State bird
Baltimore oriole
Sources: Designation & background
Local timeAnnapolis ·
U.S. States / South · Card 020
Maryland
The Old Line State
Assateague is a barrier island shared by Maryland and Virginia.
Maryland and its surroundings
● State capital · Gold highlights Maryland.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
At a glance
- Capital
- Annapolis
- Postal abbreviation
- MD
- Population
- 6,265,347July 1, 2025 · Census estimate
- Total area
- 32,131 km²12,406 square miles · land and water
- Constitution ratified
- April 28, 1788One of the original thirteen states
- Region
- South
Sources: Census · population · Census · area
State symbols & traditions
State song
No current official state song; the previous designation was repealed in 2021.
Sources: Designation & background
State dessert
Smith Island cake
Sources: Designation & background
Geography & flag
01
Location
Neighboring states: Delaware, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia.
02
Landscape & places
Assateague is a barrier island shared by Maryland and Virginia. Ocean-facing beaches, dunes, salt marshes and coastal bays form connected habitats that shift as wind, waves and storms move sand.
03
Land and water
The total area includes 25,142 km² of land and 6,990 km² of water, according to Census area measurements.
State flag
Four quarters alternating black-and-gold and red-and-white heraldic designs.
Sources: Census · geographic reference · Census · area measurements · National Park Service · Assateague Island
How the landscape works
Assateague’s beaches, dunes, salt marshes, and bays form a connected barrier-island landscape. Wind and waves transport sand, so the island is not fixed in place in the way a line on a map might suggest. Maryland and Virginia share the island. That political division does not divide the natural processes acting along its shoreline.
History
Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation
In September 1862, Confederate forces crossed into Maryland, a slaveholding state that remained in the Union. The Battle of Antietam stopped that invasion. Although the fighting was enormously costly and did not destroy the Confederate army, it gave President Abraham Lincoln the military opportunity he had been waiting for to announce a new policy.
Five days after the battle, Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It warned that enslaved people in areas still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, would be declared free. The policy made emancipation an explicit Union war aim. It did not abolish slavery everywhere, and Maryland, which had not seceded, was outside its scope.
Read more: Historical source ↗
Why this mattered
The Emancipation Proclamation followed the Union’s strategic success at Antietam, but its reach was limited to designated areas in rebellion. It did not immediately abolish slavery everywhere in the United States. Maryland was a slaveholding border state that remained in the Union. Understanding whom a policy covered is as important as remembering its name.
Key dates
-
Maryland colonial charter granted
-
U.S. Constitution ratified
-
Constitution ratified · One of the original thirteen states
Sources: Congressional Research Service · statehood · U.S. Census Bureau · historical geography · National Park Service
People and place
Indigenous history and communities today
The Piscataway Conoy Tribe offers a community perspective on Maryland’s Indigenous history and continuing cultural life. That perspective broadens a page otherwise focused on a Civil War event and an Atlantic barrier island.
Continue with Piscataway Conoy Tribe. This is one starting point, not a complete account of the peoples connected to this land.
Compare
Maryland and Delaware
| Measure | Maryland | Delaware |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2025) | 6,265,347 | 1,059,952 |
| Land area (km²) | 25,142 | 5,047 |
| People per km² of land | 249.2 | 210.0 |
Maryland has more people per square kilometer of land. Population density divides population by land area. It is an average across the whole jurisdiction, not a claim that residents are evenly spread out.
Calculated from the Census population series and land-area measurements used on these pages. Rounded figures; water area is excluded. Explore Delaware.
Economy
Main activities
In 2025, government and government enterprises was the largest of the broad industry groups compared here by current-dollar output. Other major groups included real estate and rental and leasing, professional and business services, and educational services, health care, and social assistance.
Total economic output was $568.1 billion in current dollars in 2025.
Largest industry groups · 2025
- Government and government enterprises: 20.4%
- Real estate and rental and leasing: 15.1%
- Professional and business services: 14.6%
- Educational services, health care, and social assistance: 9.4%
Share of total current-dollar GDP. These figures measure output, not employment.
Sources: BEA · annual GDP by state, SAGDP2
Production, jobs and wages answer different questions
The industry chart measures the value of production. It does not count workers. An industry with a large share of GDP need not employ the most people or pay the highest wages. Employment and wage data would be needed to answer those questions.
Population & economic trends
Population, 2020–2025
Millions of people6.272025 · millions of people
July 1 resident population estimates, using the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 series.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau
View data table
| Year | People |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 6,178,387 |
| 2021 | 6,176,035 |
| 2022 | 6,183,257 |
| 2023 | 6,204,927 |
| 2024 | 6,245,314 |
| 2025 | 6,265,347 |
Real GDP, 2010–2025
Billions of chained 2017 dollars436.172025 · billions of chained 2017 dollars
Real GDP measures economic output adjusted for inflation. The chart uses BEA’s chained 2017 dollars.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
View data table
| Year | Millions of chained 2017 dollars |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 352,622.9 |
| 2011 | 360,155.9 |
| 2012 | 361,561.8 |
| 2013 | 364,633.2 |
| 2014 | 370,343.9 |
| 2015 | 378,745.9 |
| 2016 | 391,950.9 |
| 2017 | 399,714.5 |
| 2018 | 402,480.9 |
| 2019 | 402,506.2 |
| 2020 | 389,178.6 |
| 2021 | 407,160.1 |
| 2022 | 412,670.7 |
| 2023 | 420,558.0 |
| 2024 | 433,105.9 |
| 2025 | 436,172.0 |
Read the trend, then ask what explains it
Maryland’s population increased by about 1.4% between 2020 and 2025 in this series. That shows the size of the change. The chart alone cannot tell us how much came from births, deaths or migration.
Real GDP adjusts for changes in prices, so it helps compare production over time. Current-dollar GDP includes price changes. Neither measure tells us how income is distributed among residents.
Representation
- Electoral votes
- 102024 & 2028 elections
- Voting U.S. House seats
- 82020 Census allocation
- U.S. Senate seats
- 2
Electoral votes equal the state’s U.S. House seats plus its two U.S. Senate seats. These allocations apply to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.
Practice
Test your knowledge
Use the explanations and data on this page to answer ten questions. Hints and links to the relevant sections are available throughout.
10 questions about Maryland
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Sources & notes
Narrative and quiz updated 5 October 2026. Statistical data prepared 27 September 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025, July 1 estimates for 2020–2025. Real GDP: BEA annual state accounts, SAGDP9, millions of chained 2017 dollars; industry shares: SAGDP2, current dollars. Data downloaded 27 September 2026. Area measurements include land and water.
Sources: Census · population estimates · BEA · state GDP · Census · area measurements · Natural Earth · map data
The capital clock shows current local time. Statistical figures are dated estimates and may be revised.
Updated 29 October 2026. Statistics retain the dated series shown in the charts; these are not live figures. Sources are linked beside each topic.