Most of the county's residents live in Silver Spring, Bethesda, Germantown, and the incorporated cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg.

[18][19][20] Prior to 1688, the first tract of land in what is now Montgomery County was granted by Charles I in a charter to the first Lord Baltimore, the head of the Calvert family.

Elevations range from a low of near sea level along the Potomac River to about 875 feet in the northernmost portion of the county north of Damascus.

[23] When Montgomery County was created in 1776, its boundaries were defined as "beginning at the east side of the mouth of Rock Creek on Potomac river [sic], and running with the said river to the mouth of Monocacy, then with a straight line to Par's spring, from thence with the lines of the county to the beginning".

In fact, a single house on Lakeview Drive and its yard is sectioned by this sliver into three portions, each separately contained within Montgomery, Frederick and Howard counties.

[24] Lower elevations in the south, such as Silver Spring, receive an average of 17.5 inches (44 cm) of snowfall per year.

The goal is to create socioeconomically mixed neighborhoods and schools so the rich and poor are not isolated in separate parts of the county.

Gaithersburg, Germantown, and Silver Spring all rank as more culturally diverse than New York City, San Jose, and Oakland.

Federal government agencies in Montgomery County engaged in related work include the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

Many large firms are based in the county, including Coventry Health Care, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, Host Hotels & Resorts, Travel Channel, Ritz-Carlton, Robert Louis Johnson Companies (RLJ Companies), Choice Hotels, MedImmune, TV One, BAE Systems Inc., Hughes Network Systems and GEICO.

Downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring are the largest urban business hubs in the county; combined, they rival many major city cores.

The MCSO has authorized over 165 employees consisting of sworn law enforcement officers and civilian support staff.

[71] Montgomery and Prince George's counties share a bi-county planning and parks agency in the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) and a public bi-county water and sewer utility in the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC).

[citation needed] In October 2020, the Montgomery County Council unanimously passed an ordinance that implemented an LGBTIQ+ bill of rights.

[76] Following a voter referendum,[77] restaurants and bars could apply for county permits to sell liquor by the drink.

[75] There are 24 judges of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, who are appointed by the Governor and elected by the voters to 15 year terms.

In 2020, Donald Trump turned in the worst showing for a Republican in 152 years, not even managing to reach 20% of the vote.

The Brunswick line of the MARC commuter rail system makes stops at Silver Spring, Kensington, Garrett Park, Rockville, Washington Grove, Gaithersburg, Metropolitan Grove, Germantown, Boyds, Barnesville, and Dickerson, where the line splits into its Frederick and Martinsburg branches.

[88] The line will run in a generally east-west direction, connecting Montgomery and Prince George's Counties near the Beltway, with 21 stations.

Davis Airport (FAA Identifier W50), a privately owned airstrip, is located in Laytonsville on Hawkins Creamery Road.

Its current members are:[92] MCPS conducted its first 'data deletion week' in 2019, purging its databases of unnecessary student information.

[93] Parents said they hoped to shield children from being held accountable in adulthood for youthful mistakes, as well as to guard them from exploitation by what one parent termed "the student data surveillance industrial complex".The district also requires tech companies to annually delete data they collect on schoolchildren.

In 2010, Montgomery County's population, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives, was 13% Catholic, 5% Baptist, 4% Evangelical Protestant, 3% Jewish, 3% Methodist/Pietist, 2% Adventist, 2% Presbyterian, 1% Episcopalian/Anglican, 1% Mormon, 1% Muslim, 1% Lutheran, 1% Eastern Orthodox, 1% Pentecostal, 1% Buddhist, and 1% Hindu.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church maintains its General Conference headquarters in Silver Spring in Montgomery County.

Bethesda's Congressional Country Club has hosted four Major Championships, including three playings of the U.S. Open, most recently in 2011 which was won by Rory McIlroy.

The Club also hosts the Quicken Loans National, an annual event on the PGA Tour which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation.

The King Farm Park in Rockville, open and accessible 24/7 without cost, provides a first-class 16-station Bankshot Playcourt, the Home Court for the Rockville based Bankshot Sports Organization advocating "Total-mix diversity based on Universal Design."

[99] Montgomery County maintains sister city agreements with:[100] Occupying a middle ground between incorporated and unincorporated areas are Special Tax Districts, quasi-municipal unincorporated areas created by legislation passed by either the Maryland General Assembly or the county.

[101] The Special Tax Districts generally have limited purposes, such as providing some municipal services or improvements to drainage or street lighting.

The four incorporated villages of Montgomery County and the town of Chevy Chase View were originally established as Special Tax Districts.