New York State is located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, the most densely populated in the country. New York City is located in the state, one of the largest cities and the largest financial and commercial center in the world. The capital of the State of New York is Albany, a relatively small city considering the fact that it has less than 100,000 inhabitants.
The state's first settlers were the Dutch, who called New York City New Amsterdam. Later, the British conquered the territory and changed the name to the current one. New York is, without a doubt, one of the most important states in the American nation. With its 19.4 million inhabitants, it is the third most inhabited in the country, losing only to California and Texas.
The state borders Lake Erie to the west, Canada to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, as well as the states of Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut to the east and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south. New York's climate is temperate, varying from region to region of the state. In New York City, for example, the average is 23ºC in summer and -1ºC in winter.
Although its GDP (822 billion USD; 2003) is inferior to that of the State of California, the State of New York is the most important economic center in the United States. This is probably due to the fact that it is the nucleus of a megalopolis that stretches from Boston to Washington, DC. New York City is home to the world's largest financial institutions and stock exchanges.
About 84% of the state's population lives in cities.