Upstate New York

Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area.[1] Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Island, and most definitions of the region also exclude all or part of Westchester and Rockland counties, which are typically included in Downstate New York.[2][3] Major cities across Upstate New York from east to west include Albany, Utica, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.[3][4]

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Regions of New York
Downstate New York New York City Long Island Hudson Valley (Lower)
Upstate New York Hudson Valley (Middle and Upper) Capital District North Country Southern Tier Mohawk Valley Central New York Finger Lakes Western New York
Administrative divisions Counties Cities Towns Indian reservations Villages Census-designated places Places (including hamlets)
Timelines of town creation Downstate New York Hudson Valley Capital District North Country Central New York Southern Tier Western New York
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Upstate New York is divided into several subregions: the Hudson Valley, the lower part of which is sometimes debated as to being upstate, the Capital District, the Mohawk Valley region, Central New York, the Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes region, Western New York, and the North Country.[5]

Before the European colonization of the United States, Upstate New York was populated by several Native American tribes. It was home to the Iroquois Confederacy, an indigenous confederation of six tribes, known as the Six Nations.[6] Henry Hudson made the first recorded European exploration of the region in 1609,[7] and the Dutch erected Fort Orange (present-day Albany) in 1624, which was the first permanent European settlement in New York.[8][9][10] The region saw many battles during the American Revolutionary War, with the Iroquois split between supporters of the loyalists and supporters of the revolutionaries. After the war ended, the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix kicked off a series of treaties and purchases that saw the Iroquois cede the vast majority of their land in Upstate New York to the newly formed United States.[11]

The 1825 opening of the Erie Canal across Upstate New York transformed the economy of the region and the state. The canal greatly eased the movement of goods from across the upper Midwest and the cities along the Great Lakes through Upstate New York and to the port of New York City. As a result, Upstate New York became a hotbed for manufacturing during the Second Industrial Revolution, giving birth to such firms as General Electric, IBM, Kodak, and Xerox. The rapid industrialization led to a large influx of immigrants seeking jobs at factories across the region. Since the mid-20th century, American de-industrialization has contributed to economic and population decline,[12][13] and the region is largely considered part of the Rust Belt.

There are a wide variety of land uses in the region, including urban, suburban, forested preserve, and rural landscapes. Due to its vast areas of rural land, Upstate also supports a strong agricultural industry, and is notable for its dairy, maple syrup, and fruit production (especially apples), as well as winemaking.[14] Upstate New York includes a number of notable waterways, with the Susquehanna, Delaware, and Hudson Rivers all originating in the region, and is bordered on its northern and western edges by the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. As a result, the region is a significant source of hydroelectric power (going back to the creation of the world's first hydroelectric dam by Nikola Tesla at Niagara Falls) and drinking water (with multiple reservoirs serving New York City). Upstate New York is home to numerous popular tourist and recreational destinations, including Niagara Falls, the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains, the Thousand Islands, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Finger Lakes.