Delmarva Peninsula - Political Divisions

Political Divisions

The border between Maryland and Delaware consists of the east-west Transpeninsular Line and the perpendicular north-south portion of the Mason-Dixon line extending north to just beyond its tangental intersection with the Twelve-Mile Circle which forms Delaware's border with Pennsylvania. The border between Maryland and Virginia on the peninsula follows the Pocomoke River from the Chesapeake to a series of straight surveyed lines connecting the Pocomoke to the Atlantic Ocean.

All three counties in Delaware—New Castle, Kent, and Sussex—are located on the peninsula (though upper New Castle county only in part). Of the 23 counties in Maryland, nine are on the Eastern Shore: Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester, as well as a portion of Cecil County. Two Virginia counties are on the peninsula: Accomack and Northampton.

The following is a list of some of the notable cities and towns on the peninsula.

• Chestertown, Maryland is the county seat of Kent County, Md. and the home of Washington College.
• Centreville, Maryland is the county seat of Queen Anne's County.
• Easton, Maryland is the county seat of Talbot County.
• St. Michael's, Maryland is a popular tourist destination.
• Dover, Delaware is the Delaware state capital and the peninsula's largest city in terms of population.
• Lewes, Delaware is the site of the first European colonization in Delaware, nicknamed "the first town in the first state," and is a port city for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.
• Ocean City, Maryland is a popular beach and resort town.
• Crisfield, Maryland is a notable source of seafood.
• Seaford, Delaware, the "Nylon Capital of the World," is also the largest city in Sussex County.
• Salisbury, Maryland is the county seat of Wicomico County and the lower peninsula's only urbanized area and is known as the Crossroads of Delmarva.
• Delmar, Maryland, part of the Salisbury Urbanized Area, lies across the Maryland-Delaware border from its twin, (Delmar, Delaware), on the Transpeninsular Line.
• Chincoteague, Virginia is noted for its wild ponies and its beaches, administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service through Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.
• Princess Anne, Maryland is the county seat of Somerset County.
• Cambridge, Maryland is the county seat of Dorchester County and a busy port on the Choptank river.
• Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, "the Nation's Summer Capital", has a sixteenfold increase in population from winter to summer.

At its southern tip the Delmarva Peninsula is connected to Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads, Virginia via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The bridge tunnel is owned and administered by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel currently has a $12.00 (US) toll for single private vehicles ($5.00 for return within 24 hours) and is patrolled by the Virginia State Police.