Facts about Maryland
Lacking a National Basketball Association franchise, many Maryland residents are fans of the Washington Wizards.
An anomaly of Maryland's geography is that there are no natural lakes, chiefly because the region was not glaciated; nor does it have any significant vulcanism or subsurface faulting.
Altogether, white collar technical and administrative workers comprise 25 percent of Maryland's labor force, one of the highest state percentages in the country.
Maryland's Interstate highways include I-95, which enters the northeast portion of the state, goes through Baltimore, and becomes part of the eastern section of the Capital Beltway to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
Maryland is home to several large military bases, including Andrews Air Force Base, and Camp David, the presidential retreat, and thousands of high level government jobs.
Portions of Maryland are included in a number of official and unofficial geographic regions.
The Maryland Transportation Authority's light rail and short subway system serve Baltimore City and adjacent suburbs.
Some parts of extreme western Maryland are in the cool summer humid continental climate (Kцppen Dfb) zone, with summer average temperatures below 71°F.
Maryland's capital, Annapolis, is one exception to this rule, lying along the Severn River close to where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay.
The Government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by the Constitution of the United States.
Europeans did not encounter Maryland's indigenous people until the early 1600s, at which time, the main tribes included the Nanticoke on the Eastern Shore, and the Powhatan and the Susquehanna on the Western shore.
The majority of Maryland's population is concentrated in the cities and suburbs surrounding Washington, DC and Maryland's most populous city, Baltimore.
Despite the founding intent of the colony, Catholics have never been in a majority in Maryland since early Colonial times.
So prominent is the Chesapeake Bay 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 name currently used by Massachusetts.
Significant autonomy is granted to many of Maryland's counties, who impose local income tax rates on their residents as high as the state's rate.
The Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 was one of the first laws that explicitly dictated religious tolerance, although toleration was limited to Trinitarian Christians.
The most widely spoken language is a dialect called "Darja" (Algerian Arabic), which is spoken by some 80 percent of the population.
George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore of the Irish House of Lords applied to Charles I in 1629 for a new royal charter for what was to become the Province of Maryland.
Annapolis is the capital city of Maryland, and the county seat of Anne Arundel County.
Maryland is known for its outstanding higher education system, which includes 61 accredited two and four-year colleges and universities.
Historically, these cities and many others in Maryland 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.
Maryland was founded by First Lord Calvert's family for the purpose of providing religious toleration of England's Catholic minority.
The oldest college in Maryland, and the third oldest college in the United States, is St. John's College, founded in 1696 as King William's School.
Maryland also possesses an abundance of pines and maples among its native trees.
Each county and county-equivalent in Maryland has a local Board of Education charged with running the public schools in that particular jurisdiction.
The majority of public universities in the state are affiliated with the University System of Maryland.
The Government of Maryland is conducted according to the state constitution.
The mid-portion of this border is interrupted on the Maryland side by Washington, D.C., which sits on land originally part of Maryland.
The public primary and secondary education is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education.
Maryland has large areas of fertile agricultural land in its coastal and Piedmont zones, although this land use is being encroached on by urbanization.
Maryland's largest airport is Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI).
The Eastern Shore is less populous and more rural, as are the counties of western and southern Maryland.
The Maryland General Assembly is composed of the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated that Maryland's gross state product in 2004 was US$228 billion.
Maryland is a state located on the East Coast of the United States, in the Mid-Atlantic region, amid the great commercial and population complex that stretches from Maine to Virginia.
Maryland's economic activity is strongly concentrated in the tertiary service sector, and this sector, in turn, is strongly influenced by location.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Maryland was the wealthiest state in the country in 2007, with the highest median family income of any state.
The Shawnee were the last major tribe in the state, remaining in Western Maryland until the 1740s.
Nevertheless, the British Parliament later reversed that policy and discouraged the practice of Catholicism in Maryland.
Maryland also has a portion of I-81 that runs through the state near Hagerstown.
In 2000, Maryland ranked 4th for Gore and in 2004, John Kerry had his 5th highest percentage in Maryland.
Maryland has one of the largest proportions of racial minorities in the country.
The two counties of Western Maryland (Allegany, Garrett), are mountainous and sparsely populated, resembling West Virginia more than the rest of Maryland.
The following year, in December of 1790, Maryland ceded land selected by President George Washington to the federal government for the creation of Washington, D.C..
During the persecution of Maryland Catholics by the Puritan revolutionary government, all of the original Catholic churches of southern Maryland were burned down.
The Maryland General Assembly has given the Superintendent and State Board autonomy in educationally-related decisions, limiting its own influence on the day to day functions of public education.
After Virginia made the practice of Anglicanism mandatory, a large number of Puritans migrated from that state to Maryland, and were given land for a settlement called Providence (now Annapolis).
