Delaware (state)

I

Introduction

Delaware (state), one of the eastern states of the United States, bordered on the north by Pennsylvania; on the east by the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean; and on the south and west by Maryland.

Delaware is known as the “First State” because on December 7, 1787, it became the first of the original 13 states to ratify the US Constitution and thereby enter the Union. In the 1990s Delaware’s economy was dominated by services and manufacturing; the state was noted as the home of the huge E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company chemical firm (Du Pont). The state is named after Delaware Bay and the Delaware River, both named in honour of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De la Warr, the first colonial governor of Virginia.

II

Land and Resources

With an area of 6,208 sq km (2,397 sq mi) Delaware is the second-smallest state of the United States. The state is roughly triangular in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 154 km (96 mi) from north to south and about 56 km (35 mi) from east to west. Elevations range from sea level to 137 m (448 ft) from the top of an unnamed hill at the northern end of the state. The approximate mean elevation is 18 m (60 ft), lower than that of any other state. Delaware’s Atlantic coast extends 45 km (28 mi); it has 613 km (381 mi) of tidal shoreline.

A

Physical Geography

About 95 per cent of Delaware lies on the Delmarva Peninsula, in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, above a wedge of sands, silts, and clays that thickens towards the south-east, reaching a depth of about 3,000 m (9,850 ft) at the Atlantic shoreline. No point is higher than 30 m (100 ft) in the coastal plain; the soils there generally have a low natural fertility. Extensive areas of wetlands occur along the eastern fringes of the state, and Cedar Swamp is in the southern interior. Delaware’s northern tip, part of the Piedmont Plateau, is an area of rolling hills, underlain by metamorphic rock, with summits typically 75 to 125 m (246 to 410 ft) high.

There are no large rivers in the interior of Delaware, but the north-eastern boundary of the state is formed by the lower Delaware River and its estuary, Delaware Bay. Most of the state’s streams flow east towards the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, or the Atlantic Ocean; these streams include the Christina, Smyrna, Leipsic, St Jones, Broadkill, and Indian rivers. There are no large lakes in the state.

B

Climate

Delaware has a humid, temperate climate, with little variation from place to place. Winter temperatures average about 1.7° C (35° F), but daily minimum temperatures fall below freezing (0° C/32° F) about 100 days per year. The average summer temperature in Delaware is about 24° C (75° F); the maximum daily temperature exceeds 32.2° C (90° F) on about 30 days each year. The recorded temperature in Delaware has ranged from -27.2° C (-17° F), in 1893, to 43.3° C (110° F), in 1930; both readings were taken at Millsboro.