The Geography of New York
Click here for a few definitions.
Longitude / Latitude |
Longitude: 71° 47' 25" W to 79° 45' 54" W Latitude: 40° 29' 40" N to 45° 0' 42" N |
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Length x Width |
New York is 330 miles long and 283 miles wide. |
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Geographic Center Explanation |
The
geographic center
of New York is located in Madison County, 12 miles S of Oneida and 26 miles SW of Utica.
Longitude: 76° 1.0'W
Latitude: 42° 57.9'N |
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Borders |
New York borders
Lake Erie,
Lake Ontario and Canada in
the north. To the south, New York borders Pennsylvania,
New Jersey and the
Atlantic Ocean.
Vermont, Massachusetts,
and Connecticut border New York to the east and Lake
Erie, Lake Ontario, Canada and Pennsylvania are to the west. |
Total Area |
New York covers 54, 475 square miles. In size, New York ranks 27th
compared with the other 50 states. |
Land Area |
48,708 square miles of New York are land areas. |
Water Area |
7,251 square miles of New York are covered by water. New York is
one of the wettest states. |
Highest Point |
The highest point in New York is Mount Marcy. Mount Marcy rises
5, 344 feet above sea level. |
Lowest Point |
The lowest point in New York is where New York meets the Atlantic
Ocean; sea level. |
Mean Elevation |
The Mean Elevation of the state of New York is 1,000 feet above sea level. |
Major Rivers |
Hudson River, Mohawk River, Genesee River |
Major Lakes |
Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Champlain, Lake George |
The Land |
The geography of New York is diverse. The highest, most rugged mountains, the
Adirondack Mountains are located in the northern part of the state between Lake
Champlain in the east and Lake Ontario in the west. The St. Lawrence-Champlain
lowlands can be found on the shores of Lake Ontario and running northeast along
the St. Lawrence River and the Canadian border. South of the Adirondack uplands,
the Hudson-Mowhawk lowland follows the rivers north and west. This area is from 10
to 30 miles wide. In the southeast is the Atlantic coastal plain. and to the west
of the Hudson River are the Appalachian Higlands which extend west toward Lake Erie.
This area includes the Catskill Mountains and the Finger Lakes. Further west
is the Erie-Ontario lowlands as New York slopes toward these two Great Lakes.
( New York Close-up ) |
Climate (All temperatures Fahrenheit) |
Highest Temperature |
The highest temperature recorded in New York is 108°, Fahrenheit. This record high
was recorded on July 22, 1926 at Troy. |
Lowest Temperature |
The lowest temperature in New York, -52°, was recorded on February 18, 1979 at
Old Forge. |
Average Temperature |
Monthly average temperatures range from a high of 85.3 degrees to a low of 11.9 degrees. |
Climate |
Average yearly precipitation for New York, from 1971 to 2000, is shown on
this chart from Oregon State University. |
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Sources:
The World Almanac of the U.S.A.
by Allan Carpenter and Carl Provorse, Copyright © 1998
Michael K. Heiman, Paul R. Eberts, and Sung Bok Kim, "New York," World Book Online Americas Edition,
http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/389200,
August 15, 2001.
The United States Geological Survey Website
Maps.com
http://www.maps.com |
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