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Maryland

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State Focus

Over 5.6 million people reside in Maryland’s major cities and suburbs around Washington, DC and the state’s biggest city, Baltimore. As one of the wealthier states in the U.S., Maryland is also the narrowest geographically. As a border state, it has characteristics of both the Northern and Southern regions.

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 West Virginia and Virginia. The mid-portion of this border is interrupted on the Maryland side by Washington, DC, which sits on land that was originally part of Maryland.

The Chesapeake Bay almost runs throughout the entire state, and the counties east of the bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore. The highest point in Maryland, with an elevation of 3,360 feet (1,020 m), is Hoye Crest on Backbone Mountain, in the southwest corner of Garrett County, near the border with West Virginia and near the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac River. One of Maryland’s ski areas, Wisp, is located close to Backbone Mountain.

Maryland was given its name after Lord Baltimore received the charter from King Charles I of England who wished to have his new colony named after his wife Queen Henrietta Maria (Queen Mary). Since then, Marylanders have generated plenty of nicknames for their beloved homeland that is rich in history, from the Old Line State, as it is known after the historic Revolutionary War troops marched “of the line” and were the most disciplined, to the Oyster State (for its large oyster fisheries).

Aside from fisheries, the state’s key sectors are government, defence and aerospace industry near Washington, DC, as well as academia at Johns Hopkins University and its medical research in Baltimore. But Maryland is also heavily influenced by its location. Because it is centered around the Port of Baltimore, one of its major service industries is transportation and its related rail and trucking access. The manufacturing sector in Maryland is pretty well limited to coal and brownstown quarries. There was somewhat of a gold-mining rush with operations near Washington, DC in the mid-1800s.

Maryland also has large areas of fertile agricultural land in its coastal and Piedmont zones, although this land use is being further developed and urbanized. Agriculture in the area is particularly oriented to dairying (especially in foothill and piedmont areas) for nearby large city milks heads, as well as specialty perishable horticulture crops, such as cucumbers, watermelons, sweet corn, tomatoes and muskmelons.

With such monuments as the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian in Washington, tourists flock to the city to pay tribute or learn more about American history. Maryland also attracts water lovers because of its close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. While jousting is officially the state sport, Maryland is a great place for outdoorsy types who enjoy everything from camping, hiking to skiing and snowshoeing. AB

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