of same-sex couples who married out-of-state, no matter the outcome of the November election.[153] Voters upheld the bill, passing Question 6 with 52% to 48% on November 6, 2012. Same-sex couples began marrying in Maryland on January 1, 2013.[153]
A map showing Maryland's median income by county. Data is sourced from the 2014ACS five-year estimate report, published by theU.S. Census Bureau
TheBureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Maryland's gross state product in 2016 was $382.4billion.[162] However, Maryland has been usingGenuine Progress Indicator, an indicator of well-being, to guide the state's development, rather than relying only on growth indicators like GDP.[163][164] According to theU.S. Census Bureau, Maryland households are currently the wealthiest in the country, with a 2013 median household income of $72,483,[165] which puts it ahead ofNew Jersey andConnecticut, which are second and third respectively. Two of Maryland's counties, Howard and Montgomery, are the second and eleventhwealthiest counties in the nation respectively. Maryland has the most millionaires per capita in 2013, with a ratio of 7.7 percent.[166] Also, the state's poverty rate of 7.8 percent is the lowest in the country.[167][168][169]Per capita personal income in 2006 was $43,500, fifth in the nation. As of March 2022, the state's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent.[170]
Maryland's economy benefits from the state's proximity to the federal government inWashington, D.C., with an emphasis on technical and administrative tasks for the defense/aerospace industry and bio-research laboratories, as well as staffing of satellite government headquarters in the suburban or exurban Baltimore/Washington area. Ft. Meade serves as the headquarters of theDefense Information Systems Agency,United States Cyber Command, and theNational Security Agency/Central Security Service. In addition, a number of educational and medical research institutions are located in the state. The various components of TheJohns Hopkins University and its medical research facilities are now the largest single employer in the Baltimore area.[citation needed]
Manufacturing, while large in dollar value, is highly diversified with no sub-sector contributing over 20 percent of the total. Typical forms of manufacturing include electronics, computer equipment, and chemicals. The once-mighty primary metals sub-sector, which once included what was then the largest steel factory in the world atSparrows Point, still exists, but is pressed with foreign competition,bankruptcies, andmergers.[citation needed] During World War II, the Glenn Martin Company (now part ofLockheed Martin) airplane factory employed some 40,000 people.
Mining other than construction materials is virtually limited to coal, which is located in the mountainous western part of the state. The brownstone quarries in the east, which gave Baltimore and Washington much of their characteristic architecture in the mid-19th century, were once a predominant natural resource. Historically, there used to be small gold-mining operations in Maryland, some near Washington, but these no longer exist.
In the first three years of Marylandsports betting, over $10.2 billion was bet on sports. Based on the regulations, the state has earned over $116 million towards theBlueprint for Maryland's Future Fund as of November 2024.[172]
One major service activity is transportation, centered on thePort of Baltimore and its relatedrail and trucking access. The port ranked 17th in the U.S. by tonnage in 2008.[173] Although the port handles a wide variety of products, the most typical imports are raw materials and bulk commodities, such asiron ore,petroleum,sugar, andfertilizers, often distributed to the relatively close manufacturing centers of the inlandMidwest via good overland transportation. The port also receives several brands of imported motor vehicles and is the number one auto port in the U.S.[174]
Baltimore City is among the top 15 largest ports in the nation,[175] and was one of six major U.S. ports that were part of the February 2006controversy over theDubai Ports World deal.[176] The state as a whole is heavily industrialized, with a prosperous 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.
TheChesapeake and Delaware Canal is a 14 miles (23 km)canal on the Eastern Shore that connects the waters of the Delaware River with those of the Chesapeake Bay, and in particular with the Port of Baltimore, carrying 40 percent of the port's ship traffic.[177]
Maryland has a large food-production sector. A large component of this is commercialfishing, centered in the Chesapeake Bay, but also including activity off the short Atlantic seacoast. The largest catches by species are theblue crab,oysters,striped bass, andmenhaden. The Bay also has overwintering waterfowl in its wildlife refuges. The waterfowl support atourism sector of sportsmen.
Agriculture is an important part of Maryland's economy.
