K5Print Free printable worksheets for K–5

Maryland

  • Places
  • Grades 3-4
  • 343 words
  • Also written for younger readers

Quick facts

Capital
Annapolis
Largest city
Baltimore
Abbreviation
MD
Became a state
April 28, 1788 (the 7th state)
Area
12,407 sq mi (32,134 km²)
Population (2020)
6,265,347

Facts from Wikipedia’s “Maryland” page (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Maryland is a state in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States of America. Its capital is Annapolis, and its most populous city is Baltimore.

The governor of Maryland is Wes Moore. He was elected in the 2022 election. Moore is the first Black governor of Maryland and the third Black governor in United States history.

The state bird is the Baltimore Oriole. The state flower is the Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). The state reptile is the diamondback terrapin. The state crustacean is the blue crab. The state motto is Fatti maschii, parole femine, which is Italian for “Manly deeds, womanly words”. Maryland is the only state with a motto in Italian.

Maryland has many places important to the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the American Civil War. One of these places is Fort McHenry, which defended against the British Empire during the War of 1812. Another place is the Antietam National Battlefield, where the Battle of Antietam took place in 1862 during the American Civil War.

Silver Spring, Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Frederick, Hagerstown, Cumberland, Salisbury, Greenbelt are other cities.

Maryland was founded by English Catholic settlers who wanted a place where they could freely practice Catholicism. It was the seventh state to join the US. Maryland is known as the “Old Line State,” named after the Maryland Line, a regiment that fought in the American Revolution. Maryland surrounds most of the Chesapeake Bay, and the state is known for its Crabs and Crab Cakes.

Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, is a major city that is home to the National Aquarium, Fort McHenry, and the Camden Yards baseball park. Annapolis is very famous for being the home of the United States Naval Academy, one of the flagship service academies in the United States.

Maryland was home to several different Indian tribes when English settlers arrived in the seventeenth century. The Algonquian-speaking Indians of the Chesapeake Bay and coastal areas included the Nanticoke, Piscataway, Assateagues and Pocomoke Indians. Iroquois-speaking groups such as the Susquehannocks lived in the Piedmont and mountains.

Written for younger readers

Maryland, in simpler words

This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.

From Wikijunior: North America

Maryland is a state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east. The state capital is Annapolis and its largest city is Baltimore.

Maryland was originally founded as an English Colony by George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, who sought to establish a sanctuary for Catholics persecuted in England. In 1632, King Charles I of England granted Lord Baltimore a colonial charter, which was then passed on to his son, Cecil Calvert. The first settlers, lead by Cecil’s brother Leonard, arrived on March 25, 1634. Throughout the 17th century, Maryland faced religious conflict between Catholics and Puritans. Maryland’s current boundaries were established in 1760 after a long-running border dispute with neighboring Pennsylvania. Although few battles were fought in the state during the American Revolution, many of Maryland’s citizens joined the Continental Army. Maryland officially became a state on April 28, 1788. Although it was a slave state at the time, Maryland chose to remain with the Union during the Civil War.

Maryland has a total area of 12,406.88 square miles (32,133.2 km 2 ). It is comparable in size to the European country of Belgium. It is bordered by Virginia and the District of Columbia to the south, West Virginia to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Included in its boundaries is the Chesapeake Bay, which is one of the most productive estuaries in the world.

In 2020, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of Maryland was 6,185,278. In 2020, 58.5% of people in Maryland were White/Caucasian, 31.1% were Black, 6.7% were Asian, and 0.6% were Native American.

  • The state nicknames are The Old Line State, The Free State, Little America, and America in Miniature
  • The state motto is “Fatti maschii, parole femine”. It is Latin for “Strong Deeds, Gentle Words”.
  • The state bird is the Baltimore oriole
  • The state boat is the skipjack
  • The state cat is the calico cat
  • The state crustacean is the blue crab
  • The state dessert is Smith Island Cake
  • The state dinosaur is the Astrodon
  • The state dog is the Chesapeake Bay Retriever
  • The state drink is milk
  • The state exercise is walking
  • The state fish is the rockfish
  • The state flower is the black-eyed Susan
  • The state folk dance is the square dance
  • The state fossil is Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae
  • The state gem is the Patuxent River stone
  • The state horse is the Thoroughbred horse
  • The state insect is the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly
  • The state reptile is the diamondback terrapin
  • The state sports are jousting and lacrosse
  • The state tree is the white oak
  • The state theater is Center Stage
  • The state summer theater is the Onley Theater Center

Where this page comes from

The article above is adapted from “Maryland” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.

Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.

Worksheets, answer keys and printable layouts elsewhere on K5Print are our own work and are not covered by this licence.