Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

located in the Southern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. According to the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, Maryland is the 18th most populous state with inhabitants and the 9th smallest by land area spanning of land. The state is divided into 23

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and contains 157

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

consisting of

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

s, or

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

s. Its

cover only of the state's land mass but are home to of its population. As Maryland does not have

minor civil divisions A minor civil division (MCD) is a term used by the United States Census Bureau for primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county or county-equivalent, typically a municipal government such as a city, town, or civil township. MCD ...

such as

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

, areas outside of municipalities have no government below the county level. Municipalities in Maryland—except

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, which was chartered by the state Constitution—are self-governing municipalities chartered as cities, towns, or villages by an Act of the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber ...

or, in some cases, by a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

. Municipalities are the lowest tier administrative units in the state, and all except Baltimore are also subject to county administration. Despite the designations of city, town, or village, there are no differences in municipal power and authority. There is no official classification of municipal governments and the municipalities are equal under state law. The municipalities themselves decide whether to avail themselves of the specific powers conferred on them by the

Maryland Constitution The current Constitution of the State of Maryland, which was ratified by the people of the state on September 18, 1867, forms the basic law for the U.S. state of Maryland. It replaced the short-lived Maryland Constitution of 1864 and is the fourt ...

and state code. Since its separation from Baltimore County in 1851, the City of Baltimore functions more as a county than a city under state law since it exercises charter home rule, which empowers the city with broad legislative authority similar to Maryland's six home rule counties. The largest municipality by population in Maryland is

, an

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

, with 585,708 residents, and the smallest municipality by population is Port Tobacco Village with 18 residents. The largest municipality by land area is also Baltimore, which spans , while Brookview is the smallest at . Many of Maryland's largest population centers (usually suburbs, such as Columbia,

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ge ...

, Silver Spring, Waldorf, Glen Burnie,

Ellicott City Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, making it the mo ...

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

and Bethesda) are unincorporated census designated places.

List of municipalities

Bmore skyline inner harbor.jpg, alt=Skyline of Baltimore, Skyline of

, the largest municipality in Maryland by population Frederick City Skyline.JPG, alt=Skyline of Frederick,

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

, the second largest municipality in Maryland by population Gaithersburg, Maryland.jpg, alt=Skyline of Gaithersburg,

Gaithersburg Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Ga ...

, a suburb of Washington D.C. and third largest municipality by population Rockvillemd.jpg, alt=Downtown Rockville, Skyline of Rockville, a suburb of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and fourth largest municpiality by population 2008 01 02 - MD564 @ Chapel Ave 03.JPG, alt=Downtown Bowie, Downtown Bowie, the fifth largest municipality in Maryland by population Hagerstown Downtown Potomac St.JPG, alt=Downtown Hagerstown, Downtown Hagerstown, Maryland's sixth largest municipality by population Some Annapolis commercial strip.jpg, alt=Downtown Annapolis, Downtown Annapolis, capital and seventh largest city of Maryland by population

Notes

References

External links

Local government: Municipalities.
(2007). ''Maryland Manual On-Line''. State of Maryland Archives. Retrieved on August 7, 2016.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Incorporated Places In Maryland

Maryland geography-related lists *

List of municipalities

See also

Notes

References

External links