EXPLORE PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

Prince George’s County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population was 863,420, making it the second-most populous county in Maryland, behind only Montgomery County. Its county seat is Upper Marlboro. It is one of the richest African American-majority counties in the United States, with five of its communities identified in a 2015 top ten list.

Prince George’s County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Due to its proximity to Washington, D.C. the county also hosts many U.S. governmental facilities, such as Joint Base Andrews, a U.S. military airbase, as well as the headquarters of the United States Census Bureau.

Prince George’s County is home to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the United States Census Bureau, Andrews Air Force Base, the National Archives and Records Administration’s College Park facility, the University of Maryland’s flagship College Park campus, Six Flags America and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, FedExField (home of the Washington Redskins), and the National Harbor, which its developers, Peterson Companies and Gaylord Entertainment Company, bill as the largest single mixed-use project and combined convention center–hotel complex on the East Coast.

Although Prince George’s County is not often credited for the Washington Redskins, the Redskins stadium is in Landover. No other major-league professional sports teams are in the county, though Bowie hosts the Bowie Baysox, a minor league baseball team. The county is known for its very successful youth. In basketball, ESPN published an article declaring Prince George’s County the new “Hoops Hot Bed” and ranked it as the number one basketball talent pool in the country. A number of basketball prospects, including Ty Lawson, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert and Michael Beasley from AAU basketball teams such as the PG Jaguars, DC Assault, and DC Blue Devils. Besides AAU, basketball has skyrocketed from local high schools such as DeMatha Catholic High School and Bishop McNamara High School, both of which have found some great success locally and nationally.