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Home > Vermont
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Vermont
The state of Vermont is located in the New England region of the northeast part of the United States of America. The state ranks 45th by overall area and 43rd by land-based area at 24,000 km2 (9,250 square miles). Ranking 49th of all 50 states, it has a residential population of 608,827. The only New England state with no coastline alongside the Atlantic Ocean, Vermont is noted for the Green Mountains passing north to south and Lake Champlain which makes up about half of Vermont's western border. It is bordered by the Canadian province of Quebec to the north, New York to the west, New Hampshire to the east, and Massachusetts to the south.
Originally populated by Native American tribes (Iroquois, and Abenaki), the area that is now Vermont was claimed by France but turned into a British possession following France's defeat in the Indian and French War. The neighboring colonies disputed management of the area, in particular New York and New Hampshire for many years. Granted by these colonies, Settlers who held land titles were opposed by the Green Mountain Boys militia, which sooner or later prevailed in creating an free state, the Vermont Republic, which was started throughout the Revolutionary War and lasted for 14 years. Vermont was accepted in the United States as the 14th state in 1791.
The state is noted for its dairy products and scenery. It is the top producer of maple syrup in the United States. The largest metropolitan area and city is Burlington, and the state capital is Montpelier. No other state has a largest city as little as Burlington. Agriculture contributes $2.6 billion, about 12%, directly and indirectly to the state's economy.
Over the past 2 centuries logging has fallen off as exploitation and the over-cutting of further forests made Vermont's forest less eye-catching. Loss of farms has had the advantageous effect of allowing Vermont's forest and land to recover. The additional lack of industry has permitted Vermont to avoid many of the bad effects of 20th century industrial busts, effects that still plague nearby states. Today, most of Vermont's forests is composed of second-growth. Of the remaining industries, dairy farming is the primary source of agricultural income.
In the last half of the 20th century, developers have had plans to build condos and houses on what was relatively cheap, open land. Vermont's government has reacted with a series of laws controlling progress and with some pioneering programs to prevent the loss of Vermont's dairy industry.
There were 11,206 dairy farms in the state. In 2003 there was a decline of about 80%, fewer than 1,500. The number of cattle had declined by 40% in 1947. However, milk production had doubled in the same time due to tripling the production per cow. There were 1,087 farms left in 2007, reduced from 1,138 in 2006. Vermont's market share declined while milk production rose. Within a group of states supplying the Boston-NYC market, Vermont was 3rd with a 10.6% share of the market. in 2007, there were 1,050 dairy farms remaining. The number has been diminishing by 10% yearly.
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