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New York (local pronunciation [nu jk]) is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States.

New York is the 27th-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 7th-most densely populated of the 50 United States. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border with Rhode Island east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Ontario to the west and north, and Quebec to the north. The state of New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City. New York City, with a Census-estimated population of over 8.3 million in 2012,[8][9] is the most populous city in the United States.[10][11] Alone, it makes up over 40 percent of the population of New York state. It is known for its status as a center forfinance and culture and for its status as the largest gateway for immigration to the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, New York City is also a destination of choice for many foreign visitors. Both the state and city were named for the 17th century Duke of York, future King James II of England. New York was inhabited by various tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian speaking Native Americans at the time Dutch settlers moved into the region in the early 17th century. In 1609, the region was first claimed by Henry Hudson for the Dutch. Fort Nassauwas built near the site of the present-day capital of Albany in 1614. The Dutch soon also settled New Amsterdam and parts of theHudson River Valley, establishing the colony of New Netherland. The British took over the colony by annexation in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were roughly similar to those of the present-day state. About one third of all the battles of the Revolutionary War took place in New York. The state constitution was enacted in 1777. New York became the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution, on July 26, 1788.
Contents
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1 History

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1.1 17th century 1.2 American Revolution 1.3 19th century 1.4 Immigration

2 Geography

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2.1 Climate 2.2 State parks 2.3 National Parks 2.4 Regions 2.5 Administrative divisions 2.6 Cities and metro areas

3 Demographics

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3.1 Population 3.2 Racial and ancestral makeup 3.3 Religion

4 Economy 5 Transportation

6 Government of New York

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6.1 Federal representation 6.2 Capital punishment 6.3 Politics

7 Education 8 Sports 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External links

History
Main article: History of New York

17th century
See also: Province of New York Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage marked the beginning of the European involvement with that area. Sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year. [12] After his return word of his findings quickly spread and Dutch merchants began to explore the coast in search for profitable fur trade. During the 17th century, Dutch trading posts established for the trade of pelts from the Lenape, Iroquois and other indigenous peoples expanded into the colony of New Netherlands. The first of these trading posts were Fort Nassau (1614, near presentday Albany); Fort Orange (1624, on the Hudson River just south of the current city of Albany and created to replace Fort Nassau), developing into settlement Beverwijck (1647), and into what became Albany; Fort Amsterdam (1625, to develop into the townNew Amsterdam which is present-day New York City); and Esopus, (1653, now Kingston). The success of the patroonship of Rensselaerswyck (1630), which surrounded Albany and lasted until the mid 19th century, was also a key factor in the early success of the colony. The English captured the colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and governed it as the Province of New York. The city of New York was recaptured by the Dutch once again in 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War (16721674) and renamed New Orange, but returned to the English under the terms of the Treaty of Westminster a year later.[13]

American Revolution

New York in 1777

The Sons of Liberty were organized in New York City during the 1760s, largely in response to the oppressive Stamp Act passed by theBritish Parliament in 1765. The Stamp Act Congress met in the city on October 19 of that year: a gathering of representatives from across the Thirteen Colonies that set the stage for the Continental Congress to follow. The Stamp Act Congress resulted in theDeclaration of Rights and Grievances, which was the first written expression by representatives of the Americans of many of the rights and complaints later expressed in the United States Declaration of Independence, including the right to representative government. The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga provided the cannon and gunpowder necessary to force a British withdrawal from the Siege of Boston in 1775. New York endorsed the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776.[14] The New York state constitution was framed by a conventionwhich assembled at White Plains, New York on July 10, 1776, and after repeated adjournments and changes of location, terminated its labors at Kingston, New York on Sunday evening, April 20, 1777, when the new constitution drafted by John Jay was adopted with but one dissenting vote. It was not submitted to the people for ratification. On July 30, 1777, George Clinton was inaugurated as the firstGovernor of New York at Kingston. The first major battle of the American Revolutionary War after independence was declaredand the largest battle of the entire warwas fought in New York at the Battle of Long Island (a.k.a. Battle of Brooklyn) in August 1776. British victory made New York City their military and political base of operations in North America for the duration of the conflict, and consequently the center of attention for General George Washington's intelligence network.

British general John Burgoynesurrenders at Saratoga in 1777.

