NEW YORK, a State in the North Atlantic Division of the North American Union; bounded by Ontario, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Long Island Sound, and the Atlantic Ocean; one of the original 13 States; number of counties, 62; capital, Albany; area, 47,620 square miles; pop. (1890) 5,997,853; (1900) 7,268.012; (1910) 9,113,279; (1920) 10,385,227.
Topography.—The Adirondack sys tem lies in the N. E. corner, W. of Lake Champlain, and contains the only great forest remaining as a public domain within the boundaries of the State. Its highest peaks are Mount Marcy, 5,379 feet; Mount Maclntyre, 5,183 feet; and Haystack, 4,919 feet. Other high peaks are Skylight, Whiteface, Clinton, Dix, Baldface, and Hopkins. S. of the Adi rondacks lie the Catskills, noted for their scenic beauty, and as a summer resort. These mountains form the termination of a chain extending into the State from New Jersey, and are a continuation of the Blue Ridge range. Another branch enters the State at its S. boundary and terminates in the Highlands on the Hud son. These mountains range in altitude from 1,500 to 3,500 feet. Among the more prominent are Beacon Hill, Bull Hill, and Butter Hill. A third range ex tends N. as far as the Mohawk, and re appearing on the N. side of the river continues toward Lake Champlain, con necting with the Adirondacks. The W. portion of the State is undulating, descending in rolling terraces to Lake Ontario. The river systems are divided into two divisions, one flowing N. to the Great Lakes, and St. Lawrence, and the other reaching the Atlantic by the Hud son. The Hudson river, the most im portant in the State, rises in the Adi rondack Mountains and is navigable for 150 miles. The St. Lawrence forms 100 miles of the Canadian boundary. Other important rivers are the Mohawk, en tering the Hudson at Cohoes, the Sus quehanna, formed by the Chenango and Tioga, the Delaware, Niagara, Black, Genesee, Oswego, and Allegheny. The lakes are numerous and noted for their beauty. One half of Lakes Ontario, and Champlain, and the E. end of Lake Erie are property of the State. Lake George, S. of Lake Champlain, is an extensive sheet of water and is a noted resort.
The central portion of the State has an extensive lake system, containing Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Keuka, and Canan daigua lakes. The Adirondack region is full of lakes, including Long, Schroon, Upper and Lower Saranac, Placid, and Baguette. Chautauqua, in the S. W., and Saratoga and Otsego in the E. are among the many pleasure resorts. The waterfalls in the State are numerous, and include Niagara Falls, Trenton Falls, Genesee Falls, Portage, Tagh kanie, and those near Ithaca, and in Watkins Glen. There are many large islands, Manhattan, containing the greater part of New York City, Long Island, Staten Island, Coney Island, and Fire Island are on the S. Shore; and the St. Lawrence river contains over 700 small islands belonging to New York. The entire State is noted for its scenery; the Palisades, Highlands, and Catskills on the Hudson, Lake George, and Lake Champlain, the islands in the St. Law rence, numerous waterfalls, chasms, in land lakes, and glens, all abound in his torical traditions and are of great in terest to the tourist. The chief harbors are New York, on New York Bay; Dun kirk and Buffalo on Lake Erie; Tona wanda and Lewiston, on Niagara river; Genesee, Sodus, Oswego, Sacketts Har bor, and Cape Vincent on Lake Ontario; Ogdensburg on the St. Lawrence; Rouse's Point, Plattsburg, and White hall, on Lake Champlain; and Sag Har bor on the E. end of Long Island.
Geology.—Nearly all the geological formations are present in New York. The Archaean is represented in the Adi rondacks and the Highlands on the Hudson by gneisses and granites. The Palmozoic constitutes four-fifths the area of the State and is represented by schists, slates, and metamorphosed rocks in the E. and by massive sandstones in the Catskills. The Palmozoic is repre sented by the Cambrian, Silurian and Devonian periods. The Triassic and Jurassic are represented by Newark sandstones and shales, in Rockland eounty; and the Pleistocene, by glacial drift, and lacustrinea and estuarine clays covering a great part of the State. The Pleistocene ice sheet covered the en tire State and is responsible for many of the details of topography.