New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America named after the southern English county of Hampshire.
The state ranks 44th in land area, 46th in total area of the 50 states, and 41st in population.
It became the first post-colonial sovereign nation in the Americas when it broke off from Great Britain in January 1776, and was one of the original thirteen States that founded the United States of America six months later.
It was the ninth state to ratify the United States Constitution, bringing that document into effect. New Hampshire was the first U.S. state to have its own state constitution, and is the only state with neither a general sales tax nor a personal income tax.
It is internationally famous for the New Hampshire primary, the first primary in the quadrennial U.S. presidential election cycle.
Its license plates carry the state motto: "Live Free or Die."
The state nickname is "The Granite State", in reference both to its geology and to its tradition of self-sufficiency. Several other official nicknames exist but are rarely used.
A number of famous individuals come from New Hampshire, such as Senator Daniel Webster, editor Horace Greeley, founder of the Christian Science religion Mary Baker Eddy, author Dan Brown, singer Mandy Moore and comedians Adam Sandler, Sarah Silverman, and Seth Meyers.
New Hampshire has produced one president, Franklin Pierce.
New Hampshire's recreational attractions include skiing and other winter sports, observing the fall foliage, summer cottages along many lakes, motor sports at the New Hampshire International Speedway, and Bike Week, a popular motorcycle rally held in Laconia in June.
Geography
New Hampshire is part of the New England region. It is bounded by Quebec, Canada to the north and northwest; Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; Massachusetts to the south; and Vermont to the west.
New Hampshire's major regions are the Great North Woods, the White Mountains, the Lakes Region, the Seacoast, the Merrimack Valley, the Monadnock Region, and the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee area.
New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline of any U.S. state, with a length of 18 miles (29 km).
New Hampshire was home to the rock formation called the Old Man of the Mountain, a face-like profile in Franconia Notch, until the formation fell apart in May 2003.
The White Mountains range in New Hampshire spans the north-central portion of the state, with Mount Washington being the tallest in the northeastern U.S., and other mountains like Mount Madison and Mount Adams surrounding it.
With hurricane-force winds every third day on the average, over 100 recorded deaths among visitors, and conspicuous krumholtz (dwarf, matted trees much like a carpet of bonsai trees), the upper reaches of Mount Washington claim the title of having the "worst weather on earth." A non-profit weather observatory is located on the peak.
In the flatter southwest corner of New Hampshire, the prominent landmark 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.
Major rivers include the 110 mile (177 km) Merrimack River, which bisects the lower half of the state north-south and ends up in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Its major tributaries include the Contoocook River, Pemigewasset River, and Winnipesaukee River.
The 410 mile (670 km) Connecticut River, which starts at New Hampshire's Connecticut Lakes and flows south to Connecticut, defines the western border with Vermont. 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 entire river where it runs adjacent to Vermont.
The "northwesternmost headwaters" of the Connecticut also define the Canadian border with New Hampshire.
The Piscataqua River and its several tributaries form the state's only significant ocean port where they flow into the Atlantic at Portsmouth.
The Salmon Falls River and the Piscataqua define the southern portion of the border with Maine. The state has an ongoing boundary dispute with Maine in the area of Portsmouth Harbor, with New Hampshire 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.
The largest lake is Lake Winnipesaukee, which covers 72 square miles (186 km²) in the east-central part of New Hampshire.
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.
It is 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 during the 20th century as many farmers took wage jobs in urban areas or moved to more productive areas.
The return of woodlands from open fields forms the subject of many poems by Robert Frost.
The northern third of the state is locally referred to as the "north country" or "north of the notches," in reference to White Mountain passes that channel traffic.
It contains less than 5% of the state's population, suffers from relatively high poverty rates, and is losing population as the logging and paper industries decline.
However, the tourist industry, in particular visitors who go to northern New Hampshire to take advantage of the winter skiing season, has helped to offset economic losses from mill closures.
Climate
New Hampshire experiences a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa in southern areas and Dfb in the north), with warm, humid summers, cold, wet winters, and uniform precipitation all year.
The climate of the southeastern portion of the state is moderated somewhat by the Atlantic Ocean and averages relatively milder and wetter weather, while the northern and interior portions experience relatively cooler temperatures and lower humidity.
Winters are cold and snowy throughout the state, and are especially severe in the northern and mountainous areas. Average annual snowfall ranges from 60" to over 100" across the state.
Average daytime highs are generally in the mid 70s°F to low 80s°F (around 24-28 °C) throughout the state in July, with overnight lows in the mid 50s°F to low 60s°F (13-15 °C).
