Baltimore. Geographic Location and Population

Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland and one of the principal port cities of the United States. About half the people of Maryland live in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The city is Maryland's chief center of commerce, education, and industry.

Baltimore lies on the Patapsco River, about two-thirds of the way up Chesapeake Bay. It has one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Baltimore Harbor is the only U.S. port with two links to the Atlantic Ocean — the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal to the north and Chesapeake Bay to the south.

The Maryland colonial government founded Baltimore in 1729 as a trading center for the tobacco farmers of southern Maryland. These farmers had been attracted to the area by the natural harbor. The settlement was named Baltimore Town in honor of the Lords Baltimore, the family that founded the colony of Maryland.

Baltimore has played an important role in the history of the United States. During the Revolutionary War in America (1775-1783), the city served as the national capital for more than two months. Francis Scott Key, a Baltimore and Washington, D.C, lawyer, wrote The Star-Spangled Banner" while on a ship in the harbor. He was inspired by the flag flying over Fort McHenry after a British attack during the War of 1812.

Baltimore grew steadily as a commercial center during the 1800's and early 1900's. In the 1950's, it began to face such problems as a housing shortage and a lack of funds to provide various public services. The city has worked to overcome these problems with urban renewal projects and efforts by private organizations.

The city. Factories, metal refineries, shipyards and docks, and some low-income housing, cluster around parts of Baltimore Harbor. The Inner Harbor, a development project that covers about 240 acres (97 hectares), lies at the northwest end of the harbor. This famous example of urban planning includes Harbor place, a complex of shops and restaurants; the National Aquarium in Baltimore; the Baltimore Convention Center; and the 30-story World Trade Center and other office buildings. The inner Harbor also includes hotels, a community college, recreational facilities, town houses, the Maryland Science Center, and the Christopher Columbus Center for Marine Biotechnology. Fort McHenry National Monument is on a peninsula in Baltimore Harbor.

Downtown Baltimore has a mixture of traditional and modern buildings. City Hall, left—built of white marble—was completed in 1875. The numerous shops and restaurants of Harbor place, right, attract many people. Part of the Inner Harbor development, Harbor place was completed in 1980

The central business district lies in the south central part of Baltimore, just north of the harbor. This district includes City Hall, stores, and office buildings. Also in the area is Charles Center, a development that includes apartment and office buildings, a hotel, parks, stores, and a theater.

To the west of the Charles Center is the Baltimore Arena, an arena used for sports events and musical performances. Historic structures, including a monument to George Washington, stand near the business district.

Baltimore is a city of varied neighborhoods. Areas of low-income housing projects stand near the central business district. Outside this inner core there are long stretches of row houses. Baltimore is famous for these houses, many of which have front steps made of marble. Many middle-income families have homes in northern Baltimore. The northwestern section of the city features apartment buildings and expensive houses.

The Baltimore metropolitan area covers 2,749 square miles (7,1 20 square kilometers) and takes in all of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne's counties. It extends south to the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C The largest Baltimore suburbs are Columbia, Dundalk, Towson, and Essex. Several metropolitan areas form the Washington-Baltimore Consolidated Statistical Metropolitan Area. The metropolitan areas are those of Baltimore; Washington, D.C; and Hagerstown, Maryland.

The people. Groups of various ethnic backgrounds occupy certain neighborhoods of Baltimore. There are several Polish and Greek neighborhoods in the eastern sections. Many Jewish people live in the northwest A large number of Italian families live in an area near the harbor called "Little Italy.”

During the mid-1900's, many blacks from the South and poor whites from Appalachia moved to Baltimore Large black neighborhoods developed northwest and east of the central business district. In the 1960's, large numbers of white Baltimoreans moved to the suburbs. But whites began returning to the city in the late 1970's, when many old, run-down houses were restored. Today, blacks make up about 65 percent of Baltimore's population, and whites account for about 30 percent.

The city's population has dropped steadily since 1950. But the population of the metropolitan area has grown steadily since that time. Housing in the city deteriorated, and the increasing number of low-income families strained hospitals, schools, and other institutions. Baltimore has tried to fight these problems with federally aided antipoverty programs and urban renewal projects.

Roman Catholics make up the largest religious group in Baltimore. Baptists and Lutherans rank as the next largest groups. The city also has many Methodists and Jews. The first Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States was established in Baltimore in 1789. The nation's first major Catholic cathedral, the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was dedicated there in 1821. Old Otterbein United Methodist Church, built in 1785, is the oldest church in the city.

Symbols of Baltimore. The flag, left, shows the city's Battle Monument, which honors militiamen who defended the city in the War of 1812. The seal, right, includes the monument and the date 1797, when Baltimore formed its first city government