NEW YORK. one of the thirteen original states of the United States of America, now the most important in population and wealth, occupies an irregular triangular area from the Atlantic ocean to the great lakes, lat. 40° 29' 40' to 45° 0' n., long. 71° 51' to 79° 47' 25' iv. The state is 412 in. from e. to w., 311 from n. to s., with an area of 47,000 sq. tn., or 80.800,000 acres; bounded n. by lake Erie, lake Ontario, the river St. Law rence, and Canada: e. by lake Champlain, and the states of Vermont, 3Iassachusetts, and Connecticut, and by the Atlantic ocean, s. by the ocean, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania: w. by Pennsylvania, the Niagara river, and the lakes which make its irregular north western boundary. The state has 60 counties. Its chief towns are New York city, Albany (the capital), Buffalo, Rochester, Oswego, Syracuse, Utica, etc. Pop. '70. 4.373.065, of whom 1.000,000 are of foreign birth, 500,000 being Irish, and about 250,000 Germans. New York, though resting only one corner upon the Atlantic, has its sea-coast extended by Long Island, Staten Island, etc.; to 246 nn; while it has a hike coast of 352 in., and beirders for 251 m. on navigable rivers. The Hudson, broad and deep, with tides tlowing 150 m., joins at Albany a system of canals, which connect New York city with the great western lakes and the river St. Lawrence. The state is also traversed by railway-lines in every direction. The center is beautified by many picturesque lakes, and its north-eastern portion and the banks of the Hudson by fine mountain scenery. The Blue Ridge of the Alleghenies form the highlands, whose peaks rise 1500 ft. from the Hudson; n. of these, the Catskills rise to a height of 300 ft.. with a large hotel for summer visitors at an elevation of 2,000 ft.; while Mt. Marcy and Mt. Anthony, peaks of the Adirondacks, in the wild region w. of lake Cham plain, are 5,337 and 5,000 ft. high. The chief rivers, besides tile Niagara and St. Lawrence. are the Hudson, its chief branch the Mohawk, the Genesee, and the sources of the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Allegheny. Its geology presents a series of older rocks, from the azoic to the lower members of the carboniferous Red sandstone of the middle secondary period is found on the borders of New Jersey: drift and bowlders are found everywhere; the great Silurian belt passes along the eastern line, and granite with iron occurs in the n.e. There is no coal, but rich beds of marble near New York city; productive salt-springs in the center of the state, which yielded, in 1374, 6.594.191 bushels; and petroleum and natural gas, enough in some cases to light large villages, in thaw. Among the ,rnihcralbprings, those of Saratoga and Ballston have a wine reputation. The climate, mild on the coast, is cold in the northern counties. The soil, particularly of the western and limestone regions, is very fertile, producing the finest wheat, maize, apples, peaches, melons, grapes, etc., in
abundance, In 1870, New York state produced 5,614,205 tons of hay, 12,178,462 bushels of wheat, 35,293,625 of oats, 16.462,825 of maize, 17,558,681 lbs. hops, 6,692, 040 1b.. 22,769.964 lbs. cheese. 10,599,225 lbs. wool. Among the natural curiosities are the falls of Niagara; of the Genesee, three cascades of 96, 25, and 84 ft. in 2} m.; of the Trenton, which falls 200 ft. in 5 cascades; the Taghanic falls, of 230 ft.; and the oft.painted falls of the Cauterskill, 175 and 85 ft., in a gorge of the Catskill mountains. In 1870 there were 30,206 manufacturing establishments, employing 351, 800 persons, and a capital of $366,994,320; and in 1875 there were 5,442 m. of railway in the state; the Erie canal is 350 m.. and the New York canals together 855 m.; 351 banks of issue have a capital of $124.589,000. In 1870 there were 5,474 churches; 11,678 public schools, attended by 719,181 pupils; 274 classical, professional, and technical schools, including 7 universities, 24 colleges, and 189 academies, with all attendance of 43,728 pupils; and 1068 boarding and other schools, with an attendance of 99,113 pupils. In 1874 the expenditure for teachers and scholars was $11,088,981, and the total number of children at school, 1,224,321. The number of paupers sup ported during the year ending June 1, 1870, was 26,152, at a cost of $2,661,385. The number of persons convicted of crime during the same period was 5,473, of which 2,000 were foreign born. There were 835 newspapers and other periodicals-87 daily, 518 weekly, 163 monthly, 19 quarterly; but a large number of these are published in the, city of New York, and circulated over the union. The number of copies issued annu ally in the state was 471,741,744. In 1874 there were 1055 newspapers and periodicals.
The earliest explorations of New York by Europeans were in 1609 by Hendrick Hudson, who took possession of the country on the river which bears his name for the Dutch; and by Champlain, a Frenchman, who explored lake Champlain from Canada. It was posseitsed by the Iroquois, or Five Nations, and the Algonquins. In 1621 the Dutch made a settlement on Manhattan Island, which they bought for $24, and founded New Amsterdam, now New York. In 1664, New York was taken by the English. In the war of independence (1776), Washington was driven from New York city, which was held by the British till the end of the war; but West Point was held, and Burgoyne, after two severe battles near Saratoga. compelled to surrender. The state constitution was adopted in 1777, and has since been repeatedly amended. The governor is elected for three years, 32 senators for two years, and 123 members of assembly for one year. In 1825 the opening of the Erie canal gave a great impetus to trade. Pop. (1800) 586, 756; (1820) 1,372,812; (1860) 3,880,735; (1870) 4,382,759.