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New York (/) is a State in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States Of America . With 62 counties, it is the country's Third Most Populous state. It is bordered by Vermont , Massachusetts , Connecticut , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania , and shares a water border with Rhode Island as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario . Its five largest cities are New York City (also the largest city in the United States), Buffalo , Rochester , Yonkers , and Syracuse . New York City is known for its history as a Gateway For Immigration to the United States and its status as a financial, cultural, transportation, and manufacturing center. New York was inhabited by Algonquian , Iroquois , and Lenape Indigenous People at the time Dutch and French nationals moved into the region in the very early 17th century. First claimed by Henry Hudson in 1609, the region came to have Dutch Fort s in Fort Orange , present day Albany, NY , in 1614 and was colonized by the Dutch in 1624, at both Albany and Manhattan ; it later fell to British annexation in 1664. About one third of all of the battles of the Revolutionary War took place in New York. The state ratified the United States Constitution in 1788, the 11th state to do so; its own constitution was enacted in 1777. GEOGRAPHY See Also: Geography of New York New York covers 54,475 square miles (141,089 km&2). In size, New York ranks 27th out of the 50 states. The Great Appalachian Valley dominates 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. 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. While the state is best known for , Staten Island , and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island . "Upstate" is a common term for New York State counties north of suburban Westchester and Rockland counties. Upstate New York typically includes the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains , the Shawangunk Ridge , the Finger Lakes and the Great Lakes in the west; and Lake Champlain , Lake George , and Oneida Lake in the northeast; and rivers such as the Delaware , Genesee , Mohawk , and Susquehanna . The highest elevation in New York is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks. Climate The climate of New York State is broadly representative of the Humid Continental type, which prevails in the northeastern United States, but its diversity is not usually encountered within an area of comparable size. Masses of cold, dry air frequently arrive from the northern interior of the continent. Prevailing winds from the south and southwest transport warm, humid air, which has been conditioned by the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent subtropical waters. These two air masses provide the dominant continental characteristics of the climate. A third great air mass flows inland from the North Atlantic Ocean and produces cool, cloudy, and damp weather conditions. Nearly all storm and frontal systems moving eastward across the continent pass through or in close proximity to New York State. Storm systems often move northward along the Atlantic coast and have an important influence on the weather and climate of Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley. Frequently, areas deep in the interior of the state feel the effects of such coastal storms. The winters are long and cold in the Plateau Divisions of the state. In the majority of winter seasons, a temperature of -25 °C or lower can be expected in the northern highlands (Northern Plateau) and -15 °C or colder in the southwestern and east-central highlands (Southern Plateau). The Adirondack region records from 35 to 45 days with below zero temperatures in normal to severe winters. The summer climate is cool in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and higher elevations of the Southern Plateau. The New York City 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 (25 to 30 ˚C) over much of the State, producing an atmospheric environment favorable to many athletic, recreational, and other outdoor activities. New York ranks 46th among the 50 states in the amount of Greenhouse Gas es generated per person. This efficiency is primarily due to the state's relatively higher rate of mass transit use.2 State parks See Also: List of New York state parks of the Adirondack Park .]] New York has many state parks and two major forest preserves. Adirondack Park , roughly the size of the state of Vermont and the largest state park in the United States, was established in 1892 and given state constitutional protection in 1894. The thinking that lead to the creation of the Park first appeared in George Perkins Marsh 's '' Man And Nature '', published in 1864. Marsh argued that deforestation could lead to desertification; referring to the clearing of once-lush lands surrounding the Mediterranean, he asserted "the operation of causes set in action by man has brought the face of the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon." The Catskill Park was protected in legislation passed in 1885, which declared that its land was to be conserved and never put up for sale or lease. Consisting of 700,000 acres (2,800 km&2) of land, the park is a habitat for bobcats, minks and fishers. There are some 400 black bears living in the region. The state operates numerous campgrounds and there are over 300 miles (480 km) of multi-use trails in the Park. The Montauk State Park boasts the Famous Montauk Lighthouse commissioned by the first President of the U.S.A, George Washington, which is a major tourist attraction and is located in the township of East Hampton , Suffolk County . Hither Hills park offers camping and is a popular destination with surfcasting sport fishermen. HISTORY See Also: History of New York The area was long inhabited by the Lenape ; Lenape in canoes met Giovanni Da Verrazzano , the first European explorer to enter New York Harbor , in 1524. Giovanni Da Verrazzano named this place ''Nouvelle Angoulême'' (New Angouleme ) in honor of the French king François I . A French explorer and mapper, Samuel De Champlain , described his explorations through New York in 1608. A year later Henry Hudson , an Englishman working for the Dutch , claimed the area in the name of the Netherlands . It was to be called New Amsterdam . The Dutch, who began to establish trading posts