With a total area of 12, square miles 32, km 2 , Maryland is the ninth-smallest state by land area , [ 11 ] and its population of 6,, ranks it the 18th-most populous state and the fifth-most densely populated.
Maryland's capital city is Annapolis , and the 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. Maryland's early settlements and population centers clustered around waterways that empty into the Chesapeake Bay.
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 , Maryland's current boundaries took form following the settlement of a long-running border dispute with Pennsylvania.
Many of its citizens played key political and military roles in the American Revolutionary War. After the Civil War ended, Maryland took part in the Industrial Revolution , driven by its seaports, railroad networks, and mass immigration from Europe. Since the s, the state's population has grown rapidly, to approximately six million residents, and it is among the most densely populated U.
As of [update] , Maryland had the highest median household income of any state, owing in large part to its proximity to Washington, D. The state's central role in U. The western portion of the state contains stretches of the Appalachian Mountains , the central portion is primarily composed of the Piedmont , and the eastern side of the state makes up a significant portion of Chesapeake Bay.
