New York State Facts, Symbols and History

New York Fast Facts

Capital: Albany (popularity). 94.172 (2008 est.)

New York Population: 19,570,261 ( 2012 est.) (3rd)

New York Quarter: First quarter released in 2001 honored New York, and, 11th in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program.New York was admitted to the Union on July 26, 1788, becoming our National 11th State. Called the “Empire State,” the New York City block features the Statue of Liberty plotted on a map of the state that includes a line tracing the Hudson River and the route of the Erie Canal.The coin bears the inscription “Gateway to Freedom”.

Language: English, others

Largest Cities: (by population) New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, Syracuse, Albany

Name: After the Dutch surrendered this area to the British, it was named New York, after the English Duke of York.

Statehood: July 26, 1788 (11th state)

New York symbols

• Animal: beaver
• Bird: Eastern bluebird
• Fish: char
• Flag of New York
• Flower: (official)rose
• Gemstone: Wine Red Garnet
• Marine Mammal: Striped Bass
• Motto: “Soft wood chips” (ever up)
• Nicknames: (most used) State of the Empire, State of Softwood
• Song: “I Love New York”
• State seal
• Wood: sugar maple

New York is a state in the northeastern United States, on the Atlantic coast, near the border with Canada, the largest in the group of Mid-Atlantic states. Within the state is the largest city, the economic and political center of the country – New York. The state also includes the large island of Long Island. State area 141,000 sq. km, of which more than 18,000 sq. km are occupied by inland waters. The population is 19,465,197 people (third place after California and Texas, data for 2011), including about 85% of the city, more than 60% live in New York City. The administrative center is Albany. The largest cities and main industrial centers: New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse. Other major cities: Niagara Falls, Utica, Schenectady, Binghamton, Troy. See cities and towns in New York.

By the time of the arrival of Europeans, the tribes of the Iroquois League and the Algonquians lived in these places, which, during the European colonization of North America, underwent significant extermination. The development of the region began with the exploration of the Hudson River. J. da Verrazano visited New York Bay in 1524. In 1609, Henry Hudson, who served with the Dutch, came down the river to the area where the city of Albany is now located. Here in 1614-1618. there was the first settlement of Fort Nassau.

• AbbreviationFinder: Demonstrates how the two-letter acronym of NY stands for New York and a list of frequently used abbreviations related to the state of New York.

In 1621, this territory was included in the Dutch colonial possessions in North America, called New Netherland. In 1626, the city of New Amsterdam (the future New York) was founded, which became the center of the Dutch colonies. This territory was the object of a long Anglo-Dutch struggle. In 1664, the Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant, under pressure from the British fleet, surrendered the colony to the British. From 1664 (except 1673-1674) it was owned by the British (who gave their new colony the name New York). In 1664, the territory now known as the state of New Jersey was separated from the colony, a year later the border between New York and Connecticut was established, which did not change later. In 1688, New York, along with other colonies, became part of the Dominion of New England. After the uprising led by J. Liesler, power in the colony was in the hands of the rebels for two years (1689-1691). In 1691, after the restoration of the power of the English crown, it was decided to create a legislative assembly. New York was the center of events during the French and Indian Wars, and many times, until the defeat of the French in 1761, was subjected to devastating raids.

During the War of Independence the future state also occupied a strategic position in the plans of the parties. In 1776-1777. a number of major clashes took place on its territory. In April 1777, New York ratified the US Constitution and in July 1778 became the 11th state with a temporary capital in the city of Kingston (in 1797 the capital was moved to Albany). By the end of the first quarter of the XIX century. the state had a highly developed agriculture and manufacturing industry with a center in the city of New York. The transportation network developed rapidly, helped by both the presence of natural waterways and the state’s location itself. The Erie Canal was completed in 1825, the first railroad connecting Albany and Schenectady was built in 1831, and 25 years later the entire state was covered by a network of railroads. In the 1830-1840s. Significant changes took place in society the process of democratization developed, organizations of farmers, women, and abolitionists were active. Reformatory tendencies were strong, giving rise to a galaxy of prominent New York politicians, includingMartin Van Buren, William Henry Seward, Horace Greeley.

