The Connecticut Portal
Connecticut (/kəˈnɛtɪkət/ kə-NET-ik-ət) is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Connecticut lies between the major hubs of New York City and Boston along the Northeast Corridor, where the New York metropolitan area, which includes six of Connecticut's seven largest cities, extends well into the southwestern part of the state. Connecticut is the third-smallest state by area after Rhode Island and Delaware, and the 29th most populous with slightly more than 3.6 million residents as of 2020, ranking it fourth among the most densely populated U.S. states.
The state is named after the Connecticut River, the longest in New England which roughly bisects the state and drains into the Long Island Sound between the towns of Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. The name of the river is in turn derived from anglicized spellings of Quinnetuket, a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river". Before the arrival of the first European settlers, the region was inhabited by various Algonquian tribes. In 1633, the Dutch West India Company established a small, short-lived settlement called House of Hope in Hartford. Half of Connecticut was initially claimed by the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the first major settlements were established by the English around the same time. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to form the Connecticut Colony, while other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony; both merged into the former by 1664.
Connecticut's official nickname, the "Constitution State", refers to the Fundamental Orders adopted by the Connecticut Colony in 1639, which is considered by some to be the first written constitution in Western history. As one of the Thirteen Colonies that rejected British rule during the American Revolution, Connecticut was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. In 1787, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, state delegates to the Constitutional Convention, proposed a compromise between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; its bicameral structure for Congress, with a respectively proportional and equal representation of the states in the House of Representatives and Senate, was adopted and remains to this day. In January 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Constitution. (Full article...)
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Edward Miner Lamont Jr. (born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving since January 2019 as the 89th governor of Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwich selectman from 1987 to 1989 and was the party's nominee for the United States Senate in 2006, losing to incumbent Joe Lieberman.
Lamont ran for governor in 2010, but lost the Democratic primary to former Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy, who won the general election. He ran again in 2018, winning the nomination and defeating Republican Bob Stefanowski in the general election. He faced Stefanowski again in 2022, defeating him by a wider margin. As governor, Lamont signed legislation legalizing cannabis, sports betting, and online gambling. (Full article...)General images -
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Map of Connecticut showing major highways. (from Transportation in Connecticut) -
Pequot War of 1637 (from History of Connecticut) -
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The New Haven system (from History of Connecticut) -
A map showing Connecticut's land claims. (from History of Connecticut) -
1895 map from Rand McNally (from History of Connecticut) -
Map showing the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies and the CT-NY dispute (from History of Connecticut) -
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School zones generally have a speed limit of 25 mph. (from Transportation in Connecticut) -
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A 1942 advertisement for recreational lodging in Goshen stating that the facility is not a hotel and caters to Christian clientele specifically. (from History of Connecticut) -
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Some bridges on the Merritt Parkway were constructed by workers paid by the US Works Progress Administration (from History of Connecticut) -
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The Charter Oak in Hartford (from History of Connecticut) -
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Governor Jonathan Trumbull (from History of Connecticut) -
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A map showing Connecticut's towns in 1770. (from History of Connecticut)
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State facts
- Nicknames: The Provisions State, The Land of Steady Habits, The Constitution State, The Nutmeg State
- Capital: Hartford
- Governor: Ned Lamont (D)
- Lieutenant Governor: Susan Bysiewicz (D)
- Secretary of State: Stephanie Thomas (D)
- Attorney General: William Tong (D)
- Senators: Chris Murphy (D), Richard Blumenthal (D)
- Representatives: Jahana Hayes (D), Jim Himes (D), Joe Courtney (D), John B. Larson (D), Rosa DeLauro (D)
- Total area: 5,543 mi2
- Land: 4,845 mi2
- Water: 698 mi2
- Highest elevation: 2,379 ft (Mount Frissell)
- Population 3,576,452 (2015 est)
- Admission to the Union: January 9, 1788 (5th)
State symbols:
- Animal: Sperm whale
- Bird: American Robin
- Fish: American Shad
- Flower: Mountain Laurel
- Fossil: Dinosaur Track
- Insect: European Praying Mantis
- Ship: USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
- Songs: Yankee Doodle
- Tree: Charter Oak
- Mineral: Almandine
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Did you know? -
- ... that Cora Slocomb di Brazza designed the peace flag adopted by the International Council of Women, and her mother Abby Day Slocomb designed the Connecticut state flag?
- ... that Nathan Agostinelli stomped on a Viet Cong flag during his campaign for Connecticut State Comptroller?
- ... that under a new Connecticut law, abortion providers in the state can countersue anyone who sues them under the Texas Heartbeat Act?
- ... that after her father received hospice care, Connecticut state legislator Claudia Powers introduced bills to include hospice under Medicare?
- ... that a Connecticut TV station was dedicated to the state's first female governor, Ella Grasso, whose son was a minority owner?
- ... that New Haven, Connecticut, was home to the world's first commercial telephone exchange?
In the news
- February 10: Disney to shut down Blue Sky Studios, animation studio behind 'Ice Age'
- October 17: Hundreds arrested for 'dark web' child porn by international task force
- October 3: World War II era plane crashes in Connecticut, US, killing at least seven
- February 21: Sixteen states sue U.S. President Trump to stop declaration of emergency for border wall
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WikiProject Connecticut • WikiProject Connecticut routes • WikiProject UCONN
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