The area of the New England (in English New England ) is located at the North-East of the the United States. It account 14 million inhabitants. Name is former to the independence of the United States, but does not correspond to an administrative entity. The area is made up of six States:

Boston, in the Massachusetts is its principal economic and cultural center.

New England is perhaps the area of the United States which has the strongest cultural identity, with a greater cultural uniformity and history that the other areas of the country. However, the North of New England is mainly rural, while the South is primarily urban, a difference which always existed. The West and the East share these same differences, but one generally does not find in the West the Bostonian accent which identifies New England with the eyes of the Americans. Nevertheless, in spite of the presence very close to the New Yorkean megalopolis , New England is an area with the clearly definite identity.

History

New England is perhaps, among the great American areas, that which is the best defined one, with its cultural homogeneity and its common historical heritage. It holds a major place in the history of the United States. End of the 18th century in the middle of the 19th century, it dominates the country policy culture, and it is in the middle of its economy.

The first European colonists of New England were puritan English in search of religious liberty. They gave to the regional political organization her distinctive feature, the “town meeting” , meetings of the inhabitants of each city, often annual, there to discuss the local political subjects and to vote the decisions. One sees there an extension of the meetings which were held by the “old hand” in the Paroisse S. These meetings are held still nowadays in many communes New England, and were established as bases of dialog on the national political scene.

Teaching is another important legacy of the area. New England shelters universities as prestigious as Harvard and Yale. Harvard, the first university of the United States, was founded with Cambridge close to Boston in 1636.

In the absence of fertile ground for agriculture, the area turned to the trade, in particular maritime with an important and merchant fleet, fishing (in particular that with the Baleine) which became dominant industries. With time, many inhabitants emigrated towards the west. About 1775, New England counts: 500000 inhabitants, of which the half live in Massachusetts. The settlement is then very homogeneous, essentially made up inhabitants of British Isles; there is: 12000 Blacks at that time.

During the Industrial revolution, New England became one of the most industrialized sectors world. The immigrants of Ireland and the Quebec came to work in the factories, in particular of the sector Textile. It is the one of greatest manufacturing centers of the United States, famous for the clothes industry, the industry of leather, and the manufacture of machines. Nearly 5 million inhabitants have ancestors French .ou rather " Canayens" , i.e. French Canadian (of the Québécois) of immigrations of the News-France in the " factories" tisserands. Their descendants are " Franco-Américains" , including one some " Jack Kerouac " " Jean-Louis Kerouac" " Happy Generation " (" cf One the Road"). They form enclaves roman catholics with the French-speaking names like " Audubon" , " Ausable" , etc

New England is also important for its contribution to the culture of the country. Its inhabitants are proud to belong to oldest American areas. It has its clean Cuisine, its Dialecte, its Architecture and its mode of Gouvernement. The kitchen of New England is known for its use of the seafood and the dairy products, and the Clam chowder of Palourde, the Homard, the Poisson S, of which the cod, as well as the Ice cream. These last are particularly popular in the area.

In Architecture, the area is characterized by its simple houses out of wooden, the typical white churches of much of small towns, and the old men Phare S which mark out the Atlantic coast. New England is also well-known for its estival heat, its corrosive cold the winter, and the coloured foliages of the autumn. It is a tourist destination popular. In policy, New England tends to being progressist. Historically nearer to England than of other areas of the United States, it is often more receptive with the European ideas and the culture that the remainder of the country. At the 20th century, the majority of traditional industries of New England left it for other States or the foreigner because of lower production costs. In many industrial towns, certain workmen however qualified are with the Chômage. The losses in the industrial sector were partly compensated by industries of micro-electronics, data processing and Biotechnologies, being pressed on the university strong potential of the area.

Geography

General information

New England consists of six states: the Maine is most septentrional; it marks the border with Canada. It is about the poorest state with the lowest densities of New England (15 hab. /Km ²). The state more in the south is the Rhode Island, it is also the smallest state. The state less populated is the Vermont. The Connecticut knows the strongest densities.

New England is turned since the 17th century towards the Atlantic Ocean: it is more close to Western Europe that New York and benefits from this advantage until the advent of the navy with vapor and the boring of the Canal Érié. The configuration of the coast, which offers many natural shelters, was favorable to the commercial and halieutic activity a long time. So that the inhabitants rather forsook agriculture during the colonial time.

Relief

The relief of the interior of New England consists of Monadnock S which indicates ridges S residual, released by the erosion. In New Hampshire, the Mont Monadnock reaches 965 meters of altitude.

Littoral

Climate

New England profits from a Climat of Eastern frontage. The winters are generally long and rigorous during which occur of the blizzard S, the summers are hot and are sprinkled by abundant rains and storms, which gives to the area a green aspect. The Printemps are soft and rainy there as well as the Automne which is certainly most beautiful and most pleasant of the seasons in the area. It is current that as of the month of October one attends the first falls of Neige on the heights of the Vermont.

Main cities

The principal urban centres are mainly located in the South of the area, and often integrated into the Mégalopole of the BosWash. Main cities of New England:

Regional units

One can distinguish three great regional whole in New England: a north little populated and covered of Forêt S. the south is the most urbanized area, under the influence of New York and Boston. Lastly, an intermediate area is between the two.

