1 History

George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore applied to Charles I for a new royal charter for what was to become the Province of Maryland. George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland Colony" (in Latin, "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, on June 20, 1632. The new colony was named in honour of Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of Charles I.

The English colony of Maryland was founded by Lord Baltimore who on March 25, 1634 led the first settlers into this area which would soon become one of the few dominantly Catholic regions among the English colonies in America. Maryland was one of the key destinations of tens of thousands of British convicts, which carried on until independence. The Maryland Toleration Act was one of the first laws that explicitly tolerated varieties of religion (as long as it was Christian), and is sometimes seen as a precursor to the First Amendment.

Originally, based on an incorrect map, the royal charter granted Maryland the Potomac River and territory northward to the fortieth parallel. This was found to be a problem, because the northern boundary would put Philadelphia, the major city in Pennsylvania, within Maryland. The Calvert family, which controlled Maryland, and the Penn family, which controlled Pennsylvania, engaged two surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to survey what became known as the Mason-Dixon line which would form the boundary between their two colonies.

St. Mary's City was the largest site of the original Maryland colony, and was the seat of state government until just before the beginning of the 18th century (when the government was moved to Annapolis). The government was moved at about the same time as the persecution of Maryland Catholics by Puritans from Virginia; during the persecutions, all of the original Catholic churches of southern Maryland were burned down. St Mary's City is now an archaelogical site, with a small tourist center.

Maryland was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. See: Annapolis Convention.

Despite popular support for the cause of the Confederate States of America, Maryland did not secede during the United States Civil War, in part due to precautions taken by the government in Washington, D.C.. Because of this it was not included under the Emancipation Proclamation. A constitutional convention was held during 1864 that culminated in the passage of a new state constitution on November 1 of that year. Article 24 of that document outlawed the practice of slavery. The right to vote was not, however, extended to non-white males until 1867.

2 Law & Government

Main article: Government of Maryland

As in all fifty states, the head of the executive branch of government is a Governor (see also List of Maryland Governors ).

The legislative branch, the Maryland General Assembly, consists of a 47-member Senate and a 141-member House of Delegates. The legislature meets in the Maryland state house in the capital, Annapolis, in Anne Arundel County.

The state judiciary is headed by the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's supreme court.

3 Geography

See: List of Maryland counties, List of Maryland rivers

Maryland is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania, on the west by West Virginia, on the east by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south, across the Potomac River, by Virginia. It shares a border near the center of the state along the Potomac with Washington, DC. Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state, and the counties east of the Bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore. A portion of extreme western Maryland in Garrett County is drained by the Youghiogheny River as part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. The highest point in Maryland is Backbone Mountain, which is the southwest corner of Garrett County, right near the border with West Virginia near the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac.

• Physical formations
  • Appalachian Mountains
  • Chesapeake Bay

4 Economy

• Federal Agencies
  • Census Bureau
  • Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  • National Archives (Lanham facility)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
  • National Security Agency (NSA)
  • Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)
  • Social Security Administration (SSA)

5 Military facilities

• Aberdeen Proving Ground
• Andrews Air Force Base
• Bethesda Naval Medical Center
• Fort Meade
• Indian Head Naval Surface Weapons Center
• Patuxent River Naval Air Station
• Webster Field

6 Transit

Maryland's major Interstate Highways include I-95, which enters the northeast portion of the state, goes through Baltimore, and becomes the Capital Beltway to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I-68 connects the western portions of the state to Frederick, and I-70 connects Frederick with Baltimore.

Maryland's main airport is Baltimore-Washington International Airport (formerly known as Friendship Airport). The Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. are also serviced by the other two airports in the region, Reagan National and Dulles International Airports, both in Virginia.

Amtrak Trains serve Baltimore along the Northeast Corridor. MARC trains, operated by the State's Transit Authority, connect nearby Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and other towns.

7 Demographics

As of 2000, the state's population was 5,296,486.

8 Important cities and towns

• Annapolis – state capital.
• Baltimore – Most populous city; commercial and cultural hub.
• For a more exhaustive list, see List of cities in Maryland

9 Counties

• See List of counties in Maryland

10 Famous Marylanders

See List of people from Maryland

11 Education

11.1 Colleges and universities

Baltimore Hebrew University Baltimore International College Capitol College Chesapeake College College of Notre Dame of Maryland Columbia Union College Goucher College Hood College Johns Hopkins University Loyola College Maryland institute, College of Art Morgan State University Mount St. Mary's University St. John's College, Annapolis St. Mary's College of Maryland Soujourner-Douglass College The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences United States Naval Academy

University System of Maryland Bowie State University Coppin State College Frostburg State University Salisbury University Towson University University of Baltimore University of Maryland, Baltimore University of Maryland, Baltimore County University of Maryland, College Park University of Maryland Eastern Shore University of Maryland University College University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute USM Shady Grove Education Center Washington Bible College Washington College Western Maryland College Villa Julie College

12 Professional sports teams

National Football League Baltimore Ravens Washington Redskins, Baltimore Bayhawks, Major League Lacrosse Baltimore Orioles, Major League Baseball

Minor League baseball teams Hagerstown Suns Bowie Baysox Frederick Keys Aberdeen IronBirds Delmarva Shorebirds

13 Miscellaneous information

State bird: Baltimore Oriole State flower: black-eyed susan State sport: jousting State dog: Chesapeake Bay Retriever State fish: rockfish ( striped bass) State crustacean: blue crab

State cat: calico cat State tree: Wye Oak (a very old White oak, destroyed by thunderstorm on June 6, 2002) State song: "Maryland, My Maryland." Nicknames: "The Old Line State" and "The Free State." Maryland is about a mile wide around the town of Hancock, making it the narrowest state. Little-known fact: Maryland is larger than the entire African country of Lesotho.

14 External links

• State of Maryland
• http://www.maryland.com/
• Maryland travel guide

Regions of Maryland
Western | Southern | Eastern Shore | Baltimore-Washington Metro Area | Chesapeake | Delaware Valley
Largest Cities
Annapolis | Baltimore | Bowie | College Park | Columbia | Cumberland | Frederick | Gaithersburg | Greenbelt | Hagerstown | Rockville | Salisbury | Suitland | Takoma Park | Towson | Waldorf | Westminster | Wheaton | White Oak | Woodlawn
Counties
Allegany | Anne Arundel | Baltimore City | Baltimore County | Calvert | Caroline | Carroll | Cecil | Charles | Dorchester | Frederick | Garrett | Harford | Howard | Kent | Montgomery | Prince George's | Queen Anne's | St. Mary's | Somerset | Talbot | Washington | Wicomico | Worcester

Political divisions of the United States

States Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming Federal district District of Columbia Insular areas American Samoa | Baker Island | Guam | Howland Island | Jarvis Island | Johnston Atoll | Kingman Reef | Midway Atoll | Navassa Island | Northern Mariana Islands | Palmyra Atoll | Puerto Rico | Virgin Islands | Wake Island

U.S. states Maryland

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