The Chesapeake Bay provides the state with a huge cash crop of blue crabs, and the southern and eastern portion of Maryland is warm enough to support a tobacco cash crop.
Maryland has 18 other private colleges and universities, the most prominent of which is Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876 with a grant from Baltimore entrepreneur Johns Hopkins.
Saint Mary's City was the largest settlement of the original Maryland colony, and was the seat of the colonial government until 1708.
Despite widespread support for the Confederate States of America among many wealthy landowners, who had a vested interest in slavery, Maryland did not secede from the Union during the American Civil War.
The city of Baltimore and Maryland's 23 counties levy local "piggyback" income taxes at rates between 1.25 percent and 3.2 percent of Maryland taxable income.
Due to the presence of two major metropolitan areas in the state, those surrounding Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland has a number of major and minor professional sports franchises.
The National Hockey League's Washington Capitals used to play in Maryland until the construction of a new Washington-based arena in 1997.
Blue-collar "Reagan Democrats" frequently vote Republican, but Maryland is nonetheless well-known for its loyalty to the Democratic Party, especially the metropolitan areas.
In 1992, Bill Clinton fared better in Maryland than any other state except his home state of Arkansas.
The lack of hair anywhere else on the body would not necessarily be considered abnormal and therefore is not usually categorized as baldness.
Maryland's Kindergarten through Grade 12 school system offers quality primary and secondary education.
George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland Colony" (in Latin, "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, on June 20, 1632.
Maryland has a large food-production sector, including a significant commercial fishing industry, based in Chesapeake Bay, with a smaller fishery off the Atlantic seacoast.
Historically, there were once small gold-mining operations in Maryland, some surprisingly near Washington, but these no longer exist.
Maryland has highly variable regional climates for a state of its size, dependent on many variables, such as proximity to water, elevation, and protection from northern weather due to downslope winds.
The eastern half of Maryland lies on the Atlantic Coastal Plain, with very flat topography and very sandy or muddy soil.
Maryland was also one of the key destinations of tens of thousands of British convicts.
Power in Maryland is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
Both Maryland Senators and six of its eight Representatives in Congress are Democrats, and Democrats hold super-majorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates.
Maryland was one of the original thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution.
Maryland also became the seventh state admitted to the U.S. after ratifying the new Constitution.
Maryland also has the second largest Korean American population, trailing only Texas.
So prominent is the Chesapeake Bay 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 name currently used by Massachusetts.
Maryland's annual rainfall ranges from 40-45 inches (1000-1150 mm) in virtually every part of the state, meaning nearly every part of Maryland receives about 3.5-4.5 inches (95-110 mm) per month of precipitation.
Despite the Protestant majority, Maryland has been prominent in US Catholic tradition, partially because it was intended by George Calvert as a haven for English Catholics.
Maryland imposes four income tax brackets, ranging from 2 percent to 4.75 percent of personal income.
Two teams of the National Football League play in Maryland, the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore and the Washington Redskins in Prince George's County.
Two of Maryland's counties, Howard and Montgomery, are the third and seventh wealthiest counties in the nation, respectively.
To help ensure Maryland's inclusion in the Union, President Lincoln suspended several civil liberties, including the writ of habeas corpus, an act deemed illegal by Maryland native Chief Justice Roger Taney.
Maryland has supported the Democratic nominee in the last four presidential elections, and by an average of 15.4 percent.
The royal charter granted Maryland the Potomac River and territory northward to the fortieth parallel.
The Maryland flag contains the family crest of the Calvert and Crossland families. Maryland was founded as an English colony in 1634 by Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore. The black and Gold designs belong to the Calvert family. The red and white design belongs to the Crossland family.
Maryland is famous for great seafood, especially crabs. During lunch hour on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, vendors sell almost as many crabcakes as hot dogs and hambugers combined. Maryland's Mount Clare Station, built in Baltimore in 1830, was the first railroad station in the United States.
Maryland was the 7th state in the USA; it became a state on April 28,1788. The state flag of Maryland was officially adopted in 1904.
Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord of Baltimore, founded Maryland in 1632. Cecil's father, George Calvert, had received a royal charter for the land from King Charles I. The new colony was named after Henrietta Maria, the wife of the king.
To avoid conflict between majority Protestants and minority Catholics in the colony, Calvert instituted a progressive religious policy called The Maryland Toleration Act that allowed all Christians, regardless of sect, to freely worship in Maryland.May 9, 2013
The territory was named Maryland in honor of Henrietta Maria, the queen consort of Charles I. Before settlement began, George Calvert died and was succeeded by his son Cecilius, who sought to establish Maryland as a haven for Roman Catholics persecuted in England.