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{{short description|U.S. state}}
{{About|the U.S. state}}
{{use American English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
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'''Maine''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=En-Maine-pronunciation.ogg|m|eɪ|n}} {{respell|MAYN}})<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Maine|accessdate=2024-03-08}}</ref> is a [[U.S. state|state]] in the [[New England]] region of the [[United States]], and the northeasternmost state in the [[Lower 48]]. It borders [[New Hampshire]] to the west, the [[Gulf of Maine]] to the southeast, and the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Canadian provinces]] of [[New Brunswick]] and [[Quebec]] to the northeast and northwest, respectively. Maine is the largest [[U.S. state|state]] in New England by total area, nearly larger than the combined area of the remaining five states. Of the [[List of states and territories of the United States|50 U.S. states]], it is the [[List of U.S. states and territories by area|12th-smallest by area]], the [[List of U.S. states and territories by population|9th-least populous]], the [[List of U.S. states by population density|13th-least densely populated]], and the most rural.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wickenheiser |first=Matt |date=2012-03-26 |title=Census: Maine most rural state in 2010 as urban centers grow nationwide |url=http://bangordailynews.com/2012/03/26/news/census-maine-most-rural-state-in-2010-as-urban-centers-grow-nationwide/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423053340/https://www.bangordailynews.com/2012/03/26/news/census-maine-most-rural-state-in-2010-as-urban-centers-grow-nationwide/ |archive-date=Apr 23, 2021 |access-date=2021-09-20 |website=Bangor Daily News |language=en-US}}</ref> Maine's [[List of capitals in the United States|capital]] is [[Augusta, Maine|Augusta]], and its [[List of municipalities in Maine|most populous city]] is [[Portland, Maine|Portland]], with a total population of 68,408, as of the 2020 census.
The territory of Maine has been inhabited by [[Native Americans in the United States|Indigenous populations]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Indigenous Peoples of North America|url=https://www.gale.com/c/indigenous-peoples-north-america-part-i|access-date=2023-12-17|website=www.gale.com|language=en}}</ref> for thousands of years after the glaciers retreated during the [[Last Glacial Period|last ice age]]. At the time of European arrival, several [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking nations governed the area and these nations are now known as the [[Wabanaki Confederacy]]. The first European settlement in the area was by the French in 1604 on [[Saint Croix Island, Maine|Saint Croix Island]], founded by [[Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons]]. The first English settlement was the short-lived [[Popham Colony]], established by the [[Plymouth Company]] in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the coast of Maine in the 1620s, although the rugged climate and conflict with the local [[Indigenous people]] caused many to fail. As Maine entered the 18th century, only a half dozen European settlements had survived. [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] and [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] forces contended for Maine's territory during the [[American Revolution]]. During the [[War of 1812]], the largely undefended eastern region of Maine was occupied by British forces with the goal of annexing it to [[British North America|Canada]] via the [[New Ireland (Maine)|Colony of New Ireland]], but returned to the United States following failed British offensives on the northern border, mid-Atlantic and south which produced a [[Treaty of Ghent|peace treaty]] that restored the pre-war boundaries. Maine was part of the [[Commonwealth of Massachusetts]] until 1820 when it voted to secede from Massachusetts to become a separate state. On March 15, 1820, under the [[Missouri Compromise]],
Today, Maine is known for its jagged, rocky [[Atlantic Ocean]] and bayshore coastlines, mountains, heavily [[forest]]ed interior, and its cuisine, particularly [[Vaccinium angustifolium|wild lowbush blueberries]] and [[seafood]] such as [[American lobster|lobster]] and [[clam]]s. Coastal and [[Down East Maine]] have emerged as important centers for the [[creative economy]],<ref name="MaineCreativeEconomy">{{cite web |title=Maine's Creative Economy |url=https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/General/Maines-Creative-Economy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005073335/https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/General/Maines-Creative-Economy |archive-date=October 5, 2021 |access-date=October 5, 2021 |website=Maine Arts Commission}}</ref> especially in [[Portland metropolitan area, Maine|the vicinity of Portland]], which
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===Statehood and Missouri Compromise===
Formal secession from Massachusetts and admission of Maine as the 23rd state occurred on March 15, 1820, as part of the [[Missouri Compromise]], which geographically
Maine's original state capital was Portland, Maine's largest city, until it was moved to the more central Augusta in 1832. The principal office of the [[Maine Supreme Judicial Court]] remains in Portland.
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To the south and east is the [[Gulf of Maine]], and to the west is the state of [[New Hampshire]]. The Canadian province of [[New Brunswick]] is to the north and northeast, and the province of [[Quebec]] is to the northwest. Maine is the northernmost state in New England and the largest, accounting for almost half of the region's entire land area. Maine is the only state to border exactly one other American state (New Hampshire). Approximately half the area of Maine lies on each side of the [[45th parallel north]] in [[latitude]].
Maine is the easternmost state in the [[Contiguous United States]] both in its extreme points and
Maine's [[Moosehead Lake]] is the largest lake wholly in New England, since [[Lake Champlain]] is located between [[Vermont]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and [[Quebec]]. A number of other Maine lakes, such as [[South Twin Lake (Maine)|South Twin Lake]], are described by [[Thoreau]] in ''The Maine Woods'' (1864). [[Mount Katahdin]] is the northern terminus of the [[Appalachian Trail]], which extends southerly to [[Springer Mountain]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and the southern terminus of the new [[International Appalachian Trail]] which, when complete, will run to [[Belle Isle (Newfoundland and Labrador)|Belle Isle]], [[Newfoundland and Labrador]].
