Maryland County Map

Maryland County Maps

Maryland has 23 counties and one independent city. From the Chesapeake Bay to the Appalachian Mountains, Maryland’s geography is surprisingly diverse for its size. You’ve got coastal plains, rolling hills, and even a chunk of the Blue Ridge Mountains all packed into one state.

Maryland Counties

Montgomery County is Maryland’s most populous county. It’s not hard to see why as it’s right next door to Washington D.C. This makes it a prime spot for government workers in cities like Rockville and Bethesda. As for Maryland’s least populous county, that’s Kent County. It’s a rural area on the Eastern Shore, full of farmland and small towns.

Size wise, Frederick County is the biggest. It stretches from the Potomac River to the Pennsylvania border. Overall, it covers a whopping 667 square miles. What’s the smallest county you ask? That’d be Howard County. Don’t let its size fool you, though. It’s home to Columbia, one of the first planned communities in the U.S., and consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in the country.

Maryland’s counties have some interesting stories behind their names. Take Calvert County, for example. It’s named after the Calvert family, the founders of Maryland colony. Or Worcester County, which bizarrely enough, is pronounced “Woo-ster” by locals. The first counties in Maryland were set up way back in the 1630s, with St. Mary’s County being one of the oldest.