New York (state)

Before European colonization, the area of present-day New York State was inhabited by Algonquian-speaking peoples and the Iroquois.⁠[1]

In 1524, Giovanni Verrazzano visited New York Bay.⁠[1]

In 1609, the expeditions of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain took place, leading to European settlement of the area.⁠[1]

In 1624 the Dutch first settled along the Hudson River and established the colony of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, the forerunner of today’s New York City.⁠[2]

In 1664, the Dutch colony of New Netherland, led by Peter Stuyvesant, surrendered to the English and was renamed New York.⁠[1]

The name “New York” honors James, Duke of York, a son of King Charles I who later became King James II.⁠[2]

During the French and Indian War, skirmishes took place in northern and central New York, and the end of the war confirmed English dominance in the region.⁠[1]

During the American Revolution, many battles were fought in New York, including those at Ticonderoga and Saratoga, and Benedict Arnold’s treason took place at West Point.⁠[1]

In 1777, New York adopted its first state constitution.⁠[1]

In the same year, Kingston became New York’s first capital, and the first gubernatorial election was held; George Clinton won and went on to serve as governor for 18 years.⁠[3]

On June 17, 1788, the New York ratifying convention assembled in Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River, where Antifederalists outnumbered Federalists by more than two to one. On June 24 the convention learned that New HampshireNew HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by Quebec, Canada, to the north, Vermont across the Connecticut River to the west, Massachusetts to the south, and Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; its capital is Concord. One of the original 13 colonies, it became the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on June 21, 1788, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 1,377,529.Open the full entry had become the ninth state to ratify, and on July 2 it received news of VirginiaVirginiaVirginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state whose capital is Richmond. It entered the Union on June 25, 1788, as the 10th state, and had a population of 8,631,393 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry’s ratification.⁠[4][5]

On July 19 the convention adopted Lansing’s draft of conditional ratification; on July 23 a motion to replace “upon condition” with “in full confidence” carried 31 to 29. On July 26 the convention ratified the Constitution by a vote of 30 to 27, together with a declaration of rights and recommendatory amendments. It also issued a circular letter calling for a general convention to consider amendments.⁠[4]

In 1797, the state capital moved from New York City to Albany.⁠[1][3]

The Erie Canal opened in 1825 and spurred the development of western New York. The Hudson and Mohawk valleys later served as corridors for the Erie Canal, the New York Central Railroad and the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway.⁠[1][6]

In the 19th century, the growing influence of Tammany Hall in New York City created tension between the city and the state.⁠[1]

In 1879, James T. Gardiner and Frederick Law Olmsted prepared a report for the state legislature on preserving Niagara Falls, one of the first state-level conservation efforts in the United States.⁠[5]

Opened on January 1, 1892, Ellis Island became the nation’s premier federal immigration station; by the time it closed in 1954 it had processed more than 12 million immigrant steamship passengers. On May 11, 1965, it became part of Statue of Liberty National Monument, and its main building, restored after 30 years of abandonment, opened as a museum on September 10, 1990.⁠[7]

Beginning in the mid-1960s, California displaced New York as the most populous state, mainly because of growth on the West Coast rather than a major decline in New York.⁠[6]

The “I Love NY” slogan and logo were first used in 1977. Designed by Milton Glaser to promote tourism, the trademark is held by Empire State Development.⁠[8]

In 2000, TexasTexasTexas is a U.S. state in the south-central United States, with its capital at Austin and its largest city Houston. It was admitted to the Union on December 29, 1845, as the 28th state, and the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted 29,145,505 residents.Open the full entry overtook New York as the second most populous state.⁠[6]

In the 2020 census apportionment results released on April 26, 2021, New York was one of seven states to lose one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, going from 27 seats to 26.⁠[9][10]

Accordingly, New York has 28 electoral votes in the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.⁠[11]

The governor’s official website describes Kathy HochulKathy HochulKathy Hochul is an American Democratic politician who has been the 57th governor of New York since August 2021, the state’s first female governor. She previously served as lieutenant governor of New York and as a U.S. representative, and was re-elected in November 2026.Open the full entry as the 57th governor of New York State and its first female governor; she was sworn in at a procedural ceremony in Albany at midnight on August 24, 2021. She previously served on her local town board, as Erie County Clerk, as a member of Congress and as lieutenant governor.⁠[12][13]

The state legislature is bicameral. The Assembly has 150 members, each representing one of 150 districts, who meet each year for a legislative session in the Assembly Chamber of the State Capitol in Albany.⁠[3]

The State Constitution provides for a Senate of varying size, currently 63 members; members of both houses serve two-year terms, and the governor is elected to a four-year term. The Court of Appeals is the state’s highest court, consisting of a chief judge and six associate judges appointed by the governor.⁠[14]

New York State is bounded on the north and west by Lake Erie, Ontario, Lake Ontario and Quebec; on the east by VermontVermontVermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States; its capital is Montpelier and its largest city is Burlington. It joined the Union on March 4, 1791, as the 14th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 643,077.Open the full entry, MassachusettsMassachusettsMassachusetts (officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States; its capital and largest city is Boston. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on February 6, 1788, the sixth state to do so. Its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 7,029,917.Open the full entry and ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a U.S. state in the New England region. Its capital is Hartford and its largest city is Bridgeport (2010 census). It entered the Union on January 9, 1788, as the 5th state, and had a population of 3,605,944 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry; on the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean and New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the eastern United States on the Atlantic Ocean, bordered by New York State, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, with the Hudson River forming its northeastern boundary and the Delaware River its western boundary; its capital is Trenton and its largest city is Newark. One of the original 13 colonies, it became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 18, 1787, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 9,288,994.Open the full entry; and on the south by PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaPennsylvania (officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) is a Middle Atlantic state of the United States; its capital is Harrisburg, and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are its two great metropolitan areas. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on December 12, 1787, the second state to do so. Its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 13,002,700.Open the full entry. The Hudson, St. Lawrence, DelawareDelawareDelaware is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic region on the East Coast, with its capital at Dover and Wilmington as its largest city. On December 7, 1787, it became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, entering the Union as the 1st state, and it had a population of 989,948 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry and Niagara rivers form parts of its boundaries.⁠[6][1]

