CONNECTICUT, southernmost of the New England states of the U.S., bounded on the N by Massachusetts, on the E by Rhode Island, on the S by Long Island Sound, and on the W by New York State.
Known as the Constitution State, because its delegates played a crucial role in drawing up the U.S. Constitution at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Connecticut entered the Union on Jan. 9, 1788, as the fifth of the original 13 states. By the mid-19th century the state’s economy was dominated by manufacturing, and Hartford, its capital, had become one of the chief centers of the U.S. insurance industry. In the 1990s Connecticut was particularly noted for producing aircraft engines, helicopters, submarines, and firearms. The state’s name is derived from an Algonquian Indian term probably meaning “place of the long river,” referring to the Connecticut River.
Connecticut, with an area of 14,358 sq km (5544 sq mi), is the 48th largest state in the U.S.; 0.4% of its land area is owned by the federal government. The state has a rectangular shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 145 km (about 90 mi) from E to W and about 120 km (about 80 mi) from N to S. The surface of Connecticut increases gradually from sea level along Long Island Sound, in the S, to a high point of 725 m (2380 ft) in the NW, on the S slope of Mt. Frissell. The mean elevation of the state is approximately 152 m (approximately 500 ft). Its coastline on Long Island Sound is 995 km (618 mi) long.
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