New York (state)
New York, sometimes called New York State,[b] is a state in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders New Jersey and Pennsylvania to its south, New England and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec to its north, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east.[c] With almost 19.6 million residents, it is the fourth-most populous state in the United States and eighth-most densely populated as of 2023.[5] New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state by area, with a total area of 54,556 square miles (141,300 km2).[2]
New York
July 26, 1788 (11th)
Antonio Delgado (D)
- Chuck Schumer (D)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
54,555[2] sq mi (141,297 km2)
47,126 sq mi (122,057 km2)
7,429 sq mi (19,240 km2) 13.6%
330 mi (530 km)
285 mi (455 km)
1,000 ft (300 m)
5,344 ft (1,629 m)
0 ft (0 m)
19,571,216[5]
416.42/sq mi (159/km2)
$75,200[6]
New Yorker
None
N.Y.
40° 30′ N to 45° 1′ N
71° 51′ W to 79° 46′ W
Brook trout (fresh water), Striped bass (salt water)
New York has a varied geography. The southeastern part of the state, known as Downstate, encompasses New York City, the most populous city in the United States, with over twice the population of Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city; Long Island, the nation's most populous island; and the suburbs and wealthy enclaves of the lower Hudson Valley. These areas are the center of the New York metropolitan area, a sprawling urban landmass,[8][9] and account for approximately two-thirds of the state's population. The much larger Upstate area spreads from the Great Lakes to Lake Champlain, and includes the Adirondack Mountains and the Catskill Mountains (part of the wider Appalachian Mountains). The east–west Mohawk River Valley bisects the more mountainous regions of Upstate, and flows into the north–south Hudson River valley near the state capital of Albany. Western New York, home to the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, is part of the Great Lakes region and borders Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Central New York is anchored by the city of Syracuse; between the central and western parts of the state, New York is dominated by the Finger Lakes, a popular tourist destination. To the south, along the state border with Pennsylvania, the Southern Tier sits atop the Allegheny Plateau, representing the northernmost reaches of Appalachia.
New York was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that went on to form the United States. The area of present-day New York had been inhabited by tribes of the Algonquians and the Iroquois Confederacy Native Americans for several thousand years by the time the earliest Europeans arrived.[10] Stemming from Henry Hudson's expedition in 1609,[11] the Dutch established the multiethnic colony of New Netherland in 1621. England seized the colony from the Dutch in 1664, renaming it the Province of New York.[12] During the American Revolutionary War, a group of colonists eventually succeeded in establishing independence, and the former colony was officially admitted into the United States in 1788. From the early 19th century, New York's development of its interior, beginning with the construction of the Erie Canal, gave it incomparable advantages over other regions of the United States.[13] The state built its political, cultural, and economic ascendancy over the next century, earning it the nickname of the "Empire State." Although deindustrialization eroded a significant portion of the state's economy in the second half of the 20th century, New York in the 21st century continues to be considered as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship,[14] social tolerance,[15] and environmental sustainability.[16][17]
The state attracts visitors from all over the globe, with the highest count of any U.S. state in 2022.[18] Many of its landmarks are well known, including four of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions in 2013: Times Square, Central Park, Niagara Falls and Grand Central Terminal.[19] New York is home to approximately 200 colleges and universities, including two Ivy League universities Columbia University and Cornell University, globally-ranked New York University and University of Rochester, and the expansive State University of New York, which is among the largest university systems in the nation.[20][21][22][23] New York City is home to the headquarters of the United Nations,[24] and it is sometimes described as the world's most important city,[25][26] the cultural,[27][28] financial,[29][30][31] and media epicenter,[32][33] and the capital of the world.[34][35]
