New York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States of America. With 62 counties, it is the country's third most populous state. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania, and shares an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Its five largest cities are New York City (also the largest city in the United States), Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse.

New York City is known for its history as a gateway for immigration to the United States and its status as a transportation and manufacturing center.

New York was inhabited by Algonquian, Iroquois, and Lenape indigenous people at the time Dutch and French nationals moved into the region in the very early 17th century. First claimed by Henry Hudson in 1609, the region came to have Dutch forts in Fort Orange, present day Albany, NY, in 1614 and was colonized by the Dutch in 1624, at both Albany and Manhattan; it later fell to British annexation in 1664. About one third of all of the battles of the Revolutionary War took place in New York. The state ratified the United States Constitution in 1788, the 11th state to do so; its own constitution was enacted in 1777.

New York covers 54,475 sq miles (141,089 km). In size, New York ranks 27th compared with the other 50 states. 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.

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