A state located along the Atlantic coast in New England and one of the thirteen original British colonies in North America. Connecticut officially became a state in 1788 and its capital is Hartford, located in the north-central area of the state. Connecticut has been home to many notable figures including: Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Benedict Arnold, Eli Whitney, and Samuel Colt. The Ivy League university, Yale, is located in New Haven, Connecticut.
Connecticut is the 3rd smallest state in the U.S. and is bordered by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. Known as the “Constitution State”, “Land of Steady Habits”, and “Nutmeg State”, as of 2010, Connecticut has a population of 3,574,097. The word Connecticut comes from the Algonquian word “land on the long tidal river.” The state tree is a White Oak (Quercus alba) and the state bird is the American Robin (Turdus migratorius). The topography of the state includes the southern New England section of the Appalachian Mountains, numerous lakes, highlands, and low lands.