ABSTRACT

All of the physical and human pieces of the Maryland puzzle interlock to form the mosaic that is the state. The geographical portrait of Maryland is one of a diverse region with a people who have a strong sense of place. Although Maryland is the forty-second state in size, its landscape displays great physical and cultural variety. In the white sandy beaches, marshes, and swamps around Chesapeake Bay, the fine agricultural lands of the Eastern Shore, the rolling hills of middle Maryland, and the rugged mountains of the Appalachians is represented the full range of physiographic provinces found in the eastern United States. Maryland's population includes some of the country's poorest and most disadvantaged people—the hill people of western Maryland, sharecroppers of southern Maryland, and inner-city dwellers of Balti more—and some of the nation's wealthiest people—the residents of Maryland's country estates and affluent suburbs.