Maryland has large areas of fertile agricultural land in its coastal andPiedmont zones, though this land use is being encroached upon by urbanization. Agriculture is oriented to dairy farming (especially in foothill and piedmont areas) for nearby large city milksheads, plus specialty perishable horticulture crops, such ascucumbers,watermelons,sweet corn,tomatoes,melons,squash, andpeas (Source:USDA Crop Profiles). The southern counties of the western shoreline of Chesapeake Bay are warm enough to support atobaccocash crop zone, which has existed since early Colonial times, but declined greatly after a state government buy-out in the 1990s. There is also a large automatedchicken-farming sector in the state's southeastern part;Salisbury is home toPerdue Farms. Maryland's food-processing plants are the most significant type of manufacturing by value in the state. Farming suffers from weeds as anywhere else, including an unusualmultiply resistant ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) found by Rousoneloset al., 2012 with bothALS- andPPO-resistances[178] and which by 2016 had developed a third,EPSP resistance.[179] This ragweed population is a drag onsoybean cultivation and, as of May 7, 2022[update], is the worst multiresistant weed problem in the state.[179]
Maryland is a major center forlife sciences research and development. With more than 400 biotechnology companies located there, Maryland is the fourth largest nexus in this field in the United States.[180]
Ocean City, a beach resort along theAtlantic Ocean and a popular tourist destination in Maryland
Tourism is popular in Maryland. Many tourists visit Baltimore, the beaches of the Eastern Shore, and the nature of western Maryland. Attractions in Baltimore include theHarborplace, theBaltimore Aquarium,Fort McHenry, as well as theCamden Yards baseball stadium.Ocean City on the Atlantic Coast has been a popular beach destination in summer, particularly since theChesapeake Bay Bridge was built in 1952 connecting the Eastern Shore to the more populated Maryland cities.[49] The state capital ofAnnapolis offers sites such as thestate capitol building, thehistoric district, and the waterfront. Maryland also has several sites of interest to military history, given Maryland's role in theAmerican Civil War and in theWar of 1812. Other attractions include the historic and picturesque towns along theChesapeake Bay, such asSaint Mary's, Maryland's first colonial settlement and original capital.[182]
Maryland has experimented with healthcare payment reforms, notably beginning in the 1970s with anall-payer rate setting program regulated by the Health Services Cost Review Commission.[184] In 2014, it switched to a global budget revenue system, whereby hospitals receive acapitated payment to care for their population.[184]
Maryland'sInterstate highways include 110 miles (180 km) ofInterstate95 (I-95), which enters the northeast portion of the state, travels throughBaltimore, and becomes part of the eastern section of theCapital Beltway to theWoodrow Wilson Bridge.I-68 travels 81 miles (130 km), connecting the western portions of the state toI-70 at the small town of Hancock. I-70 enters from Pennsylvania north of Hancock and continues east for 93 miles (150 km) to Baltimore, connectingHagerstown andFrederick along the way.
I-83 has 34 miles (55 km) in Maryland and connects Baltimore to southern central Pennsylvania (Harrisburg andYork, Pennsylvania). Maryland also has an 11-mile (18 km) portion ofI-81 that travels through the state near Hagerstown.I-97, fully contained within Anne Arundel County and the shortest (17.6 miles (28.3 km)) one- or two-digit interstate highway in the contiguous US, connects the Baltimore area to the Annapolis area.
There are also severalauxiliary Interstate highways in Maryland. Among them are two beltways encircling the major cities of the region:I-695, the McKeldin (Baltimore) Beltway, which encircles Baltimore; and a portion ofI-495, the Capital Beltway, which encirclesWashington, D.C.I-270, which connects the Frederick area withNorthern Virginia and Washington, D.C. through major suburbs to the northwest of Washington, is a major commuter route and is as wide as fourteen lanes at points.I-895, also known as the Harbor Tunnel Thruway, provides an alternate route to I-95 acrossBaltimore Harbor.
Maryland also has astate highway system that contains routes numbered from 2through 999, however most of the higher-numbered routes are either unsigned or are relatively short. Major state highways include Routes2 (Governor Ritchie Highway/Solomons Island Road/Southern Maryland Blvd.),4 (Pennsylvania Avenue/Southern Maryland Blvd./Patuxent Beach Road/St. Andrew's Church Road),5 (Branch Avenue/Leonardtown Road/Point Lookout Road),32,45 (York Road),97 (Georgia Avenue),100 (Paul T. Pitcher Memorial Highway),210 (Indian Head Highway),235 (Three Notch Road),295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway),355 (Wisconsin Avenue/Rockville Pike/Frederick Road),404 (Queen Anne Highway/ Shore Highway), and650 (New Hampshire Avenue).