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[[Machias Seal Island]] and [[North Rock]], off the state's Downeast coast, are claimed by both [[Canada]] and the American town of [[Cutler, Maine|Cutler]], and are within one of [[List of areas disputed by Canada and the United States|four areas between the two countries whose sovereignty is still in dispute]], but it is the only one of the disputed areas containing land. Also in this easternmost area in the [[Bay of Fundy]] is the [[Old Sow]], the largest [[Tide|tidal]] [[whirlpool]] in the [[Western Hemisphere]].
Maine is the least densely populated state east of the [[Mississippi River]]. It is called the [[List of U.S. state and territory nicknames|Pine Tree State]]; over 80% of its total land is forested or unclaimed,<ref name="forest">{{cite journal |last1=Nowak |first1=David J. |last2=Greenfield |first2=Eric J. |title=Tree and impervious cover in the United States |journal=Landscape and Urban Planning |date=July 2012 |volume=107 |issue=1 |pages=21–30 |doi=10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.04.005 |bibcode=2012LUrbP.107...21N |s2cid=9352755 |url=http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/2012/nrs_2012_nowak_002.pdf |access-date=March 12, 2014 |archive-date=March 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312212331/http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/2012/nrs_2012_nowak_002.pdf |url-status=dead | issn = 0169-2046 }}</ref> [[Forest cover by state and territory in the United States|the most forest cover of any U.S. state]]. In the wooded areas of the interior lies much uninhabited land, some of which does not have formal political organization into local units (a rarity in New England). The [[Northwest Aroostook, Maine|Northwest Aroostook]] [[unincorporated area#U.S. Census Bureau|unorganized territory]] in the northern part of the state, for example, has an area of {{convert|2668|sqmi|km2}} and a population of 10, or one person for every {{convert|267|sqmi|km2}}.
Maine is in the [[temperate broadleaf and mixed forests]] [[biome]]. The land near the southern and central Atlantic coast is covered by the mixed [[Quercus|oaks]] of the [[Northeastern coastal forests]]. The remainder of the state, including the [[North Maine Woods|North Woods]], is covered by the [[New England–Acadian forests]].<ref name="ecoregions">{{cite journal |author=Olson |title=Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth |journal=[[BioScience]] |year=2001 |volume=51 |issue=11 |pages=933–938 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2 |author2=D. M |author3=E. Dinerstein |display-authors=3 |issn=0006-3568 |last4=Burgess |first4=Neil D. |last5=Powell |first5=George V. N. |last6=Underwood |first6=Emma C. |last7=d'Amico |first7=Jennifer A. |last8=Itoua |first8=Illanga |last9=Strand |first9=Holly E. |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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* 42,519<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Maine?g=040XX00US23 |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref>
Maine's total [[gross state product]] was $91.1 billion in 2023.<ref name="GDPByState">{{cite web |title=GDP by State |url=https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state |website=GDP by State | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) |publisher=Bureau of Economic Analysis |access-date=24 May 2024}}</ref> The state's [[Per capita personal income in the United States|per capita personal income]] for 2023 was $63,117, ranking 30th in the nation, and its
[[File:Lobster_Trap.jpg|thumb|Lobstering in Portland]]
Maine's [[agriculture|agricultural]] outputs include poultry, eggs, dairy products, cattle, wild blueberries, apples, [[maple syrup]], and [[maple sugar]]. [[Aroostook County, Maine|Aroostook County]] is known for its [[potato]] crops. Potatoes make the state $166,672,000 a year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://economic-impact-of-ag.uada.edu/maine/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Maine%20generated%20around,percent%20of%20total%20state%20GDP. |title=Maine Economic Contribution and Impact Research |publisher=University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture |access-date=March 27, 2023}}</ref> [[Commercial fishing]], once a mainstay of the state's economy, maintains a presence, particularly [[lobster fishing|lobstering]] and [[groundfishing]]. While lobster is the main seafood focus for Maine, the harvest of both oysters and seaweed are on the rise. In 2015, 14% of the Northeast's total oyster supply came from Maine. In 2017, the production of Maine's seaweed industry was estimated at $20 million per year. The shrimp industry of Maine is on a government-mandated hold. With an ever-decreasing Northern shrimp population, Maine fishermen are no longer allowed to catch and sell shrimp. The hold began in 2014 and is expected to continue until 2021.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Losneck|first=Caroline|date=April 2019|title=NORTHEAST: Oyster, seaweed industries continue rise in Maine; Northern shrimp shutdown extends 3 years; scup and squid try to find strong markets.|journal=National Fisherman}}</ref> Western Maine aquifers and springs are a source of bottled water for companies like [[Poland Spring]].
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====Freight====
Freight service throughout the state is provided by a handful of regional and shortline carriers: [[Pan Am Railways]] (formerly known as Guilford Rail System), which operates the former [[Boston and Maine Railroad|Boston
=== Shipping ===
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