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Maryland
The Old Line State, wrapped around Chesapeake Bay
Maryland is sometimes called "America in Miniature," and the nickname fits — few states pack so many landscapes into so little room. Within 12,406 square miles (32,131 km²) it runs from Atlantic barrier beaches and the marshes of the Eastern Shore, across the great estuary of Chesapeake Bay, through the rolling Piedmont around Baltimore, and up into the Appalachian ridges of its narrow western panhandle, where the state pinches to barely a mile wide near Hancock.
Chesapeake Bay is the heart of it all — the largest estuary in the United States, splitting the state nearly in two and shaping its economy, cuisine, and history around crabs, oysters, and shipping. The bay's drowned river valleys give Maryland an enormously long, convoluted shoreline for its size. Hoye-Crest on Backbone Mountain, the high point at 3,360 feet (1,024 m), sits in the cool Appalachian west. Baltimore and the Washington suburbs hold most of the population along the bustling Northeast Corridor.
Economy
Maryland has one of the highest median household incomes in the country, its economy tied closely to the federal government just across the line in Washington, D.C. It is a national center of biomedical research (the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins) and cybersecurity (the National Security Agency at Fort Meade), and it depends on the Port of Baltimore and Chesapeake Bay fisheries.
Politics
Maryland carries 10 electoral votes and votes reliably Democratic in presidential elections, anchored by the populous, diverse, and affluent suburbs around Washington and Baltimore. As in several other Democratic states, voters have at times elected moderate Republican governors.