March 15 – Maine Celebrates Its Statehood

nPostednon March 15, 2016

nMainenis very special – in bunches of ways.

nItnis the easternmost state in the United States. n

nAndnit’s the northernmost, too, right?

nMaine looks, on some mapsnat least, like it is the northernmost of the 48 contiguous statesn(the states that touch—so, all the states other than Alaska andnHawaii), but it is only the sixth northernmost of the lowern68; Minnesota is #1, followed by North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, andnWashington! And the following nations in Europe that are completelynor mostly farther north than Maine include: Ireland, the U.K.,nDenmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Belgium, the Netherlands,nLuxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Russia!

nMaine is the only state that borders on only one other state.

Onenof the islands off the coast of Maine, Machias Seal Island, isnclaimed by both the U.S. and Canada – the only disputed area thatncontains land!

nMachias Seal Island is apparently a puffin paradise!

nThenlargest tidal whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere, the Old Sow, isnalso off the coast of Maine.

nApparently it makes sucking noises.

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nMainenhas miles and miles of beautiful jagged, rocky coastline. Itsnlandscape is considered a “drowned coast,” because over thencenturies and millennia, rising sea levels have invaded landnfeatures. What used to be valleys have become bays, and what used tonbe mountain tops became islands.

nItnis the least densely populated U.S. state east of the MississippinRiver. That’s partly because it is so heavily forested (83% of thenland is covered by forests) that some large tracts of land arenuninhabited – and are not even organized into political units suchnas counties or boroughs. n

nOnnthis date in 1820, Maine became the 23^rd state in the U.S.

nThanksnto those rocky coasts, those colorful forests, and the many lakes andnrivers, Maine is pretty darn gorgeous!