The notorious British prison ships of Wallabout Bay saw more American combatants die of intentional neglect than were killed in combat in every battle of the war, combined. The first of two major British armies were captured by the Continental Army at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, influencing France to ally with the revolutionaries. In an attempt to retain their sovereignty and remain an independent nation positioned between the new United States and British North America, four of the Iroquois nations fought on the side of the British; only the Oneidas and their dependents the Tuscaroras allied themselves to the Americans.[15] The Sullivan Expedition of 1778 and 1779 destroyed nearly 50 Iroquois villages and adjacent croplands, forcing many refugees to British-held Niagara.[16] As allies of the British, the Iroquois were resettled in Canada after the war. In the treaty settlement, the British ceded most Indian lands to the new United States. Because New York made treaty with the Iroquois without getting Congressional approval, some of the land purchases are the subject of modern-day claims by the individual tribes. More than 5 million acres (20,000 km2) of former Iroquois territory was put up for sale in the years after the Revolutionary War, leading to rapid development in upstate New York.[17] As per the Treaty of Paris, the last vestige of British authority in the former Thirteen Coloniestheir troops in New York Citydeparted in 1783, which was long afterwards celebrated as Evacuation Day.[18] New York City was the national capital under the first attempt at a national government, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. That government was found to be insufficient, and prominent New Yorker Alexander Hamilton advocated for a new government that would included an executive, national courts, and the power to tax. Hamilton led the Annapolis Convention (1786) which called for the Philadelphia Convention that created the United States Constitution, and he also participated in. The new government would create a strong federal national government to replace the relatively weaker government by confederation of individual states. Following heated debate, which included the publication of the now quintessential constitutional interpretation the Federalist Papersas a series of installments in New York City newspapers, New York was the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution, on July 26, 1788.[19] New York remained the national capital under the new constitution until 1790, and was the site of the inauguration of President George Washington, the drafting of United States Bill of Rights, and the first session of the United States Supreme Court. Hamilton's revival of the heavily indebted United States economy after the war and the creation of a national bank significantly contributed to New York City becoming the center of finance in the new nation.

19th century

The creation of the Erie Canal led to rapid industrialization in New York.

Transportation in western New York was difficult before canals were built in the early part of the 19th century. The Hudson and MohawkRivers could be navigated only as far as Central New York. While the Saint Lawrence River could be navigated to Lake Ontario, the way westward to the other Great Lakes was blocked by Niagara Falls, and so the only route to western New York was over land. Governor DeWitt Clinton strongly advocated building a canal to connect the Hudson River with Lake Erie, and thus all of the Great Lakes. Work commenced in 1817, and the Erie Canal was finished in 1825. It was considered an engineering marvel. Packet boats traveled up and down the canal with sightseers and visitors on board. [20] The canal opened up vast areas of New York to commerce and settlement. It enabled Great Lakes port cities such as Buffalo and Rochester to grow and prosper. It also connected the

burgeoning agricultural production of the Midwest and shipping on the Great Lakes, with the port of New York City. Improving transportation, it enabled additional population migration to territories west of New York. During the American Civil War, New York provided more than 370,000 soldiers to the Union armies. Over 53,000 New Yorkers died in service, roughly 1 of every 7 who served.[21]

Immigration
Main article: Ellis Island

Castle Garden when it operated as New York's first immigrant depot. Over 8 million immigrants passed through these doors.

Ellis Island in 1905

Scenes at the Immigration Depot and a nearby dock on Ellis Island

New York City was the main immigration port of entry into the United States from the early 19th century until the middle of the 20th century. In the United States, although immigration acts had been passed, there was no formal routine for implementing immigration policy on a national level until the federal government assumed direct jurisdiction in 1890. Prior to this time the matter was delegated to the individual states then via contract between the states with the federal govennment. Most immigrants to New York would disembark at the bustling docks along the Hudson and East Rivers, in what is today Downtown Manhattan. On May 4, 1847 the New York State Legislature created the Board of Commissioners of Immigration to regulate immigration. [22] The first permanent immigration depot in New York was established in 1855 at Castle Garden; a converted War of 1812 era fort located at the Battery at the tip of Manhattan, which is today in Battery Park. The first immigrants to arrive at the new depot were onboard three ships that had just been released from quarantine.Castle garden would serve as New York's immigrant depot until it closed on April 18, 1890 when the federal government assumed control over immigration. During that period of time more than 8 million immigrants passed through its doors (two out of every three U.S. immigrants).[23] When the federal government assumed control over immigration it established the Bureau of Immigration which chose the threeacre Ellis Island in Upper New York Harbor. The island; already a federal possession had served as an ammunition depot. It was chosen due its relative isolation as an island yet it was still in close proximity to New York City and the rail lines of Jersey City, New Jersey, via a short ferry ride. The island needed improvements including expansion via land reclamation, prior to being used, so the federal government operated a temporary depot at the Barge Office at the Battery. [24] Ellis Island opened on January 1, 1892, and operated as an central immigration center until the National Origins Act was passed in 1924, then the only immigrants to pass through there were displaced persons or war refugees. The island ceased all immigration processing on November 12, 1954 when the last person detained on the island, a Norwegian seaman named Arne Peterssen who had overstayed his shore leave was released. He left on the 10:15 a.m. Manhattan-bound ferry to return to his ship. More than 12 million immigrants had passed through Ellis Island, between 1892 and 1954 and today, over 100 million Americans can trace their ancestry to the immigrants, who first arrived in America through Castle Clinton and Ellis Island, before settling throughout the United States. Ellis Island was the subject of a contentious and long-running border dispute between New York State and the State of New Jersey over within whose borders the island lies. The issue was settled in 1998 by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that the original 3.3 acre island was New York State territory and that the balance of the 27.5 acres (11 ha) added after 1834 by landfill was in New Jersey.[25] Today the island is still owned by the Federal government, it was added to the National Park system in May 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. Ellis Island was opened to the public as a museum of immigration in 1990.[26]

