Residents: New Yorker

Present constitution adopted: 1777 (last revised 1938)

Entered Union (rank): July 26, 1788 (11)

Population (1999 est.): 18,196,601
White: 13,385,255 (74.4%)
Black: 2,859,055 (15.9%)
American Indian: 62,651 (0.3%)
Asian: 693,760 (3.9%)
Hispanic: 2,214,026 (12.3%)
Other race: 989,734 (5.5%)

Area: 47,224 sq mi. (122,310 sq km)

The great metropolis of New York City is the nerve center of the nation. It is a leader in manufacturing, foreign trade, commercial and financial transactions, book and magazine publishing, and theatrical production.

Nearly all the rest of the state's manufacturing is done on Long Island, along the Hudson River north to Albany, and through the Mohawk Valley, Central New York, and Southern Tier regions to Buffalo. The St. Lawrence seaway and power projects have opened the North Country to industrial expansion and have given the state a second seacoast.