6 New York Facts that are mostly NOT about Manhattan

1. The capital of the state is Albany.

2. New York City (made up of the five boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island) is the most populous city in the United States. Approximately 19,795,791 people live there -- over 40% of the state's total population.

3. New York City is the main gateway for legal immigration to the United States. In the 1800s, it was a major ocean port, and more than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. More than 100,000,000 Americans are descended from these immigrants.

4. New York was the only colony that didn't vote for independence (because its delegates weren't authorized to vote).

5. Much of the state borders water, including Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, St Lawrence River, and the Atlantic Ocean. New York is the only state touching the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes.

6. Most of the state is made up of meadows, forests, rivers, farms, mountains, and lakes. Adirondack State Park is the largest state park in the United States, and it's larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Olympic National parks combined (it's roughly the size of Vermont).