Fast Facts

Population:
19,190,115
Capital:
Albany; 93,779
Area:
54,556 square miles (141,299 square kilometers)
Per Capita Income:
U.S. $35,708
Date Statehood Achieved:
July 26, 1788
Illustration: New York Flag

Historic gateway to the New World, New York City welcomed millions of immigrants ashore at Ellis Island from the 1890s to the 1920s. The nation's most populous metropolis—still a major entry point—is a world center of finance, communications, fashion, and culture. Commerce has long flourished along the Hudson River, and the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 opened up a key trade route to the interior. The St. Lawrence Seaway and power projects in the north have led to industrial expansion in that part of the state.

ECONOMY

  • Industry: Printing and publishing, machinery, computer products, finance, tourism
  • Agriculture: Dairy products, cattle and other livestock, vegetables, nursery stock, apples

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

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