New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a small U.S. state in northern New England. It is located east of Vermont, north of Massachusetts, south of Quebec, Canada, and west of Maine and the North Atlantic Ocean. The state ranks 46th of the 50 states in land area (23,249 km2) and 41st in population (around 1.3 million by a 2003 U.S. Census Bureau estimate). It is the site of the New Hampshire primary, the first primary in the U.S. presidential elections, and has probably the most famous of all state mottos: "Live free or die," quoted from Revolutionary War hero John Stark's response to a letter honoring him for the Battle of Bennington.

Geography

See List of New Hampshire counties

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New Hampshire is part of the New England region. It is bounded by Quebec, Canada to the north, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Massachusetts to the south, and Vermont to the west.

Related Topics:
New England - Quebec - Canada - Maine - Atlantic Ocean - Massachusetts - Vermont

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New Hampshire's major regions are the Great North Woods, the White Mountains region, the Lakes region the Seacoast region, the Merrimack Valley region, the Monadnock region, and the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee area.

Related Topics:
Great North Woods - White Mountains region - Lakes region - Seacoast region - Merrimack Valley region - Monadnock region - Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

See List of mountains in New Hampshire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New Hampshire was home to the famous geological formation called the Old Man of the Mountain, a face-like profile in Franconia Notch, until May 2 to May 3, 2003, when the symbol of New Hampshire collapsed.

Related Topics:
Old Man of the Mountain - Franconia Notch - May 2 - May 3 - 2003

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Presidential Range in New Hampshire spans the central portion of the state, with Mount Washington being the tallest, and other mountains like Mount Madison and Mount Quincy Adams surrounding it. With hurricane force winds every third day on the average, 100 recorded deaths among visitors, and conspicuous krummholz (dwarf, matted trees much like a carpet of bonsai), the upper reaches Mount Washington claim the distinction of the "worst weather on earth." In consequence, a non-profit observatory is located on the peak for the purposes of observing harsh environmental conditions.

Related Topics:
Presidential Range - Mount Washington - Mount Madison - Mount Quincy Adams - Krummholz

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the flatter southwest corner of New Hampshire another feature, the prominent landmark and tourist attraction of Mount Monadnock, has given its name to a general class of earth-forms, a monadnock signifying in geomorphology any isolated resistant peak rising from a less resistant eroded plain.

Related Topics:
Mount Monadnock - Monadnock

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

See List of New Hampshire rivers

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Major rivers include the 116 mile (187 km) Merrimack River, which bisects the state north-south and ends up in Massachusetts. Its major tributaries include the Souhegan River. The 410 mile (670 km) Connecticut River, which starts at New Hampshire's Connecticut Lakes and flows south to Connecticut, forms the western border of New Hampshire. Oddly, the state border is not in the center of that river, as is usually the case, but lies at the low-water mark on the Vermont side, so New Hampshire actually owns the whole river. The Piscataqua River and its several tributaries form the state's only significant ocean port where they flow into the Atlantic at Portsmouth.

Related Topics:
Merrimack River - Massachusetts - Souhegan River - Connecticut River - Connecticut Lakes - Connecticut - Vermont - Piscataqua River - Portsmouth

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The largest lake is Lake Winnipesaukee, which covers 72 square miles (186 km²) in the central part of New Hampshire.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any coastal state, 18 miles (29 km) by state figures. (Under some federal definitions, Pennsylvania's coast is shorter: See Footnote in "Miscellaneous"). Hampton Beach is a popular local summer destination. About 10 miles (16 km) offshore are the Isles of Shoals, nine small islands (4 belonging to the state) best known as the site of a 19th-century art colony founded by poet Celia Thaxter, as well as the alleged location of one of the buried treasures of the pirate Blackbeard.

Related Topics:
Hampton Beach - Isles of Shoals - Celia Thaxter - Blackbeard

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The state has an ongoing boundary dispute with Maine in the area of Portsmouth Harbor, with NH claiming dominion over several islands (now known as Seavey Island) that include the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as well as to the Maine towns of Kittery and Berwick. New Hampshire asserts the area was granted to it by Massachusetts prior to Maine becoming a state of its own rather than just the northern part of Massachusetts, in the Missouri Compromise of 1820. New Hampshire?s claim is also bolstered by British records of captured American POWs during the Revolutionary period, who were held in England and claimed "Berwick, NH," "York, NH," and "Kittery, NH" as their home towns.

Related Topics:
Maine - Portsmouth Harbor - Seavey Island - Kittery - Berwick - Missouri Compromise - 1820

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A dramatic change in the visual landscape of New Hampshire occurred about a century ago when it changed from an open landscape of fields and small farms: It is now the second-most-forested state in the country, after Maine, in terms of percentage of land covered by woods. This change was caused by the abandonment of farms by owners seeking wage jobs in urban areas or bank seizure of unproductive farms, with farming families moving west. The reversion forms the subject of many poems by Robert Frost, while the emigration is consistent with the results of NH native and newspaper legend Horace Greeley imploring, "Go West, Young Man."

Related Topics:
Robert Frost - NH native - Horace Greeley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~