New York covers 54,556 square miles (141,300 km2) and
ranks as the 27th largest state by size. The Great
Appalachian Valley dominates eastern New York, while
Lake Champlain is the chief northern feature of the
valley, which also includes the Hudson River flowing
southward to the Atlantic Ocean. The rugged Adirondack
Mountains, with vast tracts of wilderness, lie west of
the valley. Most of the southern part of the state is on
the Allegheny Plateau, which rises from the southeast to
the Catskill Mountains. The western section of the state
is drained by the Allegheny River and rivers of the
Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The Delaware River
Basin Compact, signed in 1961 by New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the federal government,
regulates the utilization of water of the Delaware
system. The highest elevation in New York is Mount Marcy
in the Adirondacks.
New York's borders touch (clockwise from the west) two
Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario, which are connected by
the Niagara River); the provinces of Ontario and Quebec
in Canada; Lake Champlain; three New England states
(Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut); the Atlantic
Ocean, and two Mid-Atlantic States, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. In addition, Rhode Island shares a water
border with New York.
Contrasting with New York City's urban atmosphere, the
vast majority of the state is dominated by farms,
forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. New York's
Adirondack Park is the largest state park in the United
States. It is larger than the Yellowstone, Yosemite,
Grand Canyon, Glacier and Olympic National Parks
combined.[6] New York established the first state park
in the United States at Niagara Falls in 1885. Niagara
Falls, on the Niagara River as it flows from Lake Erie
to Lake Ontario, is a popular attraction. The Hudson
River begins with Lake Tear of the Clouds and flows
south through the eastern part of the state without
draining Lakes George or Champlain. Lake George empties
at its north end into Lake Champlain, whose northern end
extends into Canada, where it drains into the Richelieu
and then the St. Lawrence Rivers. Four of New York
City's five boroughs are on the three islands at the
mouth of the Hudson River: Manhattan Island, Staten
Island, and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island.
Upstate and downstate are often used informally to
distinguish New York City or its greater metropolitan
area from the rest of New York state. The placement of a
boundary between the two is a matter of great
contention. Unofficial and loosely defined regions of
Upstate New York include the Southern Tier, which often
includes the counties along the border with
Pennsylvania. and the North Country, which can mean
anything from the strip along the Canadian border to
everything north of the Mohawk River.
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Jan Garanoz
Juhu Tara Road, Juhu,
Mumbai - 400049 India
Last updated: June 26, 2010