Baltimore is an independent city located in north-central Maryland. Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland with a population of more than 600,000 people and metropolitan population of more than 2.6 million. Additionally, Baltimore is the largest city in the wider Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, which also includes Washington D.C. In central and northern Maryland, Baltimore is the major center for business, commerce, education, entertainment, sports, politics, transportation, tourism, and more. Baltimore is a historic city that played a key role in the nations’ early history, and today is a modern urban city.

Baltimore is situated on the Patapsco River, which flows eastward into Chesapeake Bay. The waterfront location has shaped the city’s history and development and continues to play an important role in Baltimore’s character. In fact, Baltimore Inner Harbor is a major area in the city, serving as historic seaport, tourist and entertainment attraction and business center. Additionally, the historic Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore includes operations of roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) facilities, as well as bulk facilities, especially steel handling, and passenger water taxis.

Baltimore is officially divided into nine regions known as Northern, Northwestern, Northeastern, Western, Central, Eastern, Southern, Southwestern, and Southeastern. Each region consists of several neighborhoods. Overall, Baltimore has well over 200 neighborhoods that offers a wide selection of homes of diverse styles in different locations. For example, historic Mount Vernon neighborhood offers residence right in the action of the center of the city, while Waverly Neighborhood offers a more quite and remote living in northern part of the city. Whatever the preference is, when looking to live in Baltimore, prospective residents are guaranteed to find the home they are looking for in this great vibrant city. Whether it’s location or affordability, style or history, Baltimore real estate has it all. Additionally, there’s great real estate in Baltimore’s immediate suburbs such as Pikesville, Parkville, Towson, Rosedale, Dundalk, Catonsville, Lochearn, and more.

Being the largest city in Maryland, Baltimore has a developed transportation network of roads, rail, and air. Officially known as the McKeldin Beltway, Interstate 695 is the road where a network of other major roads merge to get around Baltimore area. Interstate 695 is the Baltimore Beltway that encircles the city and connects with major highways Interstate 70, Interstate 83, Interstate 95, Interstate 97, Interstate 795, and US Route 40.

Baltimore has a great rail system. Baltimore’s Penn Station is one the busiest in the United States, receiving intercity Amtrak services of Acela Express, Palmetto, Carolinian, Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Vermonter, Crescent. Additionally, Baltimore Penn Station connects with MARC trains and Baltimore Light Rail. MARC trains provide commuter rail service in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Marc trains stop at Baltimore’s Penn Station along the Penn Line and at Baltimore’s Camden Station along the Camden Line. The Baltimore Light Rail provides service within the city and immediate surrounding suburbs, including to Baltimore Washington International Airport. Baltimore Light Rail connects to Baltimore Metro (Metro Subway), which runs through the center of the city with a total of 14 stops, starting at Owings Mills and ending at John Hopkins Hospital. Additionally, Baltimore is served by a comprehensive bus system operated by Maryland Transit Authority (MTA), with many bus connections to the rail stops.

The Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is the main airport in the Baltimore region, serving over 21 million passengers a year. The Baltimore Washington International Airport is located in located in Linthicum, a community about 10 miles south of Baltimore.

Baltimore has a urban skyline dominated by skyscrapers and high rising buildings. Some of the most notable buildings of the city include Legg Mason Building (40 floors) , Bank of America Building, and William Donald Schaefer Building, both having 37 floors, Baltimore World Trade Center (32 floors) and Commerce Place (31 floors.) Among Baltimore’s large commercial activity, these buildings hosts some of the city’s major business operations. Additionally, Baltimore is home to the headquarters of Constellation Energy, a major company generates, trades, supplies, and distributes energy.

Baltimore has an excellent educational system on all levels. Public education is provided by the historic Baltimore City Public Schools, which includes dozens of high schools. Additionally, Baltimore is home to more than 25 private schools. Higher education in Baltimore is available in both public and private colleges and universities. Public colleges include Baltimore City Community College, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, University of Baltimore (UB), and University of Maryland, Baltimore. Private colleges include Baltimore Hebrew University, Baltimore International College, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, The Johns Hopkins University, Loyola College in Maryland, Maryland Institute College of Art, Peabody Institute, Sojourner-Douglass College.

Baltimore has a rich heritage of sports, and is home to several sports teams, on the top and lower professional levels. The most notable teams include Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens. The baseball team Baltimore Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) and play at the 49,000 capacity Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Football team Baltimore Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) and play at the 71,000 capacity M&T Bank Stadium. Both of these stadiums are located right next to each other in the Inner Harbor area between Martin Luther King Boulevard. Other sports teams of Baltimore include Baltimore Blast, Crystal Palace Baltimore, Baltimore Mariners, Baltimore Burn, Baltimore Nighthawks, and Charm City Roller Girls. Speaking of sports, Baltimore is the birthplace of baseball great Babe Ruth, with a museum dedicated to him in the inner harbor.

Baltimore is rich in culture and offers wonderful cultural venues for performing arts, museum, and other attractions. With over 50 museums, Baltimore allows visitors to explore the rich heritage of the city and surrounding areas, as well as universal works of art and items from around the country and the world. One of the most popular attractions in the city is the National Aquarium in Baltimore, which has more than 16,500 animals of more than 600 different species. The National Aquarium in Baltimore attracts over 1.6 million visitors a year and clearly stands out in the Inner Harbor. One of the signature attractions of Baltimore are ships located in The Inner Harbor, including SS John W. Brown, USCGC Taney, USS Torsk, Lightship Chesapeake, USS Constellation, located in the Baltimore Maritime Museum.