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The State of Maine (IPA: /ˈmeɪn/) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering New Hampshire to the east, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick to the north. The territory that is now Maine was part of Massachusetts
until 1820. Maine is the northernmost portion of New England and is the
easternmost state in the contiguous United States. It is known for its
scenery — its jagged, mostly rocky coastline; its low, rolling
mountains; and its heavily forested interior — as well as for its
seafood cuisine, especially lobsters and clams.
The original inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine were Algonquian-speaking
peoples. The first European settlement in Maine was in 1604 by a French
party. The first English settlement in Maine, the short-lived Popham Colony, was established by the Plymouth Company
in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the
coast of Maine in the 1620s, although the rugged climate, deprivations,
and Indian attacks wiped out many of them over the years. As Maine
entered the 18th century, only a half dozen settlements still survived.
American and British forces contended for Maine's territory during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Because it was physically separated from the rest of Massachusetts (properly speaking, the Department of Maine was an exclave of Massachusetts) and because it was growing in population at a rapid rate, Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820, as a component of the Missouri Compromise.
Origin of the name
There is no definitive answer for the origin of the name Maine. The
state legislature in 2001 adopted a resolution establishing
Franco-American Day, which stated that the state was named after the
ancient French province of Maine.[3] Other theories mention earlier places with similar names, or claim it is a nautical reference to the mainland.[4]
Whatever the origin, the name was fixed in 1665 when the King's
Commissioners ordered that the "Province of Maine" be entered from then
on in official records.[5]
Geography
- See also: List of counties in Maine and List of Maine rivers
To the south and east is the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and northeast is New Brunswick, a province of Canada. The Canadian province of Quebec is to the northwest. Maine is both the northernmost state in New England
and the largest, accounting for nearly half the region's entire land
area. Maine also has the distinction of being the only state to border
just one other state (New Hampshire to the west). The municipalities of Eastport and Lubec are, respectively, the easternmost city and town in the United States. Maine's Moosehead Lake is the largest lake wholly in New England (Lake Champlain being located between Vermont and New York). A number of other Maine lakes, such as South Twin Lake, are described by Thoreau. Mount Katahdin is both the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, which extends to Springer Mountain, Georgia, and the southern terminus of the new International Appalachian Trail which, when complete, will run to Belle Isle, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Maine also has several unique geographical features. Machias Seal Island and North Rock, off its easternmost point, are claimed by both the U.S. and Canada and are within one of four areas between the two countries whose sovereignty is still in dispute, but is the only one of the disputed areas containing land. Also in this easternmost area is the Old Sow, the largest tidal whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere.
Maine is the most sparsely populated state east of the Mississippi River. It is called the Pine Tree State;
ninety percent of its land is forested. In the forested areas of the
interior lies much uninhabited land, some of which does not have formal
political organization into local units (a rarity in New England). The Northwest Aroostook, Maine unorganized territory
in the northern part of the state, for example, has an area of 2,668
square miles (6,910 km²) and a population of 27, or one person for
every 100 square miles (255 km²).
The rocky coast around Kennebunk.
Maine is equally well known for its ocean scenery, with almost 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of shoreline[2]. West Quoddy Head
is the easternmost piece of land in the contiguous 48 United States.
Along the famous rock-bound coast of Maine are lighthouses, beaches,
fishing villages, and thousands of offshore islands, including the Isles of Shoals,
which straddle the New Hampshire border. Jagged rocks and cliffs and
thousands of bays and inlets add to the rugged beauty of Maine's coast.
Just inland, by contrast, are lakes, rivers, forests, and mountains.
This visual contrast of forested slopes sweeping down to the sea has
been aptly summed up by American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay of Rockland and Camden, Maine in "Renascence":
- "All I could see from where I stood
- was three long mountains and a wood
- I turned and looked the other way
- and saw three islands in a bay"
More prosaic geologists describe this type of landscape as a drowned coast, where a rising sea level has invaded former land features, creating bays out of valleys and islands out of mountain tops.[6]
A rise in the elevation of the land due to the melting of heavy glacier
ice caused a slight rebounding effect of underlying rock; this land
rise, however, was not strong enough to eliminate all the effect of the
rising sea level and its invasion of former land features.
Much of Maine's geography was created by heavy glacial activity at the end of the last ice age. Prominent glacial features include Somes Sound and Bubble Rock. Carved by glaciers, Somes Sound
is considered to be the only fjord on the eastern seaboard and reaches
depths of 175 feet (53 m). The extreme depth and steep drop-off allow
large ships to navigate almost the entire length of the sound. These
features also have made it attractive for boat builders, such as the
prestigious Hinkley Yachts. Bubble Rock is what is known as a "glacial
erratic" and is a large boulder perched on the edge of Bubble Mountain
in Acadia National Park. By analyzing the type of granite, geologists
were able to discover that glaciers carried Bubble Rock to its present
location from the town of Lucerne, Maine--30 miles away.
Acadia National Park is the only national park in New England.
Areas under the protection and management of the National Park Service include:[7]
Climate
Maine experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb),
with warm (although generally not hot), humid summers. Winters are cold
and snowy throughout the state, and are especially severe in the
northern parts of Maine. Coastal areas are moderated somewhat by the
Atlantic Ocean. Daytime highs are generally in the 75-80 °F (24-27 °C)
range throughout the state in July, with overnight lows in the high
50s°F (around 15 °C). January temperatures range from highs near 32 °F
(0 °C) on the southern coast to overnight lows below 0 °F (-18 °C) in
the far north.
Maine is generally safe from hurricanes and tropical storms. By the time they reach the state, many have become extratropical and few hurricanes have made landfall in Maine. Maine has fewer days of thunderstorms than any other state east of the Rockies, with most of the state averaging less than 20 days of thunderstorms a year. Tornadoes are rare in Maine with the state averaging fewer than two per year, mostly occurring in the southern part of the state.[8]
| Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures (°F) For Various Maine Cities |
| City |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Caribou |
19/0 |
23/3 |
34/15 |
47/29 |
63/41 |
72/50 |
76/55 |
74/53 |
64/44 |
51/34 |
37/24 |
25/8 |
| Portland |
31/12 |
34/16 |
42/25 |
53/35 |
63/44 |
73/53 |
79/59 |
77/57 |
69/48 |
58/37 |
47/30 |
36/19 |
| [3] |
History
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Classical
from 
