encyclopedia

This article is about the U.S. state of New

York. For the City of New York, see New
York City. For other uses, see New York
(disambiguation).
"NY" redirects here. For other uses,
see NY (disambiguation).
State of New York

Flag

Seal

Nickname(s): The Empire State

Motto(s): Excelsior (Latin)[1]
Ever upward

Official
language

None

Spoken
languages

English (only) 72%

Spanish 14%
Others 14%[2]

Demonym

New Yorker

Capital

Albany

Largest city

New York City

Largest
metro

New York City

metropolitan area

Area

Ranked 27th

- Total

54,556[3] sq mi
(141,300 km2)

- Width

285 miles (455 km)

- Length

330 miles (530 km)

- % water

13.5

- Latitude

4030 N to 451 N

- Longitude

7151 W to 7946 W

Population

Ranked 3rd

- Total

19,651,127 (2013 est)[4]

- Density

416.42/sq mi (159/km2)
Ranked 7th

Elevation
- Highest
point

Mount Marcy[5][6][7]
5,344 ft (1628.85 m)

- Mean

1,000 ft (304.8 m)

- Lowest
point

Atlantic Ocean[6][7]
sea level

Admission to
Union

July 26, 1788 (11th)

Governor

Andrew Cuomo (D)

Lieutenant

Robert Duffy (D)

Governor
Legislature

New York Legislature

- Upper house State Senate

- Lower house State Assembly
U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
U.S. House
delegation

21 Democrats,
6 Republicans (list)

Time zone

Eastern: UTC -5/-4

Abbreviations NY, US-NY

Website

www.ny.gov

New York is a state in

the Northeasternand Mid-Atlantic regions
of the United States. New York is
the 27th-most extensive, the third-most
populous, and the seventh-most densely
populated of the 50 United States. New

York is bordered by New

Jersey andPennsylvania to the south and
byConnecticut, Massachusetts,
andVermont to the east. The state has
amaritime border with Rhode Island east
of Long Island, as well as aninternational
border with the Canadian
provinces of Quebec to the north
andOntario to the west and north. The
state of New York is often referred to
as New York State to distinguish it
from New York City, its largest city.
New York City, with a Census-estimated
population of over 8.4 million in 2013,[8]is
the most populous city in the United
States and the nucleus of the premier
gateway for legal immigration to the
United States[9][10][11]the New York City
Metropolitan Area, one of the most
populous urban agglomerations in the
world.[12] New York City is also known for
being the location of Ellis Island, the
largest historical gateway

forimmigration in the history of the United

States. A global power city,[13] New York
City exerts a significant impact upon
commerce, finance, media, art, fashion,
research, technology, education, and
entertainment. The home of the United
Nations Headquarters,[14] New York City
is an important center for international
diplomacy[15] and has been described as
the cultural and financial capital of the
world.[16][17][18][19][20] New York City alone
makes up over 40 percent of the
population of New York State, while twothirds of the state's population resides
within the New York City Metropolitan
Area, and Long Island is home to nearly
40% of New York State's
population.[21][22][23][24] Both the state and
New York 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 Na

tive Americans at the time Dutch settlers

moved into the region in the early 17th
century. In 1609, the region was first
claimed byHenry Hudson for the
Dutch. Fort Nassau was 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 annexed the colony from the
Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British
colony, the Province of New York, were
quite similar to those of the present-day
state.
About one third of all the battles of
the Revolutionary War took place in New
York. Thestate constitution was enacted
in 1777. New York became the 11th state
to ratify theUnited States Constitution, on
July 26, 1788.
Contents

[hide]

1 History
o 1.1 17th century
o 1.2 American Revolution
o 1.3 19th century
o 1.4 September 11, 2001 attacks
o 1.5 Hurricane Sandy, 2012
o 1.6 Immigration
2 Geography
o 2.1 Climate
o 2.2 State parks
o 2.3 National Parks
o 2.4 Regions
o 2.5 Administrative divisions
2.5.1 Most populous counties
3 Major cities
o 3.1 Metropolitan areas
4 Demographics
o 4.1 Population
o 4.2 Racial and ancestral makeup
o 4.3 Languages
o 4.4 Religion

4.5 LGBT
5 Economy
6 Transportation
7 Government, elections, and politics
o 7.1 Government
o 7.2 Elections
7.2.1 Federal representation
o 7.3 Politics
8 Education
9 Sports
10 See also
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
o

History
Main article: History of New York
17th century
See also: Province of New York
Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage marked the
beginning of European involvement with
the 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.[25] 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 peoplesexpanded into
the colony of New Netherland. 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
town New Amsterdam which is presentday New York City); and Esopus, (1653,
now Kingston). The success of

the patroonship of Rensselaerswyck(163

0), 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
theSecond 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.[26]
American Revolution
The Sons of Liberty were organized in
New York City during the 1760s, largely
in response to the oppressive Stamp
Act passed by the British Parliament in
1765. TheStamp Act Congress met in the
city on October 19 of that year,
composed of representatives from across
the Thirteen Colonies who set the stage
for the Continental Congress to follow.

The Stamp Act Congress resulted in

the Declaration 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.

New York in 1777

The Capture of Fort
Ticonderoga provided the cannon and
gunpowder necessary to force
a Britishwithdrawal from the Siege of
Boston in 1775.

New York endorsed the Declaration of

Independenceon July 9, 1776.[27] The
New York State constitution was framed
by a convention which assembled
atWhite Plains on July 10, 1776, and
after repeated adjournments and
changes of location, terminated its labors
at Kingston 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.
The notorious British prison
ships of Wallabout Bay saw more
American combatantsdie 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
theBattle of Saratoga in 1777, influencing
France to ally with the revolutionaries.

British general John

Burgoyne surrenders atSaratoga in 1777.
In an attempt to retain their sovereignty
and remain an independent nation
positioned between the new United

States and British North America, four of

theIroquois Nations fought on the side of
the British; only the Oneidas and their
dependents the Tuscaroras allied
themselves to the
Americans.[28] The Sullivan Expedition of
1778 and 1779 destroyed nearly 50
Iroquois villages and adjacent croplands,
forcing many refugees to British-held
Niagara.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31]

1800 map of New York fromLow's

Encyclopaedia
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