Connecticut is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, the state of New York to the west, and by the Long Island Sound to the south.  The state is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that bisects the state.  Connecticut's capital city is Hartford. The Knowledge Corridor surrounding Hartford and Springfield, Massachusetts, the latter of which lies only 5 miles north of the Connecticut state line, constitute New England's second most populous metropolitan region (with approximately 1.8 million residents and 110,000 university students.) SW Connecticut is considered part of the New York metropolitan area; three of Connecticut's eight counties are in the New York City combined statistical area, commonly called the Tri-State area. Connecticut's center of population is in Cheshire, New Haven County. Connecticut is the 29th most populous state, with 3.5 million residents, and is ranked 48th in size by area, making it the 4th most densely populated state in the USA. Called the Constitution State, Nutmeg State, and "The Land of Steady Habits", Connecticut was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutch and established a small, short-lived settlement in present-day Hartford at the confluence of the Park and Connecticut rivers, called Huys de Goede Hoop. Initially, half of Connecticut was a part of the Dutch colony, New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers. The first major settlements were established in the 1630s by the English. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers overland from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and founded what would become the Connecticut Colony; other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony. Both the Connecticut and New Haven Colonies established documents of Fundamental Orders, considered the first constitutions in North America. In 1662, the three colonies were merged under a royal charter, making Connecticut a crown colony. This colony was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution.

Rhose Island is the smallest U.S. state by area. Rhode Island is bordered by Connecticut to the west and Massachusetts to the north and east, and it shares a water boundary with New York's Long Island to the southwest. Rhode Island was the first of the 13 original colonies to declare independence from British rule, declaring itself independent on May 4, 1776, two months before any other state and the convention. The state was also the last to ratify the United States Constitution.  Some Rhode Islanders speak with a non-rhotic accent that many compare to a "Brooklyn" or a cross between a New York and Boston accent ("water" becomes "wata"), which was brought to the region by early settlers from eastern England in the Puritan migration to New England in the mid-seventeenth century.  Rhode Islanders refer to drinking fountains as "bubblers," (pronounced bub-lhas.) Nicknamed "The Ocean State", the nautical nature of Rhode Island's geography pervades its culture. Newport Harbor, in particular, holds many pleasure boats. In the lobby of the state's main airport, T. F. Green, is a large life size sailboat, and the state's license plates depict an ocean wave or a sailboat.  The state was notorious for organized crime activity from the 1950s into the 1990s when the Patriarca crime family held sway over most of New England from its Providence headquarters. Rhode Islanders developed a unique style of architecture in the 17th century, called the stone-ender. Rhode Island is the only state to still celebrate Victory over Japan Day. It is known locally as "VJ Day", or simply "Victory Day".

Massachusetts is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Massachusetts is the most populous of the six New England states, the third most densely populated state in the United States, and also has the U.S.'s sixth highest GDP per capita. Culturally, historically, and commercially, Massachusetts has been significant throughout American history. Plymouth was the second permanent English settlement in North America. Many of Massachusetts's towns were founded by colonists from England in the 1620s and 1630s. Harvard University, founded in 1636, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. In 1692, the towns surrounding Salem, Massachusetts experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem Witch Trials. In the eighteenth century, the Protestant First Great Awakening, which swept the Atlantic world, originated from the pulpit of Northampton, Massachusetts preacher Jonathan Edwards. In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution and the independence of the United States from Great Britain. In 1777, George Washington founded the Springfield Armory, which during the Industrial Revolution catalyzed numerous important technological advances, including interchangeable parts. In 1786, Shays' Rebellion, a populist revolt by Western Massachusetts farmers, led directly to the United States Constitutional Convention. Before the American Civil War, Massachusetts was a center for the temperance, transcendentalist, and abolitionist movements. In 1837, Mount Holyoke College, the United States' first college for women, was opened in the Connecticut River Valley town of South Hadley. In the late nineteenth century, the sports of basketball and volleyball were invented in the Western Massachusetts cities of Springfield and Holyoke, respectively. The state has contributed many prominent politicians to national service, including members of the Adams family and of the Kennedy family. Originally dependent on fishing, agriculture, and trade with Europe, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. During the 20th century, the state's economy shifted from manufacturing to services. In the 21st century, the state is a leader in higher education, health care technology, high technology, and financial services.

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. New Hampshire ranks 44th in land area, 46th in total area of the 50 states, and 42nd in population. It became the first post-colonial sovereign nation in the Americas when it broke off from Great Britain in January 1776, and was one of the original thirteen states that founded the United States of America six months later. In June 1788, it became the ninth state to ratify the United States Constitution, bringing that document into effect. New Hampshire was the first U.S. state to have its own state constitution.  It is known internationally for the New Hampshire primary, the first primary in the quadrennial U.S. presidential election cycle. Concord is the state capital, while Manchester is the largest city in the state. It has no general sales tax, nor is personal income (other than interest and dividends) taxed at either the state or local level. Its license plates carry the state motto: "Live Free or Die". The state nickname is "The Granite State", in reference to its geology and its tradition of self-sufficiency. New Hampshire has produced one president: Franklin Pierce. New Hampshire's major recreational attractions include skiing, snowmobiling and other winter sports, hiking and mountaineering. New Hampshire has the shortest ocean coastline in the United States, approximately 18 miles long.

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, 9,250 square miles (24,000 km2), and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England state not bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The Green Mountains are within the state. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Québec to the north. Originally inhabited by two major Native American tribes, much of the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by France in the early colonial period. France ceded the territory to the Kingdom of Great Britain after being defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years' War (also called the French and Indian War). For many years, the nearby colonies, especially New Hampshire and New York, disputed control of the area (then called the New Hampshire Grants). Settlers who held land titles granted by these colonies were opposed by the Green Mountain Boys militia, which eventually prevailed in creating an independent state, the Vermont Republic. Founded in 1776, during the Revolutionary War, it lasted for fourteen years. While independent, it abolished slavery. When it joined the Union, it was the first state to have abolished slavery. In 1791, Vermont joined the United States as the fourteenth state and the first outside the original Thirteen Colonies.  Vermont is the leading producer of maple syrup in the United States. The state capital is Montpelier, which with 7,705 people is the least-populated state capital in the country. Vermont's most populous city is Burlington, which has 42,417 residents.

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area. Canada's common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.  The land that is now Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament. Canada is a federal state that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. One of the world's highly developed countries, Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship. With the eighth-highest Human Development Index globally, it has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is also the sport most played by Canadians, with 1.65 million participants in 2004. There are more Canadian players in the NHL than from all other countries combined. Other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL).