New York (state)

New York, also called New York State, is a <a href="/facts/U.S._state/PFwcRIYQ">state</a> in the <a href="/facts/Northeastern_United_States/Xa8zQlkM">northeastern United States</a>. Bordered by <a href="/facts/New_England/ufw2BmSl">New England</a> to the east, <a href="/facts/Canada/D5P9yqs6">Canada</a> to the north, and <a href="/facts/Pennsylvania/HGqC5bBm">Pennsylvania</a> and <a href="/facts/New_Jersey/pI5k19S7">New Jersey</a> to the south, its territory extends into both the <a href="/facts/Atlantic_Ocean/EI4uChIb">Atlantic Ocean</a> and the <a href="/facts/Great_Lakes/Fd7pDkPX">Great Lakes</a>. New York is the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population/ytDJqMaH">fourth-most populous state in the United States</a>, with nearly 20 million residents, and the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area/q3nFXQlt">27th-largest state by area</a>, with a total area of 54,556 square miles (141,300 km2).
New York has <a href="/facts/Geography_of_New_York_(state)/BcAd7HeG">a varied geography</a>. The southeastern part of the state, known as <a href="/facts/Downstate_New_York/Yc6H0Bcv">Downstate</a>, encompasses <a href="/facts/New_York_City/YlyvFmVC">New York City</a>, the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._cities_by_population/rcYY6hsJ">most populous city in the United States</a>; <a href="/facts/Long_Island/u42NF647">Long Island</a>, with approximately 40% of the state's population, the nation's most populous island; and the cities, suburbs, and wealthy enclaves of the lower <a href="/facts/Hudson_Valley/RTEkfwek">Hudson Valley</a>. These areas are the center of the expansive <a href="/facts/New_York_metropolitan_area/vGvjnvyK">New York metropolitan area</a> and account for approximately two-thirds of the state's population. The larger <a href="/facts/Upstate_New_York/rjNaWzld">Upstate</a> area spreads from the <a href="/facts/Great_Lakes/Fd7pDkPX">Great Lakes</a> to <a href="/facts/Lake_Champlain/KpoWUa40">Lake Champlain</a> and includes the <a href="/facts/Adirondack_Mountains/1uh4fJ2s">Adirondack Mountains</a> and the <a href="/facts/Catskill_Mountains/qK5UqX2M">Catskill Mountains</a> (part of the wider <a href="/facts/Appalachian_Mountains/f7X1GBDE">Appalachian Mountains</a>). The east–west <a href="/facts/Mohawk_River/XY9j0D1K">Mohawk River</a> Valley bisects the more mountainous regions of Upstate and flows into the north–south <a href="/facts/Hudson_River/dGgu7VFE">Hudson River</a> valley near the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._state_capitals/RMAd1LFl">state capital</a> of <a href="/facts/Albany%2c_New_York/A4p7Ugnt">Albany</a>. <a href="/facts/Western_New_York/9jaHzFmB">Western New York</a>, home to the cities of <a href="/facts/Buffalo%2c_New_York/PVfdkYft">Buffalo</a> and <a href="/facts/Rochester%2c_New_York/dfEIYtDu">Rochester</a>, is part of the <a href="/facts/Great_Lakes_region/TBaC5hc3">Great Lakes region</a> and borders <a href="/facts/Lake_Ontario/CVDvjIAu">Lake Ontario</a> and <a href="/facts/Lake_Erie/m9RScPVI">Lake Erie</a>. <a href="/facts/Central_New_York/wPhPptDn">Central New York</a> is anchored by the city of <a href="/facts/Syracuse%2c_New_York/luD99ChN">Syracuse</a>; between the central and western parts of the state, New York is prominently featured by the <a href="/facts/Finger_Lakes/3AeDBmBR">Finger Lakes</a>, a popular tourist destination. To the south, along the state border with Pennsylvania, the <a href="/facts/Southern_Tier/GFWTQzpo">Southern Tier</a> sits atop the <a href="/facts/Allegheny_Plateau/weRnIgyb">Allegheny Plateau</a>, representing some of the northernmost reaches of <a href="/facts/Appalachia/GGjCgGyK">Appalachia</a>.
New York was one of the original <a href="/facts/Thirteen_Colonies/H50dauTJ">Thirteen Colonies</a> that went on to form the United States. The area of present-day New York had been inhabited by tribes of the <a href="/facts/Algonquian_peoples/zXDb2kwD">Algonquians</a> and the <a href="/facts/Iroquois/PnYFTuIP">Iroquois</a> Confederacy <a href="/facts/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas/LG2r6wXm">Native Americans</a> for several thousand years by the time the earliest Europeans arrived. Stemming from <a href="/facts/Henry_Hudson/6XxATEzh">Henry Hudson</a>'s expedition in 1609, the <a href="/facts/Dutch_people/QhHtJ2WK">Dutch</a> established the multiethnic colony of <a href="/facts/New_Netherland/2S44xW81">New Netherland</a> in 1621. <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_England/1VqdIuFc">England</a> seized the colony from the Dutch in 1664, renaming it the <a href="/facts/Province_of_New_York/5utR29GL">Province of New York</a>. During the <a href="/facts/American_Revolutionary_War/8MxJNtcU">American Revolutionary War</a>, a group of colonists eventually succeeded in establishing independence, and the state ratified the then new <a href="/facts/United_States_Constitution/AJlEWNR3">United States Constitution</a> in 1788. From the early 19th century, New York's development of its interior, beginning with the construction of the <a href="/facts/Erie_Canal/NBrheTH9">Erie Canal</a>, gave it incomparable advantages over other regions of the United States. The state built its political, cultural, and economic ascendancy over the next century, earning it the nickname of the "<a href="/facts/Empire_State/wcMN7M7r">Empire State</a>". Although <a href="/facts/Rust_Belt/W91XSt7x">deindustrialization</a> eroded a portion of the state's economy in the second half of the 20th century, New York in the 21st century continues to be considered as a global node of <a href="/facts/Innovation/aa7hadLw">creativity</a> and <a href="/facts/Entrepreneurship/gr8E0Su2">entrepreneurship</a>, <a href="/facts/Social_tolerance/xJWeVd0t">social tolerance</a>, and <a href="/facts/Environmental_sustainability/9oYH9mAs">environmental sustainability</a>.