TheWMATA'sMetrorailrapid transit andMetrobus local bus systems (the2nd and6th busiest in the nation of their respective modes) provide service in Montgomery and Prince George's counties and connect them to Washington D.C.. TheMaryland Transit Administration (often abbreviated as "MTA Maryland"), a state agency part of theMaryland Department of Transportation also provides transit services within the state. Headquartered in Baltimore, MTA's transit services are largely focused on central Maryland, as well as some portions of the Eastern Shore and Southern MD. Baltimore'sLight RailLink andMetro SubwayLink systems serve its densely populated inner-city and the surrounding suburbs. The MTA also serves the city and its suburbs with itslocal bus service (the9th largest system in the nation). The MTA'sCommuter Bus system provides express coach service on longer routes connecting Washington, D.C. and Baltimore to parts of Central and Southern MD as well as the Eastern Shore. The commuter rail service, known asMARC, operates three lines which all terminate atWashington Union Station and provide service to Baltimore'sPenn andCamden stations,Perryville,Frederick, andMartinsburg, West Virginia. In addition, many suburban counties operate local bus systems which connect to and complement the larger MTA and WMATA/Metro services.
The MTA will also administer thePurple Line, an under-construction light rail line that will connect the Maryland branches of theRed,Green/Yellow, andOrange lines of the Washington Metro, as well as offer transfers to all three lines of the MARC commuter rail system.[188][189]
Most of the business of government is conducted inAnnapolis, the statecapital; however some cabinet departments and state officials have their offices inBaltimore. Elections for governor and most statewide offices, as well as most county elections, are held inmidterm-election years (even-numbered years not divisible by four).
The judicial branch of state government consists of one unitedDistrict Court of Maryland that sits in every county and Baltimore City, as well as 24Circuit Courts sitting in each County and Baltimore City, the latter being courts of general jurisdiction for all civil disputes over $30,000, all equitable jurisdiction and major criminal proceedings. The intermediate appellate court is known as theAppellate Court of Maryland and thestate supreme court is theSupreme Court of Maryland. The appearance of the justices of the Supreme Court of Maryland is unique; Maryland is the only state whose justices wear red robes.[192]
Maryland imposes fiveincome tax brackets, ranging from 2to 6.25 percent of personal income.[193] The city of Baltimore and Maryland's 23 counties levy local "piggyback" income taxes at rates between 1.25 and 3.2 percent of Maryland taxable income. Local officials set the rates and the revenue is returned to the local governments quarterly. The top income tax bracket of 9.45 percent is the fifth highest combined state and local income tax rates in the country, behind New York City's 11.35 percent, California's 10.3 percent, Rhode Island's 9.9 percent, and Vermont's 9.5 percent.[194]
Maryland's statesales tax is six percent.[195] All real property in Maryland is subject to theproperty tax.[196] 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.[196] Property tax rates vary widely.[196] 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.[196]
In1980, Maryland was one of six states to vote forJimmy Carter. In1992,Bill Clinton fared better in Maryland than any other state, except his home state ofArkansas. In1996, Maryland was Clinton's sixth best; in2000, Maryland ranked fourth for Gore; and in2004,John Kerry showed his fifth-best performance in Maryland. In2008,Barack Obama won the state's 10 electoral votes with 61.9 percent of the vote, toJohn McCain's 36.5 percent.
In 2002, former GovernorRobert Ehrlich was the first Republican to be elected to that office in four decades, and after one term, he lost his seat toBaltimore Mayor and DemocratMartin O'Malley. Ehrlich ran again for governor in 2010, losing again to O'Malley.
Voter registration and party enrollment in Maryland as of May 2024[200]
The 2006 election brought no change in the pattern of Democratic dominance. After Democratic SenatorPaul Sarbanes announced that he was retiring, Democratic CongressmanBenjamin Cardin defeated Republican Lieutenant GovernorMichael S. Steele, with 55 percent of the vote, against Steele's 44 percent.
