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Map of Maryland

Maryland is a first-level division of United States. Its largest mapped city is Baltimore, with about 2.25 million people in the metropolitan area. The interactive map below is centred on Maryland, and the tables list its 5 mapped cities along with the ports nearest to them.

Cities Mapped
5
Largest City
Baltimore
2.25 million
Country
United States
North America

Interactive Map of Maryland

6.4

About Maryland

Maryland (US: ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States. It borders Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east, as well as with the Atlantic Ocean to its east, and the national capital and federal district of Washington, D.C. to the southwest. With a total area of 12,407 square miles (32,130 km2), Maryland is the ninth-smallest state by land area, and its population of 6.1 million ranks it the 19th-most populous state and the fifth-most densely populated. Maryland's capital city is Annapolis, and the state's most populous city is Baltimore.

Maryland's coastline was first explored by Europeans in the 16th century. Prior to that, it was inhabited by several Native American tribes, mostly the Algonquian peoples. One of the original Thirteen Colonies, the charter for the Province of Maryland was petitioned and secured in 1632 by George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore and Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, and the land first settled in 1634, primarily to provide a religious haven for Catholics persecuted in England. Religious strife was common in Maryland's early years, and Catholics remained a minority, albeit in greater numbers than in any other English colony. Its economy was heavily plantation-based and centered mostly on the cultivation of tobacco. Demand for cheap labor from Maryland colonists led to the importation of numerous indentured servants and enslaved Africans. In 1760, Maryland's current boundaries took form following the settlement of a long-running border dispute with Pennsylvania. Although it was a slave state, Maryland remained in the Union during the American Civil War due to Abraham Lincoln leaving the National Guard there. Its proximity to Washington D.C. and Virginia made it a significant strategic location.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Maryland (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Maryland, United States
Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Maryland in Depth

History

Present-day Maryland was originally inhabited by native tribes such as the Piscataway (including the Patuxent), the Nanticoke (including the Tocwogh, the Ozinie and other subdivisions), the Powhatan, the Lenape, the Susquehannock, the Shawnee, the Tutelo, the Saponi, the Pocomoke and the Massawomeck. George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (1579–1632), sought a charter from King Charles I for the territory between Massachusetts to the north and Virginia to the immediate south.

After Baltimore died in April 1632, the charter was granted to his son, Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (1605–1675), on June 20, 1632.

Geography

Maryland has an area of 12,406.68 square miles (32,133.2 km2) and is comparable in overall area with Belgium. It is the 42nd-largest and 9th-smallest state and is closest in size to the state of Hawaii that, with its 10,930.98 square miles (28,311.1 km2), is the next smallest state. The next largest state is Maryland's neighbor, West Virginia, which is nearly twice the size of Maryland with its area of 24,229.76 square miles (62,754.8 km2).

Maryland possesses a variety of topography within its borders, contributing to its nickname America in Miniature.

Economy

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Maryland's Gross State Product in 2025 was $568.1 billion. Maryland's per capita personal income in 2025 was $81,834. However, Maryland has been using Genuine Progress Indicator, an indicator of well-being, to guide the state's development, rather than relying only on growth indicators like GDP. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Maryland households are currently the wealthiest in the country, with a 2013 median household income of $72,483, which puts it ahead of New Jersey and Connecticut, which are second and third respectively. Two of Maryland's counties, Howard and Montgomery, are the second and eleventh wealthiest counties in the nation respectively.

Demographics

In the 2020 United States census, the United States Census Bureau found that population of Maryland was 6,185,278 people, a 7.1% increase from the 2010 United States census. 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.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Maryland (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Maryland: Key Facts

Key facts about Maryland
Population6,177,224 (2020)
Area32,131 km²
CapitalAnnapolis
Head of governmentWes Moore
Highest pointHoye-Crest
Established28 April 1788

Facts from Wikidata Q1391 (CC0).

History of Maryland: Empires and States

The atlas records 6 polities whose mapped territory included part of Maryland, from Haudenosaunee in 1659 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.

Polities that held Maryland, in chronological order
PolityPeriod here
Haudenosaunee1659–1701 CE
Kingdom of England1687–1708 CE
English Colonial Empire1687–1712 CE
British Colonial Empire1709–1774 CE
The British Empire1709–1774 CE
United States of America1776–2024 CE

Historical Maps of Maryland

Maryland on the world map in each year one of these states held it:

Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.

Visiting Maryland

Maryland is a Mid-Atlantic state in the USA. Nicknamed America in Miniature, Maryland has sea and mountain, urban and rural, historic and modern. It ranges from some of the nation's most densely populated areas around Washington, D.C., to bucolic rural areas in the east around the Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore, and in the Appalachian Mountains in the west. Baltimore is the state's biggest city, with literal boatloads of tourist attractions around its Inner Harbor; Annapolis, with its historical maritime charm, is its capital.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Maryland (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Largest Cities in Maryland

5 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.

Largest Cities in Maryland
#NamePopulation
1Baltimore2.25 million
2Annapolis81,300
3Hagerstown79,662
4St. Charles69,208
5Cumberland21,316

Ports in Maryland

3 ports mapped. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

Ports in Maryland
#NameChannel Depth
1Piney Point49.4 m
2Annapolis49.4 m
3Solomons Island42.1 m

Maryland: Quick Answers

Where is Maryland?
Maryland is a first-level division of United States, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 39.2356° N, 77.3073° W.
What is the largest city in Maryland?
Baltimore is the largest city mapped in Maryland, with a metropolitan population of about 2.25 million.
How many cities are in Maryland?
YearMaps maps 5 cities and towns in Maryland, with a combined metropolitan population of about 2.51 million. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.

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