State of Vermont | |
Coordinates | 44°0’N, 72°42’W |
General | |
Surface | 24,923 km² (3.8% water) |
Inhabitants | 626,431 (26.1 inhabitant/km²) |
Capital city | Montpelier |
Politics | |
Governor | Phil Scott (R) |
Other | |
Time zone | Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) |
Joined | March 4, 1791 |
Nickname | Green Mountain State |
Website | vermont.gov |
Vermont is one of the fifty states of the United States of America, located in New England in the northeast. It is the fifth smallest state by area and with 625,000 inhabitants the second smallest by population.
The state is one of six relatively small states that make up New England. Vermont borders New Hampshire to the east, Massachusetts to the south, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. The Green Mountains run north-south through Vermont. To the west, Lake Champlain, with a fertile valley surrounding it, forms the state line, to the east the Connecticut River. The climate is characterized by humid and warm summers and cold, white winters. Vermont is very wooded, with more open space for agriculture mainly in the west .
The region was inhabited by Native Americans for about 12,000 years . During the European colonization of the Americas , Abenaki and Mohawk lived there. In the 17th century, French settlers seized the land as part of New France, after which the British began to colonize the Atlantic coast, thus bringing the two colonies into conflict. After a defeat in the Seven Years’ War, France ceded the entire area. Vermont was claimed by the British colonies of New York and New Hampshire until settlers during the American Revolutionary Warfounded the Republic of Vermont. In 1791, Vermont, where slavery had been banned since 1777, became a state. In the 19th century it was an abolitionist stronghold, though its economy depended on cotton from the slave states.
With about 625,000 inhabitants and a population density of 26 inhabitants/km², Vermont is rather sparsely populated. Nearly half of Vermonters were not born in the state. Vermont is the second most white state after Maine. Burlington and its suburbs – home to some 200,000 residents – make up the largest metropolitan area. The capital is small Montpelier.
History
Old Constitution House where the Republic of Vermont was proclaimed
The area now called Vermont was originally settled by Native American tribes such as the Iroquois, Algonquin, and Abenaki. In 1609 , French explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed an area near what is now Lake Champlain. He gave the neighboring mountains the name Les Verts Monts (“the green mountains”), which was later corrupted into the current name of the state. In 1666 Fort Sainte Anne was built on the island of Isle La Motte which became the first European settlement in the state.
After the Treaty of Paris (1763) the area came under British control . Parts of the present state fell under the neighboring colonies (later states) of New York and New Hampshire. Since the border between these two states was not well defined and both states allocated land to farmers, conflicts arose that led to the declaration of the independent republic of Vermont in 1777, originally called the Republic of New Connecticut. After first making overtures to the English, Vermont was taken over on March 4, 1791 formally, as the 14th, a state of the United States. It was the first admitted state that had not previously been a British colony.
During the American Civil War, Vermont sided with the Union. About 30,000 volunteers volunteered for the Northern Army. In 1864, the northernmost battle of the war took place in St. Albans when Union troops from Canada looted the town. An attempt by them to burn down the city failed and once back in Canada they had to return the stolen money and it was returned to the population.
Geography
According to JIBIN123.COM, the state of Vermont covers 24,923 km², of which 23,974 km² is land. It is in the Eastern time zone. Vermont is divided into 14 counties.
Vermont is bordered to the north by the province of Quebec (Canada), to the west by New York State, to the east by New Hampshire and to the south by Massachusetts.
The main river is the Connecticut River, which defines the entire border with New Hampshire. The elongated Lake Champlain forms much of the border with New York State.
Much of the state is taken up by the Green Mountains, which are part of the Appalachian Mountains and bisect the state from north to south. The peak of Mount Mansfield (1339 m) is the highest point in Vermont but the Camel’s Hump is possibly the best known.
The state is bisected by Interstate 89 from Canada to Concord (New Hampshire), Interstate 91 which runs in the east of the state from Massachusetts to the Canadian border, and Interstate 93 which connects Interstate 91 to the city of Boston. The Vermonter is a train that connects the city of St. Albans with New York (Pennsylvania Station) and Washington DC (Washington Union Station). The Ethan Allen Express connects Rutland to New York viaAlbania. Burlington International Airport is the state’s international airport.
Demographics
Vermont had 608,827 inhabitants (24.4 per km²), of which approximately 32% of the population lives in an urban area. The largest cities are Burlington and Montpelier.
Counties in Vermont
According to COUNTRYAAH, the US state of Vermont is divided into 14 counties. Unlike in other states, county capitals are not called county seat, but shire town. The counties of Essex, Orleans and Caledonia are collectively known as the Northeast Kingdom.
County | Inhabitants 1 July, 2007 |
County Seat | Inhabitants 1 July, 2007 |
Addison | 36.760 | Middlebury | 6380 |
Bennington | 36.452 | Bennington Manchester |
9037 701 |
Caledonia | 30.655 | St. Johnsbury | 6511 |
Chittenden | 151.826 | Burlington | 38.531 |
Essex | 6495 | Guildhall | 268 |
Franklin | 47.934 | St. Albans | 7305 |
Grand Isle | 7601 | North Hero | 905 |
Lamoille | 24.676 | Hyde Park | 499 |
Orange | 29.002 | Chelsea | 1234 |
Orleans | 27.302 | Newport | 5185 |
Rutland | 63.270 | Rutland | 16.826 |
Washington | 58.926 | Montpelier | 7806 |
Windham | 43.480 | Newfane | 111 |
Windsor | 56.875 | Woodstock | 932 |
Economy
The gross product of the state in 2001 was 19 billion dollars. Tourism is an important source of income, in winter the state is a winter sports destination. In other seasons, tourists come for the old colonial atmosphere (despite the fact that the state has never been a colony) and the landscape and lakes.
One-third of the maple syrup produced in the United States comes from Vermont. Much marble and granite is mined, more than in neighboring New Hampshire despite being nicknamed the Granite State. The well-known ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s is located in South Burlington.
Politics
The Vermont State House (Parliament Building) in Montpelier.
Vermont’s executive branch is headed by a governor, who is directly elected by voters in the state. The current governor is Phil Scott of the Republican Party, who was sworn in in early January 2017.
The legislature is made up of the Vermont House of Representatives (Vermont House of Representatives) with 150 members and the Vermont Senate (Vermont Senate) with 30 members.
Until the 1990s, state governance was dominated by Republican Party politicians. Vermont has since been known as one of the most progressive states in the United States. Bernie Sanders, for example, who represents the state in the Senate as an independent, describes herself as a Democratic Socialist.
Separation Movement
On October 28, 2005, approximately 250 Vermonters gathered at the State House in Montpelier for the Vermont Independence Convention, the “first state-wide secession meeting held since North Carolina voted to secede from the Union on May 20, 1861 “. The Vermont secessionist movement is one of the strongest in the United States, uniting among others conservative gun owners and progressive “greens,” who have in common their dissatisfaction with Washington politics.. This has rekindled the debate as to whether a state may withdraw from the American Union. Proponents think so: they have joined the union voluntarily and are therefore also demanding the right to leave. However, a number of legal scholars in the United States believe that Vermont has also entered into a contract with the American nation by joining that it can no longer undo. They therefore do not consider separation permissible.