Connecticut

I

Introduction

Connecticut, southernmost of the New England states of the United States, bordered on the north by Massachusetts; on the east by Rhode Island; on the south by Long Island Sound; and on the west by New York State.

Known as the “Constitution State”, because its delegates played a crucial role in drawing up the US Constitution at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Connecticut entered the Union on January 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 centres of the US 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 term probably meaning “beside the long tidal river”, referring to the Connecticut River.

II

Land and Resources

With an area of 14,359 sq km (5,544 sq mi), Connecticut is the third-smallest state in the United States. The state has a rectangular shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 163 km (101 mi) from east to west and about 117 km (73 mi) from north to south. The surface of Connecticut increases gradually from sea level along Long Island Sound, in the south, to a high point of 725 m (2,380 ft) in the north-west, on the southern slope of Mount Frissell. Its coastline on Long Island Sound is 995 km (618 mi) long.

A

Physical Geography

Connecticut has five major landform regions: the Taconic Mountains in the north-west; the Connecticut Valley Lowland in the centre; the Coastal Lowlands; the Western New England Upland; and the Eastern New England Upland.

Underlain by metamorphic rocks, the Taconic Mountains contain steep slopes and narrow valleys; soils are relatively infertile. The state’s highest elevations are here.

The Connecticut Valley Lowland is a river valley that extends north into Massachusetts. Some 40 to 56 km (25 to 35 mi) wide in Connecticut, the valley rises from the river in a series of low terraces to form a smooth, level plain of rich, fertile soils.

The Western New England Upland rises gradually from low elevations in the south to nearly 460 m (about 1,500 ft) in the north. Its surface varies from rolling to hilly. The Eastern New England Upland is considerably lower, with maximum elevations seldom higher than about 215 m (700 ft). Relief is less striking, with the terrain best described as rolling to somewhat hilly.

The principal rivers are the Connecticut, the Housatonic, and the Thames. Connecticut’s lakes are generally small bodies of water formed by glacial action and are mostly located in the Western New England Upland. The two largest bodies of water are both artificial: Lake Candlewood, near Danbury, and Barkhamsted Reservoir, in the north.

B

Climate

Connecticut has a humid continental climate. The average yearly temperature along the coast is 10.6° C (51° F), and in the north-west it is 7.2° C (45° F); for most of the rest of the state the yearly mean temperature ranges between 8.3° C and 9.4° C (47° F and 49° F). The recorded temperature in Connecticut has ranged from -35.6° C (-32° F), in 1943 at Falls Village, to 40.6° C (105° F), in 1926 at Waterbury. Violent storms are rare, but several hurricanes have struck along the coast. A tornado, rare for this region, touched down north of Hartford in 1979 and caused extensive damage.