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 located in the

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

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 territorie ...

. 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 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,

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 to ...

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, 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 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 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, 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 * Ger ...

, Silver Spring, Waldorf,

Glen Burnie Glen Burnie is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. The population of Glen Burnie was 67,639 at ...

, Ellicott City,

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 A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

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, 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 Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, 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