The great natural assets of Maine, the most northeastern state in the United States, are its woods and its waters. More than four fifths of Maine is covered with forests. The land surface is dotted with lakes and rivers, while the Atlantic Ocean washes the state's rocky shoreline, with its hundreds of islands, inlets, and harbors. Although a former French province was called Mayne, the state probably takes its name from the term main, used in early times to distinguish the mainland from the many coastal islands.
Commercial forests yield such woods as spruce, fir, and birch--and especially the white pine that gave the Pine Tree State its nickname. The pine is represented in the state's seal, flag, flower, and tree. Forest-related industries turn out a wide variety of products derived from wood. The woodland shelters a good deal of the same kind of wildlife that existed in the days of the pioneer settlers. It has moose, deer, bears, waterfowl, and game fish. In this wilderness area the state has many townships that have never been officially organized. Maine is today the most sparsely populated state east of the Mississippi River.
Fishermen take large catches of lobsters, herring, and other seafood from the ocean and coastal rivers. Maine's rivers and waterfalls have been harnessed to provide power for industry, the major segment of the economy. Relatively little acreage is devoted to farms or pastures. Maine has no huge cities. Its largest--Portland--has fewer than 70,000 people. Recreation is big business in Maine. The state is rich in unspoiled scenery and opportunities for hunting, fishing, boating, skiing, and other sports. The picturesque and historic southern coast, where the first settlements were made in the early 1600s, is a summer playground. Maine's wilderness areas cover millions of acres, notably above Acadia National Park on the Down East coast, along the Allagash River, and in parts of the Longfellow Mountains.
Since Maine owes its basic economy and its rugged beauty to its natural resources, conservation is of prime importance. Conservation concerns range from forest fires to the overcutting of sawtimber and from the pollution of inland or coastal waters to commercial encroachments on wilderness areas.
Maine is the largest of the New England states. It is the only state in the Union that borders on only one other state--New Hampshire, which is separated from Maine in part by the Salmon Falls River. To the northwest, north, and east Maine juts into Canada. New Brunswick lies to the northeast and north, with the St. Croix and St. John rivers forming part of the boundary. The Canadian province of Quebec lies to the northwest and west. The southern edge of the state fronts on the Atlantic Ocean for 228 miles (367 kilometers). However, including all the bays, inlets, and islands the length of the coastline measures about 3,500 miles (5,630 kilometers). Along the Atlantic coast is West Quoddy Head, a peninsula that marks the easternmost point in the United States. The greatest length of the Pine Tree State, from north to south, is 320 miles (515 kilometers). From east to west, its greatest width is 210 miles (338 kilometers). Maine's total area is 33,215 square miles (86,026 square kilometers), including 2,295 square miles (5,944 square kilometers) of inland water surface.
