New York, the financial center of the Unites States is the third most populous state in the country. It became the eleventh state of the U.S.A on July 26, 1788. The state’s capital is Albany, and the largest city is New York City. New York is bordered by the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. The bordering country is Canada and the bordering bodies of water are Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Champlain and the Atlantic Ocean. New York’s main rivers are the Hudson River, Mohawk River and Genesee River. New York is also known for its history as a gateway for immigration into the United States. It received its nickname 'The Empire State' presumably by George Washington, due to its economic and industrial growth.
New York’s state bird is the Eastern Bluebird and its state flower is the Rose. The official flag of New York was adopted in 1901. The flag presents a deep blue background with a shield in the center. The shield features the sun, hills and two boats sailing on the Hudson River. Above the shield is a globe and a bald eagle. On the left side of the shield stands Liberty holding a pole with a liberty cap and a crown discarded at her feet. Liberty symbolizes freedom and the discarded crown represents freedom from Britain after the Revolutionary War. To the right of the shield stands Justice, symbolizing justice before the law. She is blindfolded and is holding the scales of justice. Below the shield, Liberty and Justice is a white ribbon, which reads ‘Excelsior’.
In 1609, Henry Hudson discovered the Hudson River. Not long after, the Dutch settled in the ‘New Netherlands’ and permanently and ruled the land. In 1664, the English conquered the land and named it New York to honour the Duke of York in England. New York stayed under English ownership until it declared its independence on July 9, 1776, becoming one of the original 13 states of the Federal Union. The following year, on April 20, 1777, New York’s first constitution was adopted. This constitution was a combination document, containing the state's Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, and its Constitutional Law.
After the independence of the state was declared, the American Revolutionary War took place. The major battle occurred in 1776 in New York at the Battle of Long Island. The British became victorious and made New York City their military and political base of operations for the rest of the battle. It was the Battle of Saratoga that was the turning point of the Revolution, which then lead to the French alliance and finally victory of the war.
The first government of New York came from the Revolution. The election occurred in 1777 and on July 30, 1777 George Clinton was declared elected and was inaugurated as Governor at Kingston. Following this, in 1797, Albany was declared the capital of the state of New York.
On July 4, 1884, a representative of the Franco-American Union formally presented the Statue of Liberty, which is located in the New York Harbour, to the U.S Minister to France in order to mark the Centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. Although the cornerstone was laid in August of 1884, the Statue of Liberty only arrived in June 1885, packaged in 214 crates.
New York is a state that has many state parks and forest preserves. In 1892 Adirondack Park was established and was provided with constitutional protection in 1894. Another Park, the Catskill Park was protected in a legislation passed in 1885. This park is home for fishers, bobcats, mink and about 400 black bears.
New York is also known as one of the biggest financial centers. It also focuses and advances in communications, international trade, publishing, fashion, tourism and farming fruit and dairy products.
New York generally has a humid continental climate. The winters are long and cold. The summer climate can get quite cool, especially in the Catskills and the Adirondacks. In New York City however, the summers can get quite hot and uncomfortably humid. The rest of the state benefits from pleasantly warm summers.
New York, known as the third most populous state of America, had an estimated 19,541,453 in July 1, 2009, a 2.7% increase since the last census in the year 2000. Immigration from outside of the country produced a net increase of 876, 969 people. Although New York has a vast amount of open land, most of its residents reside in urban areas. The states population increases with international immigration, making it the second largest immigration population in the country. Just over 40% of the citizens are Catholic, 30% Protestants, 8.4% Jews, 3.5% Muslims, 1% Buddhists and 13% claim no religious faith.
Many people who became famous and public figureheads were born in New York. They were:
• Martin Van Buren - he was the 8th US President serving from 1837 to 1841
• Millard Fillmore - he was the 13th US President, serving from 1850 to 1853
• Theodore Roosevelt - he was the 26th US President, serving from 1901 to 1909
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt - he was the 32th US President, serving from 1933 to 1945
There are many attractions that attract visitors to New York. The most famous are the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero, Central Park Zoo and Times Square. There are also some other interesting attractions such as Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, NY Skyride, New York Yankees, Prospect Park, Times Square, Ripleys Believe it or Not, Yankee Stadium, Titanic Artefact Exhibition, Battery Park, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Brooklyn Museum, Madison Square, Coney Island, Rockefeller Center, Soho, Wall Street and the World Financial Center.
Source:
Wikipedia
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