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MD · 24 counties · 12,406 sq mi · print landscape · South · South Atlantic
Blank Maryland map
A blank Maryland outline, one of the strangest shapes in the country: a broad eastern block, a bay down the middle, and a western arm that narrows to under two miles.
What the outline shows
The map draws Maryland's boundary only. The north edge is the Mason–Dixon Line, straight from the Delaware corner to the western tip. The whole south and west edge is the Potomac River, from its source in West Virginia to the Chesapeake, with the District of Columbia cut out as a square notch on the river. The east side is the straight Delaware line, then the Atlantic coast at Ocean City, then the Virginia line across the Eastern Shore. Chesapeake Bay cuts north almost to Pennsylvania and appears as a long fjord in the outline; the Eastern Shore lies across it. None of the 23 counties or Baltimore City is drawn. Capital marks Annapolis on the west shore of the bay, south of Baltimore.
Portrait or landscape
Maryland is about 250 miles from the western tip to the Atlantic and about 120 miles north to south at its widest, near the bay. Print in landscape. The western arm, which shrinks to less than two miles wide at Hancock, is only legible at landscape scale. In portrait the map occupies a thin band in the middle of the page and the Eastern Shore's coastline dissolves. If the lesson is about the bay alone, zoom to the area between Baltimore and Cambridge and print in portrait.
Five classroom exercises
- Trace the Potomac River as the entire southern and western border, and mark the Virginia and West Virginia sections.
- Draw Chesapeake Bay with the Susquehanna River entering it from Pennsylvania at the top, then mark the Eastern Shore and the Western Shore.
- Mark the District of Columbia notch and explain that the land was originally part of Maryland.
- Place Baltimore, Annapolis, Frederick, Hagerstown and Ocean City; note which are on the bay, which on the coast and which in the western hills.
- Draw the Mason–Dixon Line along the top edge and mark the point near Hancock where the state is narrowest.
How to recognise the Maryland outline
- A wide shape with a big block on the right and a long, thin arm stretching to the left.
- A deep bay running north–south through the right half, nearly to the top edge.
- A ruler-straight top edge, the Mason–Dixon Line.
- A ragged bottom edge, the Potomac, with a small square bite for Washington, DC.
- A short stretch of Atlantic coast at the far right, with Assateague Island off it.
Answer key and related maps
- Maryland map — the labeled version with capital, cities and borders; use it as the answer key.
- Printable Maryland map — the same outline with cities, county lines and the capital printed on.
- Maryland county map — all 24 counties with their seats.
- Annapolis — the capital, on Chesapeake Bay.
- Neighbours: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia.
- Mason–Dixon Line and Mid-Atlantic region map.
- All blank state maps and the printable US maps index.