Maine at a Glance

Maine is the northeasternmost state in the country and the largest state in New England by area, bordered by New Hampshire to the west, Canada to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean along its deeply fragmented southeastern coast.

Capital and Largest City

Augusta, on the Kennebec River, serves as the state capital, while Portland — considerably larger and more economically significant — functions as Maine's true urban and cultural center.

Population and Aroostook County

With roughly 1.4 million residents, Maine remains one of the more rural states in the country by population density. Aroostook County alone, in the far north, is larger in land area than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, yet holds a tiny fraction of their population — a scale mismatch that says a great deal about how empty much of interior Maine actually is.

Nickname and Statehood

Maine is nicknamed the Pine Tree State, a direct reference to its extensive forests and long relationship with the timber industry. It became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820, admitted as part of the Missouri Compromise after separating from Massachusetts, of which it had been a district since colonial times.

Regional Structure

Southern Maine is the state's most populous region and closest, culturally and economically, to the Boston orbit. The midcoast and Downeast regions carry the state's classic public image, western Maine holds its mountain and lake country, and the vast north opens into sparsely populated forest that most visitors never see.

The Wabanaki Confederacy

Maine's Indigenous history predates European contact by thousands of years, and the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, and Micmac nations — collectively the Wabanaki Confederacy — remain present and politically active in the state today, a continuity often underrepresented in Maine's tourism-facing image.

Why Maine Matters

Maine matters because it combines a powerful natural identity with real working landscapes — fishing, forestry, shipbuilding, and regional service centers all shape modern Maine just as much as its tourism economy does.