The North of New England

The Center

South of New England

This area corresponds to the septentrional part of the American megalopolis, which runs from Boston to Washington DC.

Fauna and flora

A covered area of Forest S

70% of New England, are 13 million hectares, are covered by the forest.

Demography

The population growth of New England is slow: the population passed from 10,5 million inhabitants in 1960 to 14 million in 2000. Migratory balance is negative and ageing is marked more than in other areas of the United States.

Policy

Organization

In New England, a town is a Municipalité whose importance is higher than the county. In Connecticut, Rhode Island and seven counties of Massachusetts, the counties exist as simple geographical divisions, but do not have capacities. In the other States, the towns have same attributions as the American counties. Contrary to the other municipalities ( cities in English) which has a Maire and a Municipal council, the towns of New England have of an assembly trained by the inhabitants ( town meeting ) and a council ( board off selectmen ) charged to carry out the decisions.

An area progressist

The area is seen like the area more progressist of the United States. Abolition of slavery to the marriage between the homosexual ones, one always sees a revolutionary spirit there. Politically, all the States of the area, except sometimes New Hampshire, are located on the left. John Kerry, the democratic candidate of the presidential election of 2004 in the United States, lives in Boston.

Economy

General information

In 2005, the GDP of New England was of: 679250 million dollars, is 5,5% of the American GDP.

Classification of the GDP by state in 2005:
  1. Massachusetts: 320.050 million $ (47,1%)
  2. Connecticut: 193.496 million $ (28,5%)
  3. New Hampshire: 54.119 million $ (7,9%)
  4. Maine: 44.906 million $ (6,6%)
  5. Rhode Island: 43.623 million $ (6,4%)
  6. Vermont: 23.056 million $ (3,5%)

Primary sector

Agriculture is the poor relation of the economy of New England: the acid grounds are frequent, the interior of the area, dominated by medium mountains, is not very favourable with the cultures. The fresh climate, the short vegetative season and the thin grounds were a long time of the important constraints for the peasants.

There exists however of good grounds around the Lake Champlain and in the valleys; with progress of the urbanization and the population growth, commercial agriculture developed starting from second half of the 18th century. The ovine breeding at that time provided wool essential to the spinning mills. But the enlarging of the American territory towards the west and the revolution of transport prevented a real agricultural rise.

Today, agriculture represents little in the economy of New England: 0,8% of the active population are employed in this sector. An agriculture périurbaine (truck farming, bovine breeding) provides the products necessary to the big cities of the coast. New England records relative successes in the productions spécialiées such as the Maple syrup, the Bleuet S and the Airelle S. Maine turns to the avicolous breeding.

The exploitation of wood is an important activity of the primary sector, since the XVIIe century. At that time, the shipyards consumed enormous quantities of wood for the construction of the ships. Today, the requirements out of wood changed: manufacture of the paper and wood of heating are the most dynamic sectors. Lastly, fishing underwent changes since the time of the colonists: the old ports whalers (New Bedford, Nantucket, Newport, Hyannis, etc) reconverted part of their infrastructures in marina, or became seaside resorts attended by the townsmen. Fishing remains one of the strong points of the economy, with 18% of the American value. New Bedford remains the first fishing port of the United States. The aquiculture occupies part of manpower.

Secondary industry

Deprived of ores, coal and hydrocarbons, New England did not direct itself towards heavy industries. However, the area is equipped with assets which allowed a early Industrialization of the area: rivers in abundance, punctuated of falls, a many and animated population of a company spirit, an immigrant, a long time cheap labor. The first industries were the spinning mill S, the forging mills and the Scierie S of the colonial time. At the XIXe century, the canning facilities opened out thanks to the fishery products. With the Conquest of the West, New England became one of the production centres of tools and charriots. The mechanical engineering industries and textile dominated the economy of the area a long time. Military industries took their rise during the Second world war.

After 1945, one crisis period shook the secondary industry of New England: the competition of the states of the South, the increase in the labor were the factors of the disindustrialization which especially touched the textile: 250  was counted; 000 employees in this sector in 1960; they are nothing any more but 30  000 in 1992

Since the years 1970, the industry of New England turns to high technology: aerospace, civilian nuclear, complex industrialo-soldier, data processing and biotechnology represent 25  % of industrial manpower. New England became the second area for the advanced technology industries, behind California. This success is explained by the extent of the private sector investments, the orders of the Federal state but also by a very qualified labor and a close co-operation between the companies and the universities.

Today, the industrial florets of New England are Gillette (based in Boston), United Technologies, General Electric (seat with Fairfield (Connecticut)), Digital Equipment (Maynard (Massachusetts)), Polaroid (Cambridge), Xerox (Stamford (Connecticut)).

Tertiary sector

The vitality of the tertiary sector is due to three fields: higher education, finances, tourism.

Many insurance companies have their seat in New England: Aetna Life is installed in Hartford.

Tourism is supported by many assets: natural and historical sites, mountains with some ski stations, of the lakes and the protected rivers. The littoral constitutes a zone of leisures for the townsmen of the megalopolis: the Cape Cod is one of the places most attended in summer.

Culture

  • Cuisine of New England
  • Square dance
  • the New England remains the first area of the United States for the frequentation of the theater of text, the music and the ballet dancing.

Births

Personalities originating in New England:

Foreign personalities, installed and died in New England:

See too

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