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. 4,216,975 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 fourteen cabinet-level executive
departments. Maryland's bicameral Legislature
consists of a 47-member Senate and a 141-member
House of Delegates. As of July 1984, the Senate
has 41 Democrats and 6 Republicans and the
House of Delegates includes 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 court divisions: the Court of Appeals, the
Court of Special Appeals, the Circuit Courts, and
the District Courts. Local government exists in
Maryland's 23 counties, 154 municipal cor-
porations (including Baltimore City), and special
taxing districts. Of the 50 states, Maryland is
among those with the fewest number of local
governments.

Area. In square miles: land, 9,837; inland water,
623; Chesapeake Bay, 1,726; total, 12,186. 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"
province 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 elevation,
3,360 feet on Backbone Mountain.

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

Maryland at a Glance/3

to south bank of Potomac River near Hancoek;
farthest points northwest corner to southeast
comer at Atlantic Ocean, 254.7 miles.

Location. Highway distance from Central
Maryland (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
temperature 54.6 degrees Fahrenheit, with high
temperatures in July, the warmest month,
averaging in the low 80s and the low temperatures
in January, 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
outlets to the Atlantic Ocean, one through the
Chesapeake 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,
Susquehanna, Choptank, Nanticoke, Elk,
Magothy, Patapsco, Sassafras, South, Severn,
Gunpowder, Tred Avon, Bush, Miles, Chester,
Northeast, Wicomico, 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 (1984) 215 boat ramps and 31,000
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.