Prior to European colonization, the Baltimore region was used as hunting grounds by the Susquehannock Native Americans, who were primarily settled further north than where the city was later built. Baltimore is located about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Washington, D.C., making it a principal city in the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area (CSA), the fourth-largest CSA in the nation, with a calculated 2021 population of 9,946,526. As of 2021, the population of the Baltimore metropolitan area was estimated to be 2,838,327, making it the 20th largest metropolitan area in the country. Baltimore was designated an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851, and today is the most populous independent city in the United States. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, as well as the 30th most populous city in the United States, with a population of 585,708 in 2020.