While Republicans typically win more counties in statewide elections by piling up large margins in the west and east, they are usually overcome by the densely populated and solidly Democratic Baltimore–Washington axis. In2008, for instance, McCain won 17 counties to Obama's six (plus Baltimore City). While McCain won most of the western and eastern counties by margins of 2-to-1 or more, he was almost completely shut out in the larger counties surrounding Baltimore and Washington; every large county except Anne Arundel went for Obama, who won by 25 points statewide.[201]
In 2010, Republicans won control of most counties. The Democratic Party remained in control of eight county governments, including that ofBaltimore.[203]
In2022,Wes Moore became the first Democrat elected Governor of Maryland since2010, replacing RepublicanLarry Hogan, who did not run for re-election due to term limits. Moore is the first African-American elected Governor of Maryland, and the fifth African-American governor in American history.[204]
Education Week ranked Maryland #1 in its nationwide 2009–2013 Quality Counts reports.[208] Primary and secondary education in Maryland is overseen by theMaryland State Department of Education, which is headquartered inBaltimore.[209] The highest educational official in the state is theState Superintendent of Schools, who is appointed by theState Board of Education to a four-year term of office. The Maryland General Assembly has given the Superintendent and State Board autonomy to make educationally related decisions, limiting its influence on the day-to-day functions of public education. Each county and county-equivalent in Maryland has alocal Board of Education charged with running the public schools in that particular jurisdiction.
The budget for education was $5.5billion in 2009, representing about 40 percent of the state's general fund.[210] Data from the 2017 census shows that, among large school districts, four Maryland districts are in the top six for per-pupil annual spending, exceeded only by the Boston and New York City districts.[211]
Maryland has a broad range of private primary and secondary schools. Many of these are affiliated with various religious sects, includingparochial schools of theCatholic Church,Quaker schools,Seventh-day Adventist schools, andJewish schools. In 2003, Maryland law was changed to allow for the creation of publicly funded charter schools, although the charter schools must be approved by their local Board of Education and are not exempt from state laws on education, including collective bargaining laws.
In 2008, the state led the entire country in the percentage of students passingAdvanced Placement examinations. 23.4 percent of students earned passing grades on the AP tests given in May 2008. This marks the first year that Maryland earned this honor.[212] Three Maryland high schools (in Montgomery County) were ranked among the top 100 in the country by US News in 2009, based in large part on AP test scores.[213]
Maryland has several historic and renowned private colleges and universities, the most prominent of which isJohns Hopkins University, founded in 1876 with a grant from Baltimore entrepreneurJohns Hopkins.
The first public university in the state is theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore, which was founded in 1807 and contains the University of Maryland's only public academichealth, human services, and one of twolaw centers (the other being theUniversity of Baltimore School of Law). Seven professional and graduate schools train the majority of the state's physicians, nurses, dentists, lawyers, social workers, and pharmacists.[214] The flagship university and largest undergraduate institution in Maryland is theUniversity of Maryland, College Park which was founded as the Maryland Agricultural College in 1856 and became a publicland grant college in 1864.Towson University, founded in 1866, is the state's second largest university.
In 1974, Maryland, along with seven other states, mainly in the South, submitted plans to desegregate its state universities; Maryland's plans were approved by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.[215]
Maryland's 24 public library systems deliver public education for everyone in the state of Maryland through a curriculum that comprises three pillars: Self-Directed Education (books and materials in all formats, e-resources), Research Assistance & Instruction (individualized research assistance, classes for students of all ages), and Instructive & Enlightening Experiences (e.g., Summer Reading Clubs, author events).
Other professional sports franchises in the state include three affiliatedminor league baseball teams, oneindependent league baseball team, theBaltimore Blast indoor soccer team, two indoor football teams and three low-level outdoor soccer teams. Maryland is also home to one of the three races in horse racing's annual Triple Crown, thePreakness Stakes, which is run every spring atPimlico Race Course in Baltimore.The Baltimore Stallions were a Canadian Football Team in theCFL that played the 1994–95 season.
The official state sport of Maryland, since 1962, isjousting; the official team sport since 2004 islacrosse.[221] TheNational Lacrosse Hall of Fame is located inSparks, Maryland at theUSA Lacrosse headquarters. In 2008, intending to promote physical fitness for all ages,walking became the official state exercise. Maryland is the first state with an official state exercise.[222]
^As of 2022–2023, there were only 8,646 Nepali immigrants in Maryland; however, numerous sources cite the number of Nepali or Nepali-Bhutanese immigrants and refugees in Maryland as between 20,000 and 25,000, considering that the community has often been undercounted.
^ab"Baltimore".Encyclopædia Britannica. June 18, 2023.Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. RetrievedApril 25, 2019.
