New York (State): nature and city, Niagara and New York

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The state of New York (The Empire State) is located in the northeastern part of the United States. The largest city in the state is the New York megalopolis, but the state capital is Albany. This is one of the oldest cities in the United States, it was in fact founded by the Dutch in 1614.

The state of New York overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and is bordered by Canada to the north, Vermont to the north east, Massachusetts to the east, Connecticut to the southeast, New Jersey to the southwest and Pennsylvania, further south-east, at Long Island has a maritime border with Rhode Island.

The Great Appalachian Valley occupies the eastern part of the state, while the western area is characterized by the Hudson Valley and Lake Champlain. To the west of this area, to the north, are the wild Adirondack Mountains (here there is also the highest peak in the state, Mount Marcy (1,629 meters), while to the south are the Catskill Mountains.

Among the most important rivers is the Hudson River, which runs through the state for its entire course. While part of the Canadian border is marked by the St. Lawrence River. Another river that marks the border with Canada is the Niagara River which forms the famous waterfalls. As for the lakes, Lake Champlain is located in the north east along the Vermont border. The southern shores of Lake Ontario and the southeastern shores of Lake Erie are part of the state of New York.

A DUTCH COLONY

Today’s state of New York, in the seventeenth century, was the center of the Dutch colony of Nieuw Nederland, which occupied the territories from Delaware to Connecticut along the coast, and inland the whole valley of the Hudson River to Albany. The Dutch colony was occupied by the British in 1664 and with the Treaty of Breda it was exchanged with the colony of Suriname. In 1673 the Dutch re-occupied their old possessions and kept them until November 1674, when they were again assigned to the British.

• Area: 141.299 sq. km. (27th largest state of the United States of America).
• Population: 19.500.000 (data 2008) (Whites 67.9%, Blacks 15.9%, Asian 5.5%, Amerindian 0.4%. Hispanics (classified into different racial types) are 15.1%. data 2000).
• State Capital: Albany.
• Languages: The official language is English (spoken as a first language by 71,8% of the population). Spanish is spoken as a first language by 14.0% of the population. Chinese is spoken as a first language by 1.66%, Russian is spoken as a first language by 1.33%, Italian is spoken as a first language by 1.27%. (Data 2005).
• Religion: Christian 74% (Roman Catholic (39%), Evangelical (11%), Protestant (21%), Eastern Orthodox (1%)), Jehovah’s Witnesses (1%), Muslim (1%), Jewish (6%), Buddhist (1%), Hindu (1%).
• Time zone: (UTC-5; SummerUTC-4).

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