Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the 30th most populous city in the United States, with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was designated an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851, and today is the largest independent city in the United States. As of 2017, the population of the Baltimore metropolitan area was estimated to be just under 2.802 million, making it the 21st largest metropolitan area in the country. 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 third-largest CSA in the nation, with a calculated 2018 population of 9,797,063. The flag of the city of Baltimore features the “Battle Monument”, which is also the central motif on the city’s seal. The monument was constructed in the former colonial era Courthouse Square along North Calvert Street, between East Lexington Street to the north and East Fayette Street to the south, after the second Baltimore City and County Courthouse was constructed on a site farther west across Calvert Street in 1805. Commemorating the soldiers and officers that fell in the defense of the city against the British land and sea attack in the Battle of Baltimore with the Battle of North Point and subsequent Bombardment of Fort McHenry on September 12-13-14th, 1814, during the War of 1812. Full HD.