^"People, Tribes and Bands".Maryland Manual On-line: A Guide to Maryland and its Government. Maryland State Archives.Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. RetrievedAugust 25, 2019.
^"George Calvert and Cecilius Calvert, Barons Baltimore" William Hand Browne, Nabu Press (August 1, 2010),ISBN117662539XISBN978-1176625396
^Krugler, John D. (2004).English and Catholic : the Lords Baltimore in the seventeenth century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN978-0801879630.OCLC53967315.
^abAndrews, Matthew Page (1929).History of Maryland: Province and State. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. pp. 3–5.
^Stewart, George R. (1967) [1945].Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States (Sentry (3rd) ed.).Houghton Mifflin. pp. 42–43.
^abcWilder, Craig Steven (2016). "War and Priests: Catholic Colleges and Slavery in the Age of Revolution". In Beckert, Seth; Rockman, Seth (eds.).Slavery's Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania. p. 233.ISBN978-0-8122-4841-8.
^abPeter Kolchin,American Slavery: 1619–1877, New York: Hill and Wang, 1993, pp. 81–82
^"Harriet Tubman".HISTORY.Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. RetrievedJanuary 18, 2019.
^Douglass, Frederick (2003).Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Classics. p. 17.ISBN978-1-59308-041-9.
^Dilts, James D. (1993).The Great Road: The Building of the Baltimore and Ohio, the Nation's First Railroad, 1828–1853. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. p. 80.ISBN978-0-8047-2235-3.
^Stover, John F. (1987).History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press. p. 18.ISBN978-0-911198-81-2.
^Cairns, Huntington (December 1937)."History and Constitutionality of the Maryland Income Tax Law".Maryland Law Review. Legal History, Theory and Process Commons. UM Carey Law. pp. 1, 6.Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. RetrievedAugust 19, 2015....1937 Special Session of the Maryland Legislature imposed an income tax... expenditure of public funds for the benefit of able-bodied persons whose inability to support themselves arises from the prevalence of widespread unemployment.
^"Belgium".CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. May 15, 2008.Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. RetrievedMay 15, 2008.Area—comparative: about the size of Maryland
^Therres, Glenn (Fall 2007)."Lions in our mountains? The mystery of cougars in Maryland"(PDF).Wildlife and Heritage. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on April 19, 2011. RetrievedJuly 6, 2009.Historically bobcats were distributed statewide but during the post colonization period densities began to plummet. By the mid-1900s, populations had probably reached all-time lows, with remnant populations existing only in western Maryland. This prompted the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to classify them as a state-listed "Species of Special Concern." During the past quarter century, occupied range and densities have increased markedly. Results from the annual Bowhunter Survey and the Hunter Mail survey have identified bobcat sightings in 14 of Maryland's 23 counties. Currently, bobcats have dual legal classification in Maryland. In addition to the Species of Special Concern designation, they are also defined as a Game Animal / Furbearer with a closed harvest season.
^"Coyotes in Maryland". Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Archived fromthe original on August 15, 2011. RetrievedSeptember 16, 2011.Coyotes were historically a western species with core populations found west of the Mississippi River. Alterations and/or elimination of competing predators during the post-European colonization period facilitated rapid range expansion into eastern North America during the 20th Century. Established populations now occur in every state and province in North America. Coyotes are a relatively new addition to local ecosystems, and were first documented in Maryland during 1972. Initial substantiated sightings occurred in Cecil, Frederick and Washington counties. Since that time population densities and occupied range have expanded incrementally and coyotes now occur statewide.
^"The South As It's [sic] Own Nation". League of the South. 2004. Archived fromthe original on June 5, 2008. RetrievedMay 23, 2008.On the other hand, areas beyond these thirteen States maintain their Southern culture to varying degrees. Much of Missouri remains basically Southern, as do parts of southern Maryland and Maryland's eastern shore.
^Beck, John; Randall, Aaron & Frandsen, Wendy (June 27, 2007)."Southern Culture: An Introduction"(PDF). Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press. pp. 14–15.Archived(PDF) from the original on July 8, 2011. RetrievedMay 23, 2008.Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia, and Maryland – slaveholding states and regions before the Civil War that did not secede from the Union – are also often included as part of the South. As border states, these states always were crossroads of values and customs, and today parts of Maryland seem to have become part of the 'Northeast'.
