Maryland is one of the 50 states of the United States of America, located in the northeast region of the country. Maryland was named in honour of Queen Maria Enriqueta of France, wife of King Charles I of England (Maryland means "Land of Mary"). The state is nicknamed the Old Line State, in tribute to their "line of troops (troops of the line), which were repeatedly praised by George Washington for his excellent performance in the War of Independence of the United States. The current anthem of United States, The Star-Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and amateur poet.

The State of Maryland (nicknamed “The Old Line State” and “The Free State”) is in the South region of the USA and is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north, Delaware to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the south-east, Virginia to the south and west, the District of Columbia to the west, and West Virginia to the north-west. The Potomac River forms the western and north-western boundary and flows out into Chesapeake Bay, which divides Maryland from north to south, extending 314 km (195 miles) inland from the Atlantic Ocean. The Susquehanna River flows into the Bay in the north. West of the Atlantic Coastal Plain surrounding Chesapeake Bay is the Piedmont Plateau, an area of undulating hills rising towards the Appalachian mountain chain in the far north-west of the state, with a peak of 1,024 m (3,360 ft) at Backbone Mountain.