马里兰(Maryland)

美国东部，大西洋沿岸中部的州（1997年人口约5,094,000），面积27,091平方公里；首府亚那波里斯。该州的主要地理区是沿乞沙比克湾的沿海平原、皮埃蒙特高原的肥沃农田以及阿帕拉契山脉。西元前10,000年前後首先由晚冰河期的猎人占据，後来该地区居住着南蒂科克和皮斯卡塔韦部落。1608年约翰.史密斯船长给予乞沙比克地区建制权。英国国王在给巴尔的摩勳爵卡尔弗特的特许状里包含了马里兰。1634年卡尔弗特的兄弟在圣玛丽斯城建立了第一个居民点。马里兰成为享有宗教自由的第一个美洲殖民地。1760年代画定了梅逊－狄克森线，解决了与宾夕法尼亚之间的边界争端。1788年马里兰成为批准美国宪法的第七个州。1791年该州让出哥伦比亚特区作为新的联邦政府首都。该州卷入了1812年战争（参阅Fort McHenry）。1845年在亚那波里斯成立了美国海军官校。美国南北战争期间，马里兰留在联邦内，但强烈的南方情绪导致戒严法的执行。战後，马里兰作为向南部和中西部转运消费品的重要集散地而繁荣起来。20世纪里，由於它位置邻近全国联邦政府，从而刺激了它的人口增长。它的经济基础主要是政府服务业和制造业。

English version：

Maryland

State (pop., 1997 est.: 5,094,000), eastern U.S. A middle-Atlantic state, it covers 10,460 sq mi (27,091 sq km); its capital is Annapolis. The state's main geographic regions are the coastal plain along Chesapeake Bay, the rich farming country of the Piedmont plateau, and the Appalachian Mtns. First occupied by late Ice Age hunters c. 10,000 BC, the area was later inhabited by the Nanticoke and Piscataway tribes. Capt. John Smith charted the Chesapeake Bay region in 1608. Maryland was included in a charter given by the British king to Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore. Leonard Calvert, his brother, founded the first settlement in 1634 at St. Marys City. Maryland became the first American colony to establish religious freedom. Its boundary dispute with Pennsylvania was settled in the 1760s with the drawing of the Mason-Dixon Line. In 1788 Maryland became the 7th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. The state ceded the District of Columbia as the site for a new federal capital in 1791. It was involved in the War of 1812, (see Fort McHenry). The U.S. Naval Academy was founded at Annapolis in 1845. Maryland remained in the Union during the American Civil War, but strong Southern sentiments resulted in the imposition of martial law. After the war, it prospered as an important entrep?t for consumer goods to the South and Midwest. During the 20th century its proximity to the national federal government spurred population growth. Its economy is based primarily on government services and manufacturing.