January temperatures range from an average high of 34 °F (1 °C) on the coast to overnight lows below 0 °F (-18 °C) in the far north and at high elevations.
Average annual precipitation statewide is roughly 40" with some variation occurring in the White Mountains due to differences in elevation and annual snowfall.
Extreme snow events are often associated with a nor'easter, such as the Blizzard of '78 and the Blizzard of 1993, when several feet of snow accumulated across portions of the state over a period of 24 to 48 hours. Lighter snowfall accumulations of several inches occur frequently throughout the winter months, often associated with an Alberta Clipper.
New Hampshire, on occasion, is affected by hurricanes and tropical storms although by the time they reach the state they are often extratropical, with most storms striking the southern New England coastline and moving inland or passing by offshore in the Gulf of Maine.
Most of New Hampshire averages fewer than 20 days of thunderstorms per year and an average of about 2 tornadoes occur annually statewide.
The National Arbor Day Foundation plant hardiness zone map depicts zones 3, 4, 5, and 6 occurring throughout the state and indicates the transition from a relatively cooler to warmer climate as one travels southward across New Hampshire.
History
Various Algonquian tribes inhabited the area prior to European settlement. Europeans explored New Hampshire in 1600–1605 and settled in 1623.
By 1631, the Upper Plantation comprised modern-day Dover, Durham and Stratham; in 1679, it became the "Royal Province."
It was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. By the time of the American Revolution, New Hampshire was a divided province. The economic and social life of the Seacoast revolved around sawmills, shipyards, merchant's warehouses, and established village and town centers.
Wealthy merchants built substantial homes, furnished them with the finest luxuries, and invested their capital in trade and land speculation. At the other end of the social scale, there developed a permanent class of day laborers, mariners, indentured servants, and even slaves.
It was the first state to declare its independence, but the only battle fought there was the raid on Fort William and Mary, December 14, 1774 in Portsmouth Harbor, which netted the rebellion sizable quantities of gunpowder, small arms, and cannon (General Sullivan, leader of the raid, described it as, "remainder of the powder, the small arms, bayonets, and cartouch-boxes, together with the cannon and ordnance stores") over the course of two nights. This raid was preceded by a warning to local patriots the previous day, by Paul Revere on December 13, 1774 that the fort was to be reinforced by troops sailing from Boston.
According to unverified accounts, the gunpowder was later used at the Battle of Bunker Hill, transported there by Major Demerit, who was one of several New Hampshire patriots who stored the powder in their homes until it was transported elsewhere for use in revolutionary activities.
New Hampshire was a Jacksonian stronghold; the state sent Franklin Pierce to the White House in the election of 1852. Industrialization took the form of numerous textile mills, which in turn attracted large flows of immigrants from Quebec (the "French Canadians") and Ireland.
The northern parts of the state produced lumber and the mountains provided tourist attractions. After 1960, the textile industry collapsed, but the economy rebounded as a center of high technology and a service provider.
Since 1952, New Hampshire gained national and international attention for its presidential primary held early in every presidential election year. It immediately became the most important testing grounds for candidates for the Republican and Democratic nominations.
The media give New Hampshire (and Iowa) about half of all the attention paid to all states in the primary process, magnifying the state's decision power (and spurring repeated efforts by out-of-state politicians to change the rules.)
Economy
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that New Hampshire's total state product in 2003 was $49 billion.
Per capita personal income in 2005 was $37,835, 6th in the nation and 10 percent greater than the national average ($34,495). Its agricultural outputs are dairy products, nursery stock, cattle, apples, and eggs.
Its industrial outputs are machinery, electric equipment, rubber and plastic products, and tourism. New Hampshire experienced a significant shift in its economic base during the last century.
Historically, the base was composed of the traditional New England manufactures of textiles, shoe-making, and small machining shops drawing upon low-wage labor from nearby small farms and from parts of Quebec.
Today, these sectors contribute only 2% for textiles, 2% for leather goods, and 9% for machining of the state's total manufacturing dollar value (Source: U.S. Economic Census for 1997, Manufacturing, New Hampshire). They experienced a sharp decline due to obsolete plants and the lure of cheaper wages in the South.
The state has no general sales tax, no personal state income tax (the state does tax, at a 5 percent rate, income from dividends and interest) and the legislature has exercised fiscal restraint. Efforts to diversify the state's general economy have been ongoing.
Additionally, New Hampshire's lack of a broad-based tax system (aside from the controversial state-wide property tax) has resulted in the state's local communities having some of the nation's highest property taxes. Overall, New Hampshire remains ranked 49th among states in combined average state and local tax burden.
