Maine

Maine is the northern most state in New England. With an area of 35,385 sq miles, Maine is also the largest state in the region. It became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820 as a part of the Missouri Compromise. Prior to becoming a state, Maine was a part of Massachusetts.

Commercial Fishing, including lobster trapping, is a traditional and still vital part of the coastal economy. Tourism is a large industry in southern Maine because of its many beaches and picturesque coastal villages.

Most of the population is in the southern part of the state.

Pre-colonisation
Prior to European colonisation, Maine was inhabited by the Algonquian-speaking Wabanaki peoples, which included the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Penobscot.

The Wabanaki lived primarily in Western Maine, more specifically in the Kennebec, Androscoggin, an Saco River valleys.

Early Settlement and pre-statehood
The first European settlement was in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, established by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, and Samuel de Champlain, the noted explorer. The French named the entire area, including the portion that later became the State of Maine, Acadia. The first English settlement was established by the Plymouth Company at Popham in 1607, the same year as the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.The Popham Colony did not survive the harsh Maine winter.

Missouri Compromise
Maine gained statehood as a part of the Missouri compromise. A bill to enable the people of Missouri to form a state government preliminary to admission into the Union came before the House of Representatives in Committee of the Whole, on the 13th of February 1819. An amendment offered by James Tallmadge (1778-1853) of New York, which provided that the further introduction of slaves into Missouri should be forbidden, and that all children of slave parents born in the state after its admission should be free at the age of twenty-five, was adopted by the committee and incorporated in the Bill as finally passed (Feb. 17) by the house. The Senate refused to concur in the amendment and the whole measure was lost. During the following session (1819-1820), the house passed a similar bill with an amendment introduced on the 26th of January 1820 by John W. Taylor (1784-1854) of New York making the admission of the state conditional upon its adoption of a constitution prohibiting slavery. In the meantime the question had been complicated by the admission in December of Alabama, a slave state (the number of slave and free states now becoming equal), and by the passage through the house (Jan. 3, 1820) of a bill to admit Maine, a free state. The Senate decided to connect the two measures, and passed a bill for the admission of Maine with an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state constitution. Before the bill was returned to the house a second amendment was adopted on the motion of J. B. Thomas (1777-1850) of Illinois, excluding slavery from the "Louisiana Purchase" north of 36° 30' (the southern boundary of Missouri), except within the limits of the proposed state of Missouri. The House of Representatives refused to accept this and a conference committee was appointed. There was now a controversy between the two houses not only Claiborne F. Jackson (deposed by state convention). on the slavery issue, but also on the parliamentary question of the inclusion of Maine and Missouri within the same bill. The committee recommended the enactment of two laws, one for the admission of Maine, the other an enabling act for Missouri without any restrictions on slavery but including the Thomas amendment. This was agreed to by both houses, and the measures were passed, and were signed by President Monroe respectively on the 3rd and on the 6th of March 1820.

Counties
There are 16 counties in Maine. The following's a list of them:
 * Androscoggin
 * Aroostook
 * Cumberland
 * Franklin
 * Hancock
 * Kennebec
 * Knox
 * Lincoln
 * Oxford
 * Penobscot
 * Piscataquis
 * Sagadahoc
 * Somerset
 * Waldo
 * Washington
 * York

Trivia

 * It's illegal to have Christmas decorations up past January 14.
 * Maine is the only state in the mainland US which shares a border with just one state - New Hampshire.
 * In addition to being the name of the state, Maine is the name of a river and a province in France.