Massachusetts, USA
State or territory
Location overview
Massachusetts, officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by Vermont and New Hampshire to the north, New York to the west, Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Boston is the state capital and largest city, anchoring a major metropolitan region that includes Cambridge, Quincy and numerous densely settled suburban municipalities; Worcester, Springfield, Lowell and New Bedford are other major cities. Massachusetts ranges from the Berkshire Hills and Connecticut River Valley in the west through the rolling uplands of central Massachusetts to the heavily urbanized coastal plain around Boston. Its Atlantic shoreline includes Massachusetts Bay, Cape Ann, Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, along with numerous harbors, beaches, wetlands and islands. The state is divided into 14 counties, although several county governments have been abolished and municipalities provide most local government services. Massachusetts covers about 7,801 square miles of land, had 7,029,917 residents in the 2020 census and was one of the original thirteen states.