North East Region of America
States
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and Washington D.C. (although technically Washington D.C. is not a state it is Federated)
Major Cities
Portland (Maine), Boston (Massachusetts), Pittsburgh and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Baltimore (Maryland), Providence (Rhode Island)
Geographical Layout
The Northeast contains the smallest states in the U.S. The region has a landscape varying from the rocky coast of the New England Area to the fertile farmland of the River Valley inland. The Isles of Shoals near the Maine/New Hampshire border begins the rocky Atlantic coastline of the Northeast. Jagged cliffs rise up to a hundred feet above the ocean on Maine's northern coast; south of West Quoddy Head Peninsula in Maine, the eastern most point in the United States, the coastline subsides to sandy beaches which extend through the rest of the Northeast's Atlantic coastline. Between Cape Cod in Massachusetts and Cape May in New Jersey are a series of large islands including Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Block Island, Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island.
Climate
Even though this region is home to some of the smallest states in the Union it possesses a wide range of climates. Rainfall varies from over 50 inches annually in some coastal areas, to 32 inches in the western part of Pennsylvania and New York. Snowfall can range from over 100 inches per year in some areas to only trace amounts in the coastal areas. Generally, the northern areas in the Appalachians and some coastal areas possess a warm summer humid continental climate, with warm, humid summers and snowy, often bitterly cold winters while other more southern parts of the region have hot summers with a humid continental climate and moderately cold, snowy winters. Meanwhile the Chesapeake Bay Area as well as parts of Maryland, Delaware and extreme southeastern Pennsylvania posses a humid subtropical climate, with hot, humid summers and more mild winters.
Business & Industry
Early on in this regions history Manufacturing and Sea fare were the major sources of business and industry. Gone are the steel mills, now those economic pursuits have been widely replaced with more modern interests in Politics, Education, Research, Medical and the Technical industries. The Sea fare industry still is an economic stronghold of the Northeastern Region as it supplies notoriously delectable lobster, clam and numerous varieties of fish. It is important to note that this region is the richest region of the United States of America. In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the wealthiest states in the Union were Maryland (1st), New Jersey (2nd), Connecticut (3rd), Hawaii (4th), and Massachusetts (5th)
Beyond Business
The Northeast region is not well known for its outdoor pursuits so much as it is for its academia, although some of the best professional sports teams hail from this region. Some winter sports such as skiing, figure skating and ice hockey are easily enjoyed in widely practiced in this region.
Culture
Culturally, the Northeast is somewhat different from the rest of the United States. Since many immigrants initially settled in this region before moving on to other areas, the Northeast is perhaps one of the best-defined regions of the U.S., with more uniformity and more of a shared heritage than other regions of the country. It is also viewed as the birthplace of the nation's political, educational, cultural and intellectual thought. This region is a major center for business, media, education, the arts, and cuisine. With all these attractions, many immigrants are allured to the region. Most of the region is rich in immigrant culture. While some regions of the United States are predominantly Protestant, the Northeast has 7 of the 9 most Catholic states in the union. This is largely due to substantial levels of immigration the region received in the 19th and early 20th centuries from Ireland, Italy, Quebec, and other Catholic regions. Not to be labeled with a broad stroke the Northeast is home to many other religious groups as well. The Northeast also contains the highest concentration of Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans in the United States.
As is the case in much of the United States, people from many European American backgrounds live in the Northeast. Massachusetts, particularly in the Boston area, is regarded as the Irish capital of the United States while Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Jersey have long been known for their many Italian-Americans. The Northeast is an ethnically diverse region. The region’s large immigrant population has contributed to a large mixture of tastes to mingle and develop. Much of the history of the Northeast is characterized by archetypical medium and large manufacturing cities. The sometimes urban character of the region gives it a strange mix of reputations, and many view Northeastern cities as places of economic opportunity. In major northeastern cities, ethnic enclaves aren't uncommon. Most of the cities have large and at times, provocative, artistic and theatrical scenes.
Education is another of the region's strongest legacies. The cluster of top-ranking universities and colleges in New England—including four of the eight schools of the Ivy League, as well as MIT, Tufts, Wesleyan University, and numerous other elite colleges and universities—is unequaled by any other region. America's first college, Harvard, was founded at Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1636, and its second, Yale in Connecticut in 1718. Many of the graduates from these schools end up settling in the region after school, providing the area with a well-educated populace and its most valuable resource, the area being relatively lacking in natural resources, besides "ice, rocks, and fish".