Baltimore City
Maryland's largest city and an independent city since 1851.
Baltimore, also called Baltimore City, is the most populous city in Maryland and the 30th most populous in the United States, with 585,708 residents at the 2020 census and a metropolitan area of 2.86 million. The Constitution of Maryland made it an independent city, outside any county, in 1851.
Quick Facts
- Settlement type
- Independent city
- Nicknames
- Charm City
- B'more
- Mobtown
- Founded
- August 8, 1729
- Named for
- Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
- Government
- Mayor–council
- Governing body
- Baltimore City Council
- Leader
- Brandon Scott
- Area (sq mi)
- 92.05
Reader's Guide
The Port of Baltimore was created in 1706 for the tobacco trade and the Town of Baltimore founded on August 8, 1729. The Second Continental Congress met in the city from December 1776 to February 1777, and the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812 is part of the city's history. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the nation's oldest, opened in 1830, and the Inner Harbor was the second busiest port of entry for immigrants after Ellis Island. Lexington Market, founded in 1782, is among the oldest continuously operating public markets in the country.
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