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MARYLAND - USA
Maryland is a state in the east of the United
States. Its U.S. postal abbreviation is MD. Its Associated Press
abbreviation is Md.
USS Maryland was named in honor of this state.
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, Cćcilius 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.
Maryland remained largely neutral in the United States Civil War. As it did
not secede (in part due to precautions taken by the government in
Washington, D.C.), it was not included under the Emancipation Proclamation
and retained legal slavery until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in
1865.
Law & Government
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.
Geography
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
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)
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
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.
Demographics
As of 2000, the state's population was 5,296,486.
Important cities and towns
Annapolis – state capital
Baltimore – commercial and cultural hub
For a more exhaustive list, see List of cities in Maryland
Education
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
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
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)
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.
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