Annapolis, Maryland in the context of "Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area"

Maryland (US: /ˈmɛrɪlənd/ MERR-il-ənd) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east, as well as with the Atlantic Ocean to its east, and the national capital and federal district of Washington, D.C. to the southwest. With a total area of 12,407 square miles (32,130 km), Maryland is the ninth-smallest state by land area, and its population of 6,177,224 ranks it the 18th-most populous state and the fifth-most densely populated. Maryland's capital city is Annapolis, and the state's most populous city is Baltimore.

Maryland's coastline was first explored by Europeans in the 16th century. Prior to that, it was inhabited by several Native American tribes, mostly the Algonquian peoples. One of the original Thirteen Colonies, the Province of Maryland was founded in 1634 by George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, a Catholic convert who sought to provide a religious haven for Catholics persecuted in England. In 1632, Charles I of England granted Lord Baltimore a colonial charter, naming the colony after his wife, Henrietta Maria. In 1649, the Maryland General Assembly passed an Act Concerning Religion, which enshrined the principle of toleration. Religious strife was common in Maryland's early years, and Catholics remained a minority, albeit in greater numbers than in any other English colony.

The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the second oldest of the five U.S. service academies and it educates midshipmen for service in the officer corps of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. It is part of the Naval University System. The 338-acre (137 ha) campus is located on the former grounds of Fort Severn at the confluence of the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay in Anne Arundel County, 33 miles (53 km) east of Washington, D.C., and 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Baltimore. The entire campus, known colloquially as the Yard, is a National Historic Landmark and home to many historic sites, buildings, and monuments. It replaced Philadelphia Naval Asylum in Philadelphia that had served as the first United States Naval Academy from 1838 to 1845, at which time the Naval Academy formed in Annapolis.

Candidates for admission generally must apply directly to the academy and apply separately for a nomination, usually from a member of Congress. Students are officers-in-training with the rank of midshipman. Tuition for midshipmen is fully funded by the Navy in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation. Approximately 1,200 "plebes" (an abbreviation of the Ancient Roman word plebeian) enter the academy each summer for the rigorous Plebe Summer. About 1,000 midshipmen graduate and commission. Graduates are commissioned as either ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps, but a small number can also be cross-commissioned as officers in other U.S. services, and the services of allied nations. The United States Naval Academy has some of the highest-paid graduates in the country according to starting salary. The academic program grants a Bachelor of Science degree with a curriculum that grades midshipmen's performance upon a broad academic program, military leadership performance, and mandatory participation in competitive athletics. Midshipmen are required to adhere to the academy's Honor Concept.

The Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge (informally called the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and, locally, the Bay Bridge) is a major dual-span bridge in the U.S. state of Maryland. Spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the state's rural Eastern Shore region with its urban and suburban Western Shore, running between Stevensville and Sandy Point State Park near the capital city of Annapolis. The original span, opened in 1952 and with a length of 4 miles (6.4 km), was the world's longest continuous over-water steel structure. The parallel span was added in 1973. The bridge is named for William Preston Lane Jr., who, as the 52nd Governor of Maryland, launched its construction in the late 1940s after decades of political indecision and public controversy.

The bridge is part of U.S. Route 50 (US 50) and US 301, and serves as a vital link in both routes. As part of cross-country US 50, it connects the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area with Ocean City, Maryland, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and other coastal tourist destinations. As part of US 301, it serves as part of an alternative route for Interstate 95 travelers, between northern Delaware and the Washington, D.C., area. The bridge is busy and often congested with traffic, particularly during peak hours and summer months.

Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and a historic place in Maryland, United States. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is separated from Sandy Point, an area near Annapolis, by roughly four miles (6.4 km) of water. At only four miles wide, the main waterway of the bay is at its narrowest at this point and is spanned here by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The Chester River runs to the north of the island and empties into the Chesapeake Bay at Kent Island's Love Point. To the south of the island lies Eastern Bay. The United States Census Bureau reports that the island has 31.62 square miles (81.90 km) of land area.

Kent Island is part of Queen Anne's County, Maryland, and Maryland's Eastern Shore region. The first English establishment on the island, Kent Fort, was founded in 1631, making Kent Island the oldest English settlement within the present day state of Maryland and the third oldest permanent English settlement in what became the United States—after Jamestown, Virginia (1607), and Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620). The census-designated places of Stevensville and Chester are located on the island, along with several other communities, including the fishing community of Kent Narrows, which is located partially on the island. Although all of Kent Island's communities are unincorporated, the census designated places of Stevensville and Chester on the island are both more populous than any of Queen Anne's County's incorporated towns.

Fort Severn, in present-day Annapolis, Maryland, was built in 1808 on the same site as an earlier American Revolutionary War fort of 1776. Although intended to guard Annapolis harbor from British attack during the War of 1812, it never saw action. The United States Navy acquired Fort Severn and two other military bases from the United States Army on 19 October 1845, for the purpose of housing the new onshore United States Naval Academy. The academy used the structure for classrooms until its demolition in 1909.

Anne Arundel County (listen; /əˈrʌndəl/), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, which is also the capital of the state. The county is named for Anne Arundell (c. 1615/1616–1649), Lady Baltimore, a member of the Arundell family in Cornwall, England, and the wife of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (1605–1675), founder and first lord proprietor of the colony Province of Maryland. The county is part of the Central Maryland region of the state. Anne Arundel County is included in the Washington–Baltimore–Arlington combined statistical area.

The Maryland State House is located in Annapolis, Maryland. It is the oldest U.S. state capitol in continuous legislative use, dating to 1772, and houses the Maryland General Assembly, plus the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. In 1783 and 1784 it served as the capitol building of the United States Congress of the Confederation, and is where Ratification Day, the formal end of the American Revolutionary War, occurred.

The capitol has the distinction of being topped by the largest wooden dome in the United States constructed without nails. The current building, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, is the third statehouse on its site. The building is administered by the State House Trust, established in 1969.

George Washington's resignation as commander-in-chief marked the end of Washington's military service in the American Revolutionary War and his return to civilian life at Mount Vernon.

His voluntary action has been described as "one of the nation's great acts of statesmanship" and helped establish the precedent of civilian control of the military. After the Treaty of Paris ending the war had been signed on September 3, 1783, and after the last British troops left New York City on November 25, Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army to the Congress of the Confederation, then meeting in the Maryland State House at Annapolis, Maryland, on December 23 of the same year. This followed his farewell to the Continental Army, November 2 at Rockingham near Princeton, New Jersey, and his farewell to his officers, December 4 at Fraunces Tavern in New York City.

The Annapolis Convention (formally titled a Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government) was a national political convention held September 11–14, 1786 in the old Senate Chamber of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland.

(The Maryland Society, Sons of the American Revolution claim the location was at Mann's Tavern where some of the delegates possibly dined and slept.)