on the Hudson River in 1613, claimed jurisdiction over the territory between the Connecticut and the Delaware River s, which they called New Netherlands . The government was vested in " The United New Netherland Company ", chartered in 1614, and then in " The Dutch West India Company ", chartered in 1622. In 1649, a convention of the settlers petitioned the " Lords States-General Of The United Netherlands " to grant them "suitable burgher government, such as their High Mightinesses shall consider adapted to this province, and resembling somewhat the government of our Fatherland", with certain permanent privileges and exemptions, that they might pursue "the trade of our country, as well along the coast from Terra Nova to Cape Florida as to the West Indies and Europe, whenever our Lord God shall be pleased to permit." has long been an essential transportation corridor for the state.]] The directors of the West India Company resented this attempt to shake their rule and wrote their director and council at New Amsterdam: "We have already connived as much as possible at the many impertinences of some restless spirits, in the hope that they might be shamed by our discreetness and benevolence, but, perceiving that all kindnesses do not avail, we must, therefore, have recourse to God to Nature and the Law. We accordingly hereby charge and command your Honors whenever you shall certainly discover any Clandestine Meetings, Conventicles or machinations against our States government or that of our country that you proceed against such malignants in proportion to their crimes." These grants embraced all the lands between the west bank of the Connecticut River and the east bank of the Delaware River . In 1663 the (England) Tourism Bureau. Accessed July 3 , 2007 . "The most famous of York’s descendants, New York state and city were both renamed when the British captured what was then a Dutch colony known as New Netherland (and its city New Amsterdam) in 1664. James Duke of York, brother of King Charles II, became the proprietor of the colony and so it was that the state and the city become called New York." This conquest was confirmed by the Treaty Of Breda , in July 1667. In July 1673, a Dutch fleet recaptured New York and held it until it was restored to the English by the Treaty Of Westminster in February, 1674. New York was established by its Colonial Charter . This constitution was framed by a Convention which 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 constitution was adopted with but one dissenting vote. It was not submitted to the people for ratification. It was drafted by John Jay . , in New York City , was one of the world's first skyscrapers (1913).]] The western part of New York had been settled by the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy for at least 500 years before Europeans came. The Iroquois had maintained the area between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes as a grassland prairie, which abounded in wild game including grazing American Bison herds. In colonial times, the Iroquois were prosperously growing corn, vegetables and orchards, and keeping cows and hogs; fish were also abundant. The colonial charter of New York granted unlimited westward expansion, despite Native American presence in the Area. Massachusetts ' charter had the same provision, causing territorial disputes between the colonies and with the Iroquois. During the Revolution , four of the Iroquois nations fought on the side of the British, with one exception the Oneidas. In 1779, Major General John Sullivan was sent to defeat the Iroquois. The Sullivan Expedition moved northward through the Finger Lakes and Genesee Country , burning all the Iroquois communities and destroying their crops and orchards. Refugees fled to Fort Niagara where they spent the following winter in hunger and misery. Hundreds died of exposure, hunger and disease. After the war, many moved to Canada . For the Oneida nation's assistance in defeating the British, primarily assisting General Washington's army at Valley Forge, then President Washington while on tour of the Mohawk Valley signed the Treaty Of Canandaigua . This Treaty promised the Oneidas among other things a large swath of land from Pennsylvania to Canada, forever. The Treaty was violated in the mid-1800s by New York State. This became the basis for the present land claim dispute. New York was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that became the United States . It was the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution , on July 26 1788 . led to rapid industrialization in New York.]] Transportation in western New York was difficult before canals were built in the early part of the nineteenth century. The Hudson and Mohawk Rivers could be navigated only as far as Central New York. While the St. 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 the Great Lakes . Work commenced in 1817, and the Erie Canal was finished in 1825. The canal opened up vast areas of New York to commerce and settlement, and enabled port cities such as Buffalo to grow and prosper. The Welland Canal was completed in 1972. Sullivan's men returned from the campaign to Pennsylvania and New England to tell of the enormous wealth of this new territory. Many of them were given Land Grants in gratitude for their service in the Revolution. From 1786 through 1797 several groups of wealthy land speculators entered into agreements with one another, with neighboring states, and with the Indians to obtain title to vast tracts of land in western New York. Some purchases of Iroquois lands are the subject of numerous modern-day land claims by the individual nations of the six nations. See Also: New York State Constitutions DEMOGRAPHICS See Also: Demographics of New York Population
As of 2006, New York was the third largest state in population after California and Texas, with an estimated population of 19,306,183.3 This represents an increase of 329,362, or 1.7%, since the year 2000; it includes a natural increase since the last census of 601,779 people (1,576,125 births minus 974,346 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 422,481 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 820,388 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of about 800,213 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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