Introduction
Baltimore, a city in the state of Maryland, with a population of 736,000. (aggl. approx. 2 million inhabitants). The city is located on the Patapsco; the port, on Chesapeake Bay, is one of the most important in the United States. Baltimore is connected to a vast hinterland by railroads and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Baltimore’s traffic function is enhanced by a large airport and the fact that many roads from the west have the city as their terminus.
Closely linked to this traffic function is the fact that Baltimore is a very important industrial center: iron and steel making, petroleum refining, ship and aircraft building, missile building, preparation of non-ferrous metals (major copper smelting, chemical and oil processing industry, automobile, tractor and railway equipment.
Numerous research centers and laboratories are also located in the city, including in the medical, pharmaceutical and biotech fields.
Baltimore is the principal center of Roman Catholic life in the United States (oldest diocese, 1789; now archdiocese); important national councils were held in the 19th century. It is also the seat of three universities, including the famous Johns Hopkins University (1876), and many other educational institutions (Peabody Institute with large library). The Enoch Pratt Free Library houses a special collection of Edgar Allan Poe (who died in Baltimore). The city is also the seat of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Opera Company. There are some good museums, including the Walters Art Gallery with medieval and Renaissance art (one of the most precious collections in the United States) and the Baltimore Museum of Art (Asian art, furniture, sculptures, paintings by Picasso, Cézanne and Matisse, among others). ).
The city is largely modern. The area around the Inner Harbor was thoroughly restored in the 1970s and 1980s; it now houses the World Trade Center, the Maryland Science Center, and the Baltimore Maritime Museum. Notable buildings include the Civic Center (1962) and a L. Kahn University building. Dating back to 1829 are the 70 m high Shot Tower and the 48 m high Washington Monument.
History
The city was founded in 1729 and named after the English Calvert family, barons Baltimore, who colonized Maryland in the 17th century.