U.S. Census Bureau area data (boundaries as of January 1, 2010) give the state a total area of 54,555 square miles (141,297 km²), of which 47,126 square miles (122,057 km²) is land and 7,429 square miles (19,240 km²) is water; the water area comprises 1,989 square miles of inland water, 975 square miles of coastal water, 3,986 square miles of Great Lakes water and 479 square miles of territorial water.⁠[15]

The state has nine physiographic regions: the Adirondack upland, the St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Hudson-Mohawk Lowland, the New England Upland, the Atlantic Coastal Plain (including Long Island and Staten Island), the eastern Piedmont, the Appalachian Highlands (about half of the state), the Erie-Ontario Lowlands and the Tug Hill Upland. The highest point is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks, at 5,344 feet (1,629 m); the Catskills lie in the east.⁠[6][1]

Major rivers include the Hudson, Mohawk, Genesee, Oswego, Delaware, SusquehannaSusquehanna International GroupSusquehanna International Group (SIG) is a quantitative trading and market-making firm based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, founded in 1987 by Jeff Yass and a group of college friends. Trading is its core business; it also works in institutional sales, private equity and prediction-market making, and was an early investor in ByteDance.Open the full entry and Allegheny. The Hudson River flows more than 300 miles from its source in the Adirondacks to New York Harbor. The state has about 8,000 lakes, about 130 miles (210 km) of Atlantic shoreline and about 370 miles (600 km) of shoreline on Lakes Erie and Ontario; Niagara Falls is a major source of hydroelectric power and a scenic attraction.⁠[6][5]

During at least part of the last Ice Age, glaciers covered most of the state except southern Long Island, Staten Island and the far southwestern corner. The state has a wide range of geographic and climatic conditions, and the moderating influence of the lakes has made the Erie-Ontario region an important fruit-growing area.⁠[6]

New York’s estimated population on July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau), was 20,002,427, fourth among the states and slightly up from 20,001,419 on July 1, 2024. Net international migration to New York from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, was 95,634, among the highest of any state.⁠[16]

On July 1, 2025, Kings County had an estimated population of 2,653,963, ninth among U.S. counties. From 2024 to 2025, Queens County lost 8,852 residents and Kings County lost 4,694, ranking fourth and eighth among counties by numeric decline.⁠[17]

More than four-fifths of New Yorkers live in the state’s cities and their suburbs; the cities include New York City, Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo.⁠[6]

New York’s nominal GDP in 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis) was $2,465,749.3 million (current dollars, not seasonally adjusted).⁠[18]

The economy was once based largely on manufacturing in cities such as Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse and is now dominated by service industries concentrated in New York City; the city and the state remain centers of the national economy and finance. In agriculture, the Erie-Ontario Lowlands grow fruit, the Finger Lakes valleys support dairying and the Delaware basin has mixed farming; the main economic value of the Adirondacks and the Catskills lies in recreation.⁠[1][6]

New York’s nickname is the “Empire State.” The state motto is “Excelsior” (“Ever Upward”); under the FY 2021 Enacted Budget, “E pluribus unum” was also added to the banner of the arms.⁠[6][19]

The Device of Arms was officially adopted in 1778; at its center are a ship and a sloop on a river, with a mountain range and a rising sun, flanked by Liberty and Justice beneath an American eagle. The state describes the state flag as a modern version of a Revolutionary War flag, the original of which is held by the Albany Institute of History and Art.⁠[19][8]

The Great Seal has had five forms: one devised in 1777 by Messrs. Morris, Jay and Hobart; the complete arms and seal devised in 1778 by Governor George Clinton and Chancellor Livingston; one recorded on January 22, 1799, under an act of 1798; one first used on November 28, 1809, under an act of 1809; and one of 1882, following the report of a commission of Governor Alonzo B. CornellCornell UniversityCornell University is a private research university in Ithaca, New York, and a member of the Ivy League. It is New York State's federal land-grant university, a distinction unique within the Ivy League. Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White founded the university in 1865, and it opened in 1868. In addition to its Ithaca campus, Cornell operates Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Tech in New York City and a medical college in Qatar. It enrolled 26,793 students in fall 2024. Its president is Michael I. Kotlikoff.Open the full entry and others. The seal is in the custody of the Secretary of State.⁠[19]

The state bird is the eastern bluebird (1970), the state flower the rose (1955), the state tree the sugar maple (1956) and the state animal the beaver (1975); other symbols include the state gem, garnet (1969), the state fruit, the apple (1976), the state fossil, Eurypterus remipes (1984), and the state beverage, milk (1981).⁠[8]

The State of New York: Official website: https://www.ny.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[20]

Governor Kathy Hochul: Official website: https://www.governor.ny.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[12]

New York State Assembly: Official website: https://assembly.ny.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]

New York State Department of State: Official website: https://dos.ny.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[19]

New York State Library: Official website: https://nysl.nysed.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]