Already by 1820, New York ranked first among the states in terms of population; before the Civil War, it became the country’s leading industrial state. in the American Civil War 1861-1865. participated on the side of the North. More than 500,000 residents of the state took part in the war, 50,000 people died. After the war, the economic development of the state continued at the same pace; the second half of the 19th century was characterized by the growth of corporations and the formation of giant trusts, the influx of immigrants from Europe. There was a sharp stratification of society, difficult working conditions worsened, corruption flourished in political life. The dominance of Tammany Hall was only brought to an end in the 1930s by the efforts of many prominent politicians, including New York City Mayor Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (1934-1945).

In New York State, in 2009, an amendment to the electoral law was introduced, according to which in all cities of the state, where more than a million people live, all documents related to the election process must be translated into Russian. Russian has become one of eight foreign languages in New York, in which all official campaign materials must be printed. Previously, the list included Spanish, Korean, Filipino, Creole and three dialects of Chinese.

The state of New York is bordered in the east by the states of Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, in the southeast it has access to the Atlantic Ocean, in the south it borders on the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in the west it has access to lakes Erie and Ontario and borders on the Canadian province Ontario, to the north with the province of Quebec.

Most of the territory of the state is occupied by the spurs of the Appalachians, reaching in the northeast, in the Adirondack mountains, a height of 1628 m. In the southwest, the edge of the Appalachian plateau up to 656 m high (Allegan Mountains). In the northwest, off the coast of Ontario, as well as on Long Island, there are lowlands. The climate is temperate and humid. In the southeast, the climate is milder and more humid, in the mountains – continental. Average monthly temperatures are from 0-8 to 23 degrees. Precipitation 800 – 1000 mm per year. About 13% of the area is occupied by rivers and lakes. The main rivers are the Hudson (connected to the Great Lakes system), Mohawk, St. Lawrence, Susquehanna. Coniferous and mixed forests.

New York is one of the most populated and economically developed states in the USA. Having yielded to California after 1960 the 1st place in terms of the number of inhabitants, New York occupies a leading position in the field of banking, securities trading, and telecommunications. Financial activities (including insurance), real estate sales give the state about 80% of gross income. Until the 1970s, when it lost ground to California, New York was the leading industrial state in the United States. Of the more than 7 million economically active population, industry accounts for about 25%, agriculture for 2%, trade and finance for almost 30%. Employed in the mining industry – 8,000, in the manufacturing – 1,800,000 people. The most important types of minerals are stone, salt, sand. In addition, the extraction of zinc (55,000 tons), table salt (about 5,000,000 tons), building materials, abrasives, production of titanium concentrates. Important branches of the manufacturing industry: clothing and printing (mainly in New York), electrical and radio-electronic, opto-mechanical, shipbuilding, aircraft and rocket industries, industrial equipment production. Ferrous (mainly in Buffalo) and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical, oil refining, food, leather and footwear industries, and aluminum smelting are also developed. Large hydroelectric power plants are on the Niagara and the St. Lawrence River. Agricultural products (suburban type) are mainly of local importance: apples, cherries, vegetables, corn. Fisheries are developed off the coast of Long Island. The transport network is highly developed. The tourism industry, centered on New York City, plays an important role in the state’s economy.

One of the most serious problems of the state is environmental pollution, the fight against them was marked by the adoption of effective legislative acts in the 1960s.

The leading role in the life of the state, and indeed the whole country, has traditionally been assigned to the city of New York. The annual gross product of this city alone exceeds the GNP of most countries in the world. New York is a traditional center of the textile industry, printing, food production, the largest seaport.

Buffalo is the center of heavy industry (although many steel mills closed in the 1980s), the largest lake port.

Rochester is a center for the production of optical instruments and photographic equipment.

Syracuse is a center of the chemical, metallurgical, electrical and pulp and paper industries, heavy engineering.

Utica and Rome (Rome) – mechanical engineering centers, Binghamton – consumer electronics, computers.