 |
| 1019 New York map (1) |
Posted on 02.03.2014, 09.07.2014, 10.02.2017
Bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east, New York State has a maritime border with Rhode Island, as well as an international border with Canada. It is a center for finance and culture, and also the largest gateway for immigration to the United States. Over 100 million Americans can trace their ancestry to the immigrants who first arrived in America through Castle Clinton and Ellis Island. New York City, with a population of over 8.3 million in 2012, is the most populous city in the U.S.A., making up over 40% of the population of the state.
 |
| 1135 New York map (2) |
Both the state and city were named for the 17th century Duke of York, future King James II of England. Its capital city is Albany, officially chartered as a city in 1686 and located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about 16km south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. New York was inhabited by various tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian at the time when Dutch settlers moved into the region in the early 17th century. In 1609, the region was first claimed by Henry Hudson for the Dutch, and Fort Nassau was built near the site of the present-day capital of Albany in 1614.
 |
| 2944 New York flag |
The Dutch soon also settled New Amsterdam and parts of the Hudson River Valley, establishing the colony of New Netherland. The English captured the colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and governed it as the Province of New York, of which borders were similar to those of the present-day state. About one third of all the battles of the Revolutionary War took place in New York, which became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In contrast with New York City's urban atmosphere, the vast majority of the state's geographic area is dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes.
Read more »