It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Of the 50 U. New Hampshire's motto , " Live Free or Die ", reflects its role in the American Revolutionary War ; its nickname , "The Granite State", refers to its extensive granite formations and quarries. New Hampshire was inhabited for thousands of years by Algonquian -speaking peoples such as the Abenaki.
Europeans arrived in the early 17th century, with the English establishing some of the earliest non-indigenous settlements. In January , it became the first of the British North American colonies to establish an independent government and state constitution; six months later, it signed the United States Declaration of Independence and contributed troops, ships, and supplies in the war against Britain.
In June , it was the ninth state to ratify the U. Constitution , bringing that document into effect. Through the midth century, New Hampshire was an active center of abolitionism , and fielded close to 32, Union soldiers during the U. Civil War. After the war, the state saw rapid industrialization and population growth, becoming a center of textile manufacturing , shoemaking , and papermaking ; the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in Manchester was at one time the largest cotton textile plant in the world.
The Merrimack and Connecticut rivers were lined with industrial mills, most of which employed workers from Canada and Europe; French Canadians formed the most significant influx of immigrants, and today roughly a quarter of all New Hampshire residents have French American ancestry, a statistic second only to Maine among states. Since , its economy has diversified to include financial and professional services, real estate, education, transportation and high-tech, with manufacturing still higher than the national average.
New Hampshire is among the wealthiest and most-educated states. It ranks among the top ten states in metrics such as governance, healthcare, socioeconomic opportunity, and fiscal stability. With its mountainous and heavily forested terrain, New Hampshire has a growing tourism sector centered on outdoor recreation.