Geography
Main article: Geography of New York

New York terrain.

Map of the Hudson and Mohawkrivers.

New York covers 54,556 square miles (141,300 km2) and ranks as the 27th largest state by size.[3] The Great Appalachian Valleydominates eastern New York, while Lake Champlain is the chief northern feature of the valley, which also includes the Hudson River flowing southward to the Atlantic Ocean. The rugged Adirondack Mountains, with vast tracts of wilderness, lie west of the valley. Most of the southern part of the state is on the Allegheny Plateau, which rises from the southeast to the Catskill Mountains. The western section of the state is drained by the Allegheny River and rivers of the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The Delaware River Basin Compact, signed in 1961 by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the federal government, regulates the utilization of water of the Delaware system. The highest elevation in New York is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks.[27] New York's borders touch (clockwise from the west) two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario, which are connected by the Niagara River); the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada; Lake Champlain; three New England states (Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut); the Atlantic Ocean, and two Mid-Atlantic states, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In addition, Rhode Island shares a water border with New York. New York is the only state that touches both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, and is the second-largest of the original Thirteen Colonies. In contrast with New York City's urban atmosphere, the vast majority of the state is dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. New York's Adirondack Park is the largest state park in the United States. It is larger than the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Olympic National Parks combined.[28] New York established the first state park in the United States at Niagara Falls in 1885. Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River as it flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is a popular attraction. The Hudson River begins at Lake Tear of the Clouds and flows south through the eastern part of the state without draining Lakes George orChamplain. Lake George empties at its north end into Lake Champlain, whose northern end extends into Canada, where it drains into theRichelieu and then the Saint Lawrence Rivers. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on three islands at the mouth of the Hudson River:Manhattan Island; Staten Island; and Long Island, which contains Brooklyn and Queens on its western end. Upstate and downstate are often used informally to distinguish New York City or its greater metropolitan area from the rest of New York State. The placement of a boundary between the two is a matter of great contention.[29] Unofficial and loosely defined regions of Upstate New York include the Southern Tier, which often includes the counties along the border with Pennsylvania, [30] and the North Country, which can mean anything from the strip along the Canadian border to everything north of the Mohawk River. [31]

Climate
Main article: Climate of New York

Lake-effect snow is a major contributor to snowfall totals in western New York.

In general, New York has a humid continental climate, though under the Kppen climate classification, New York City has a humid subtropical climate.[32] Weather in New York is heavily influenced by two continental air masses: a warm, humid one from the southwest and a cold, dry one from the northwest. The winters are long and cold in the Plateau Divisions of the state. In the majority of winter seasons, a temperature of 13 F(25 C) or lower can be expected in the northern highlands (Northern Plateau) and 5 F (15 C) or colder in the southwestern and east-central highlands (Southern Plateau). The summer climate is cool in the Adirondacks, Catskills and higher elevations of the Southern Plateau. The New York City/Long Island area and lower portions of the Hudson Valley have rather warm summers by comparison, with some periods of high, uncomfortable humidity. The remainder of New York State enjoys pleasantly warm summers, marred by only occasional, brief intervals of sultry conditions. Summer daytime temperatures usually range from the upper 70s to mid 80s F (25 to 30 C), over much of the state. New York ranks 46th among the 50 states in the amount of greenhouse gases generated per person. This relative efficiency is primarily due to the state's higher rate of mass transit use.[33]

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