New York holds a preeminent position among the 50 states of the nation. Its great metropolis and seaport, New York City, is the largest city in the United States. Long regarded as the cultural and financial capital of the country, it was the first capital of the newborn nation. Tradition holds that in 1784--five years before George Washington was inaugurated in New York City as the first president--he envisioned New York as the seat of empire, thus giving rise to its nickname--the Empire State. New York has completely fulfilled the expectation that Washington expressed to the state's first governor, George Clinton.
When the United States became a republic in 1789, New York ranked fifth among the states in population. During the early years of the new nation the state grew so rapidly that it had moved up to first place when the census of 1820 was taken. Until 1970 New York continued to lead the states in population. As of the 1990 census it ranked second only to California. About 7 percent of all the people in the United States live in New York. New York's gross economic product exceeds that of all but a handful of nations.
New York is mountainous in its eastern part, level or hilly in the center and west, and rolling in the southern section. These regions were formed during the Ice Age. At this time all but the extreme western tip of the state was covered by deep glaciers. The forested Adirondack slopes in the northeast, rolling hills in the central and western regions, and the grassy plains of the St. Lawrence River and Lakes Ontario and Erie give much of the state a rural look. Until the end of the 19th century, New York was the nation's key farm state. Today, though it still ranks high in the production of dairy products and truck crops, manufacturing far outweighs farming in the state's economy.
In 1621 the Dutch started a West India Company, which established the province of New Netherland in 1624. In 1664 the English captured New Netherland, and Charles II gave the colony to his brother, the duke of York and Albany. Both the city and province were renamed New York in honor of the duke; Beverwyck was renamed Albany. New York was recaptured by a Dutch fleet in 1673 but was returned to England the following year.
New York is the northernmost of the Middle Atlantic states. Its shape is like that of a great funnel, tilted on its side. From the northeast to the southwest the state is bounded by the Canadian province of Quebec, the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, the Niagara River, and Lake Erie. On the southern border are Pennsylvania, the Delaware River, and New Jersey. In the southeastern corner of the state are the New York City area and Long Island, which extends for 118 miles (190 kilometers) east of the main part of the state. Along the eastern border of the state, from south to north, are Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Lake Champlain. From east to west the length of the state, not including Long Island, is 320 miles (515 kilometers). Its greatest extent from north to south is 310 miles (499 kilometers). The total area of New York is 48,108 square miles (127,189 square kilometers). This figure includes 1,731 square miles (4,483 square kilometers) of inland water surface. It excludes 3,627 square miles (9,394 square kilometers) of water in Lakes Ontario and Erie.
