MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

State Capital. Annapolis: The original capital was
St. Mary's City. In 1694, the General Assembly
designated Anne Arundel Town the capital. After
Queen Mary's death in December 1694, Anne
Arundel Town was renamed Annapolis for Queen
Mary's sister and heiress apparent, Princess
Anne. The government moved to Annapolis in
February 1694/5, when the site was still known
as Anne Arundel Town.

Population. 4,216,446 in 1980 census; ranked
18th among the states.

Government. The governor, elected by popular
vote for a four-year term, is the chief executive of
the State. Most State agencies are encompassed
within one of the twelve cabinet-level executive
departments. Maryland's bicameral Legislature
consists of a 47-member Senate and a 141-mem-
ber House of Delegates. By the election of No-
vember 3, 1982, the Senate has 41 Democrats and
6 Republicans and the House of Delegates in-
cludes 124 Democrats and 17 Republicans. The
Legislature meets each year on the second
Wednesday in January for 90 days to enact laws.
The Maryland Judiciary consists of four courts:
the Court of Appeals, the Court of Special Ap-
peals, the Circuit Court, and the District Court.
Local government is provided by Maryland's 23
counties and Baltimore City, 154 municipal cor-
porations, and also by special taxing districts. Of
the 50 states, Maryland is among those with the
fewest number of local governments.

Area. In square miles: land, 9,874; inland water,
703; Chesapeake Bay, 1,726; total, 12,303. Ranks
42nd among the states.

Statehood. April 28, 1788, the seventh state.

Physiography. Divided into three provinces with
progressively higher altitudes from east to west;
Coastal Plain province extends from Atlantic
Ocean to Fall Line; Piedmont or "Foothill" prov-
ince from Fall Line to base of the Catoctin
Mountains; Appalachian province from base of
Catoctin Mountains to western boundary of
State. Mean elevation, 350 feet; maximum eleva-
tion, 3,360 feet on Backbone Mountain.

Distances. Longest east-west, 198.6 miles—Fair-
fax Stone to Delaware Line; north-south, 125.5
miles—Pennsylvania line to Virginia line at
Smith Point on south-shore mouth of the Poto-
mac River; shortest north-south, 1.9 miles—
Pennsylvania line to south bank of Potomac Riv-

Maryland at a Glance/3

er near Hancock; farthest points northwest comer
to southeast comer at Atlantic Ocean, 254.7
miles.

Location. Highway distance from Central Mary-
land (in miles): Boston, 392; Chicago, 668; New
York, 196; Philadelphia, 96; Pittsburgh, 218;
Richmond, 143; Washington, D.C., 37.

Climate. Generally moderate, varies from mild to
hot in summer and in winter from moderate in
the east and south to very cold in the western
mountains. Average annual rainfall, 42.90 inches;
average seasonal snowfall, 25 inches ranging from
10 inches on the southern Eastern Shore to 110
inches in Garrett County. Average annual tem-
perature 54.6 degrees Fahrenheit, with high tem-
peratures in July, the warmest month, averaging
in the low 80s and the low temperatures in Janu-
ary, the coldest month, averaging in the low 30s.
Duration of the freeze-free period averages 185
days, ranging from 130 days in Garrett County
to 230 days in the southern Chesapeake Bay area.

Chesapeake Bay. 195 miles long with 1,726
square miles in Maryland and 1,511 square miles
in Virginia. Varies in width from 3 to 20 miles.
Navigable for ocean-going ships and has two out-
lets to the Atlantic Ocean, one through the Ches-
apeake and Delaware Canal, one through the
mouth of the Bay between the Virginia capes.
The William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge
(Chesapeake Bay Bridge) spans 4.2 miles between
Sandy Point, Anne Arundel County, and Kent
Island, Queen Anne's County.

Chief Rivers. Potomac, Wye, Patuxent, Susque-
hanna, Choptank, Nanticoke, Elk, Magothy, Pa-
tapsco. Sassafras, South, Severn, Gunpowder,
Tred Avon, Bush, Miles, Chester, Northeast,
Wicomieoi Pocomoke, and Great Bohemia.

Boating Waters. Twenty-three rivers and bays
with more than 400 miles of water tributary to
the Chesapeake Bay; Chincoteague Bay with 35
miles of water accessible to and from the Atlantic
Ocean; an estimated (1977) 607 boat ramps and
37,115 boat slips.

Water Frontage. Sixteen of the 23 counties and
Baltimore City border on tidal water. Length of
tidal shoreline, including islands, 4,100 miles.

Forest Area. More than 2,653,000 acres, or ap-
proximately 42 per cent of the land surface. Chief
forest products are lumber, pulpwood, and piling.
Nine State forests and one State forest nursery
cover 123,843 acres.