The state attracts visitors from all over the globe, with the highest count of any U.S. state in 2022. Many of its landmarks are well known, including four of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions in 2013: <a href="/facts/Times_Square/MB9V2j7y">Times Square</a>, <a href="/facts/Central_Park/QgR0k7Hl">Central Park</a>, <a href="/facts/Niagara_Falls/xoxUleQq">Niagara Falls</a>, and <a href="/facts/Grand_Central_Terminal/sR09Dj8Q">Grand Central Terminal</a>. New York is home to <a href="/facts/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_New_York_(state)/et4Erw32">approximately 200 colleges and universities</a>, including <a href="/facts/Ivy_League/BJchlDEN">Ivy League</a> members <a href="/facts/Columbia_University/Hlf1gw53">Columbia University</a> and <a href="/facts/Cornell_University/FGyXuXeI">Cornell University</a>, and the expansive <a href="/facts/State_University_of_New_York/EuEWW1KJ">State University of New York</a>, which is among the largest university systems in the nation. New York City is home to the <a href="/facts/Headquarters_of_the_United_Nations/4pof9vnU">headquarters of the United Nations</a>, and it is sometimes described as the world's most important city, the <a href="/facts/Culture_of_New_York_City/xSxGxGe8">cultural</a>, <a href="/facts/Wall_Street/Xt5SxcCN">financial</a>, and <a href="/facts/Media_in_New_York_City/fg5mnobM">media</a> epicenter, and the capital of the world.

New York (state) open-in-new

New York (state)