Where Is New York? When people around the world think of the United States, they often picture New York. There’s no doubt the state is famous all around the globe. In 2023 alone, more than 306 million people visited New York State.
New York wasn’t the first US state—that honor belongs to Delaware. It is in the bottom half of the fifty states when it comes to size. And it’s only the fourth most populous state in the nation (after California, Texas, and Florida). So, what is it that makes New York so special?
Whether it’s Broadway musicals, New York Fashion Week, or the
New York Times newspaper, New York has always been an international center for culture. For hundreds of years, immigrants from all over the world settled in New York. From the skyscrapers of Manhattan to the snow-capped Adirondack Mountains to the towering Niagara Falls, it’s a place where different landscapes, people, and cultures come together to make something completely unique—New York.
Chapter 1New York’s Land and BeginningsNew York was one of thirteen British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North
America. A year after the start of the Revolutionary War, the United States adopted the Declaration of Independence from England on July 4, 1776. After winning the war in 1781, the United States went on to write its Constitution in 1787. Delaware was the first colony to officially ratify, or approve of, the Constitution and become a state. The other colonies followed over the next two-and-a-half years. New York was the eleventh colony to declare statehood. It became a US state on July 26, 1788.
New York is located in the Northeastern United States. Today, it is bordered by Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south; Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut to the east; and Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the country of Canada to the west and north. While it has a long history, New York State doesn’t set any records for size or population. At 54,555 square miles, it’s the twenty-seventh largest US state. With just under twenty million people living there as of 2023, New York is the fourth most populous state.
New York City is record-setting, though. It has been the most populous city in the United States since the first US census (a count of the country’s population) was held in 1790. It’s also the most densely populated US city, with about 43 percent of all New Yorkers living in the city’s 305 square miles. Many of these people live close together in apartment buildings or townhouses. New York City is over ten times more populous than the state’s second-most populous city, Hempstead. Yet it makes up less than one percent of the total land area of New York State!
Located at the southern tip of the state, New York City is part of the Hudson-Mohawk Lowland. Within this area lies the Hudson Valley and the Mohawk Valley. Part of the New York City area, Long Island and Staten Island are in a flat region called the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Long Island is at the most southeastern part of the state and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound. Long Island has many white-sand beaches with big waves.
The areas north and west of New York City are known as upstate New York, or simply “upstate.” In fact, most of New York is upstate, including its capital city, Albany. New York has four distinct seasons: hot and humid summers, cold winters, and mild springs and autumns. The areas around Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo in upstate New York receive heavy amounts of snow.
New York’s largest region is the Appalachian Highlands, which makes up about half the state. This area extends west from the Hudson Valley to the southern and western parts of New York. The Catskill Mountains (which reach up to four thousand feet) and the Finger Lakes (a group of eleven narrow lakes) are part of this area.
North of the Appalachian Highlands and west of the Mohawk Valley is a flat region called the Erie-Ontario Lowlands. These Lowlands are home to plains that border the Great Lakes. A large variety of fruits are grown there, including grapes, peaches, apples, and cherries.
Bodies of water of all kinds crisscross New York. The state is home to more than 7,500 lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, as well as over seventy thousand miles of rivers and streams. There are over two thousand waterfalls across New York State. The most dramatic—and most famous—is Niagara Falls, located in the northwestern part of the state, along its border with Canada. Made up of three waterfalls—Horseshoe Falls, American Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls—Niagara Falls is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. Niagara Falls State Park, established in 1885, is the oldest state park in the United States.
More than 60 percent of New York State is covered in forests. These forests contain nearly 150 species of trees. The most common variety are Norway maples. Cairo, New York, about two hours north of New York City by car, is home to the oldest known forest in the world. The forest has been around for about 385 million years and survives in a fossilized, or preserved, form, usually as impressions in rocks. Scientists have learned about ancient plants from this “forest,” including how early trees grew seeds.
Indigenous groups have been living in the area now known as New York for at least thirteen thousand years. The Mohican (say: mo-HEE-kin) and Munsee Nations spoke a language called Algonquian (say: al-GON-kwee-in) and lived near the Atlantic coast. The five nations of the Iroquois (say: IR-uh-kwoy)—the Mohawk, Oneida (say: oh-NIGH-duh), Onondaga (say: ah-nuhn-DAH-guh), Cayuga (say: kay-YOO-guh), and Seneca Nations—made their homes in the central and western parts of the state.
Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to reach New York. Sailing for France, he entered New York Bay on April 17, 1524 and landed on the tip of what is now Manhattan, in New York City. He then continued northward to explore more of America’s eastern coast. In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into New York Bay. He was working for a Dutch shipping company to try to find faster routes from Europe to Asia. Hudson explored the river that is now named after him. He realized it could provide a route to inland fur-trading posts.
Furs of North American mammals were very valuable, especially beavers, whose pelts (or skins) were waterproof and used to make hats. When Henry Hudson arrived in North America, beavers had been hunted nearly to extinction in Europe. This inspired Dutch merchants to travel to New York to explore fur trading with the Mohawk, the Mohican, and other Indigenous peoples.
The Dutch set up the first permanent European settlement in New York in 1624. The settlement was called Fort Orange and was located in the east central part of the state along the Hudson River. Today, the city of Albany stands there. In 1625, the Dutch established New Amsterdam—now New York City—on the southern end of Manhattan Island. Several other Dutch trading posts sprouted up along the Hudson River.
The English also wanted to be part of the fur trade. A fleet sent by James II, Duke of York, sailed into New York Harbor in 1664 with the aim of taking over New Amsterdam. This settlement would enable them to control the entrance to the Hudson River, an important North American trade route. Peter Stuyvesant (say: STY-vuh-sint), the Dutch governor of New Amsterdam, couldn’t urge enough citizens to fight for the land, so he surrendered to the English. With the area now in England’s control, New Amsterdam was renamed New York in honor of the Duke of York.
The British continued their control into the 1770s, but the New York colonists were angry because they wanted to be self-governing. Along with twelve other British colonies, they rebelled, and the American Revolutionary War began in 1775. Nearly one-third of all Revolutionary War battles took place in New York. Though the war did not end until 1783, the United States declared independence from England in 1776.
Many Indigenous people and groups clashed with the New York colonists, who were eager to expand their settlements in Indigenous lands. Colonists brought deadly diseases to Indigenous nations and often didn’t honor their agreements. All of the Iroquois Nations except the Oneida fought on the side of the British during the Revolutionary War. When the war was over, settlers forced Iroquois people out of New York. Many of them resettled in Canada.
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