Manufacturing is highly diversified with no sub-sector contributing over 20 percent of the total. Typical forms of manufacturing include electronics, computer equipment, and chemicals.
One major service activity is transportation, centered on the Port of Baltimore and its related rail and trucking access.
Maryland has a large food-production sector. A large component of this is commercial fishing, centered in the Chesapeake Bay, but also including activity off the short Atlantic seacoast. The largest catches by species are the blue crab, oysters, striped bass, and menhaden.
Maryland has large areas of fertile agricultural land in its coastal and Piedmont zones, though this land use is being encroached upon by urbanization. Agriculture is oriented to dairy farming plus specialty perishable horticulture crops, such as cucumbers, watermelons, sweet corn, tomatoes, muskmelons, squash, and peas. There is also a large automated chicken-farming sector in the state’s southeastern part.
Maryland is a major center for life sciences research and development with more than 400 biotechnology companies located there.
Tourism is popular in Maryland, with tourists visiting the city of Baltimore, the beaches of the Eastern Shore, and the nature of western Maryland, as well as many passing through en route to Washington, D.C.
Transportation:
Maryland has multiple Interstate Highway System routes passing through as well as several auxiliary Interstate highways
Maryland also has a state highway system that contains numbered routes.
Maryland’s largest airport is Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, more commonly referred to as BWI. The only other airports with commercial service are at Hagerstown and Salisbury.
The Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. are also served by the other two airports in the region, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport, both in Northern Virginia.
Amtrak trains, including the high speed Acela Express serve Baltimore’s Penn Station, BWI Airport, New Carrollton, and Aberdeen along the Washington D.C. to Boston Northeast Corridor. In addition, train service is provided to Rockville and Cumberland by Amtrak’s Washington, D.C., to Chicago Capitol Limited.
The State Nickname:
Maryland earned the nickname “Old Line State” in the American Revolution. The Maryland Line, Maryland’s regiments of regulars, achieved a reputation as the saviors of the Continental Army and the cause of independence. References to the “Old Line” are a tribute to the Maryland Line, but more specifically, to the first incarnation of the Maryland Line, the men who first mobilized in December 1775 and early 1776 and fought at Long Island on 27 August 1776, serving under William Smallwood, Francis Ware, Thomas Price, and Mordecai Gist. The battle-worn survivors of this regiment ostensibly reorganized in December 1777, continuing their enlistments “for three years or during the war.” But by the close of 1777, few remained from the original line Washington witnessed at Long Island. Bled weak by fighting in the vanguard of the war, they received reinforcements from the Maryland companies of the Flying Camp, and earned recognition for their sacrifices in the form of a nickname.
The Flag:
The official flag of the state of Maryland consists of the heraldic banner of George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore (1579–1632).