Baltimore

Baltimore (, locally: ) is the largest city in the State of Maryland, the largest independent city in the United States, and the 26th-most populous city in the country. It is located in the central area of the state along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. The independent city is often referred to as Baltimore City to distinguish it from the surrounding Baltimore County. Founded in 1729, Baltimore is the second largest seaport in the Mid-Atlantic United States and is situated closer to Midwestern markets than any other major seaport on the East Coast. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States and a major manufacturing center. After a decline in major manufacturing, industrialization and rail transportation, Baltimore shifted to a service-oriented economy, with the Johns Hopkins Hospital (founded 1889), and Johns Hopkins University (founded 1876), now serving as the city’s top two employers. With a population of 622,104 as of July 1, 2013, Baltimore increased by 762 residents over the previous year, ending over six decades of population loss since its peak in 1950. The Baltimore Metropolitan Area has grown steadily to approximately 2.7 million residents in 2010; the 20th largest in the country. Baltimore has the second largest population (after Washington, D.C.), and is a principal city in, the greater Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area with a total of approximately 9.44 million residents (as of 2013 estimates). With hundreds of identified districts, Baltimore has been dubbed “a city of neighborhoods”, and has been more recently known as “Charm City”, to go along with its older moniker of “The Monumental City” (coined by sixth President John Quincy Adams in 1827), and its more controversial 19th-century sobriquet of “Mobtown”. The talents of writers Edgar Allan Poe and H.L. Mencken, jazz musician James “Eubie” Blake and singer Billie Holiday, as well as the city’s role in the War of 1812 and Francis Scott Key’s writing of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, which later became the American national anthem, have all contributed to the city’s historical importance. According to the Brookings Institution, almost a quarter of the jobs in the Baltimore region are science, technology, engineering and math positions. The Baltimore area is known for health and science, which is in part attributed to the prestigious Johns Hopkins University, with its extensive undergraduate and graduate schools, the University of Maryland at Baltimore, and other smaller schools such as the University of Baltimore, the science-heavy University of Maryland, Baltimore County, (in Catonsville), Loyola University, Notre Dame University Maryland, Stevenson University, (formerly Villa Julie College – in suburban Stevenson), Towson University (in suburban Towson), Goucher College, (in suburban Towson), and the Maryland Institute College of Art.