New York State was named after the English Duke of York who later became King James II of England, The nickname "Empire State" came from George Washington, who boldly claimed New York would become the seat of a new empire.
             New York is located in the northeastern part of the United States. New York's northern border is Canada and The Saint Lawrence River. New York's eastern borders are Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts. New Jersey and Pennsylvania make up New York's southern border. New York's western border is not land but bodies of water and they are Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. New York's land regions are the Appalachians and the Central Plains.
             The motto of New York is "Excelsior", which means "ever upward." In 1784 George Washington called New York the "Seat of the Empire." New Yorkers work hard to live up to their motto and made New York State the national leader that it is. The first symbol I have listed for New York is the state bird, which is the bluebird. The bluebird has a red breast area and in the 1950s it was rarely seen, but today the bluebird is seen much more often. The flag of New York was adopted in 1778, it has the state coat of arms reproduced in the center of a dark blue field. Above the shield is an eagle on a globe and below the coat of arms is the motto "Excelsior". The state tree is the sugar maple, which produces a sweet sap for syrup and sugar. The sugar maple has a crown of leaves that get bright in autumn. The wood of the sugar maple makes great firewood and furniture. The rose is the state flower of New York.
             Four major landforms of New York are the Adirondack Mountains, the Saint Lawrence Valley, the Coastal Plains, and the Allegheny Plateau. The Adirondack Mountains are located in the most northern part of New York. The Saint Lawrence Valley stretches along the border of the state at the foot of the Adirondacks. The ...