^"Births: Final Data for 2013"(PDF).National Vital Statistics Reports.64 (1). National Center for Health Statistics:35–36. January 15, 2015.Archived(PDF) from the original on September 11, 2017. RetrievedFebruary 19, 2020.
^"Births: Final Data for 2014"(PDF).National Vital Statistics Reports.64 (12). National Center for Health Statistics:35–36. December 23, 2015.Archived(PDF) from the original on February 14, 2017. RetrievedFebruary 19, 2020.
^"Births: Final Data for 2015"(PDF).National Vital Statistics Reports.66 (1). National Center for Health Statistics: 38, 40. January 5, 2017.Archived(PDF) from the original on August 31, 2017. RetrievedFebruary 19, 2020.
^"Births: Final Data for 2016"(PDF).National Vital Statistics Reports.67 (1). National Center for Health Statistics: 25. January 31, 2018.Archived(PDF) from the original on June 3, 2018. RetrievedFebruary 19, 2020.
^"Births: Final Data for 2017"(PDF).National Vital Statistics Reports.67 (8). National Center for Health Statistics: 20. November 7, 2018.Archived(PDF) from the original on February 1, 2019. RetrievedFebruary 19, 2020.
^"Births: Final Data for 2018"(PDF).National Vital Statistics Reports.68 (13). National Center for Health Statistics: 20. November 27, 2019.Archived(PDF) from the original on November 28, 2019. RetrievedFebruary 19, 2020.
^Martin, Joyce A.; Hamilton, Brady E.; Osterman, Michelle J.K.; Driscoll, Anne K. (March 23, 2021)."Births: Final Data for 2019"(PDF).National Vital Statistics Reports.70 (2). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:1–51.PMID33814033.Archived(PDF) from the original on June 23, 2021. RetrievedMarch 30, 2021.
^"Data"(PDF).Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Archived(PDF) from the original on February 10, 2022. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2022.
^"Data"(PDF).Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Archived(PDF) from the original on February 1, 2023. RetrievedFebruary 3, 2022.
^"Data"(PDF).www.cdc.gov.Archived(PDF) from the original on April 4, 2024. RetrievedApril 5, 2024.
^"Immigrants in Maryland".American Immigration Council. May 1, 2015.Archived from the original on January 30, 2023. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2023.
^acutrans19 (September 28, 2022)."Top 10 Languages of Maryland".Acutrans | Certified Translation Services.Archived from the original on January 30, 2023. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^"Languages in Maryland"(PDF). U.S. English Foundation, Inc. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on January 17, 2013. RetrievedMay 22, 2012.Prince George's County has the highest percentage of Kru/Ibo/Yoruba speakers of any county in the nation.
^"State Membership Report".www.thearda.com. The Association of Religion Data Archives. Archived fromthe original on December 2, 2013. RetrievedNovember 15, 2013.
^"Maryland Amish". Amish America. March 2011.Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. RetrievedOctober 6, 2017.
^"Monthly Labor Review—February 2018"(PDF).Maryland Department of Labor, License, and Governing. April 5, 2018.Archived(PDF) from the original on May 15, 2022. RetrievedApril 20, 2018.
^"Port of Baltimore".Automotive Logistics Buyers' Guide. Ultima Media. Archived fromthe original on May 25, 2017. RetrievedMay 22, 2017.The Port of Baltimore handles more autos than any other US port.
^Davis, Julie Hirschfeld; Shaw, Gwyneth K. (March 11, 2006)."Bush fears terror setback".The Baltimore Sun. Archived fromthe original on October 1, 2020. RetrievedNovember 2, 2020.
^Feerick, John D. (2014) [1976].The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Its Complete History and Application (Third ed.). New York: Fordham University Press. pp. 132–133.ISBN978-0-8232-5200-8.
^"Slicing education?".gazette.net. The Gazette. October 30, 2009. p. A-9. Archived fromthe original on September 4, 2015. RetrievedNovember 12, 2009.As it stands, the $5.5 billion Maryland spends on education makes up about 40 percent of the general fund budget.
Davis, William Wilkins.Religion and Politics in Maryland on the Eve of the Civil War: The Letters of W. Wilkins Davis. Foreword by Charles W. Mitchell. 1988; rev. ed., Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 2009.
Denton, Lawrence M. (1995).A Southern Star for Maryland. Baltimore: Publishing Concepts.ISBN978-0-9635159-3-3.
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