It was the seventh state to ratify the
United States Constitution and bears two nicknames, the Old
Line State and the
Free State. Its history as a border state has led it to exhibit characteristics of both the
Northern and
Southern regions of the United States. As a general
rule, the rural areas of
Maryland, such as
Western, Southern, and
Eastern Maryland, are more Southern in
Culture, while densely-populated
Central Maryland — areas in the
Baltimore and the
Washington Beltway Regions — exhibit more Northern characteristics.
Maryland is a life sciences
hub with over 350 biotechnology firms, making it the third-largest such cluster in the
nation.Institutions and agencies located throughout Maryland include
University System of Maryland,
Johns Hopkins University,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and
the National Institutes of Health (
NIH).
; "Maryland and Grand Kru")
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