Anthropologists recognize the "Northeastern Woodlands" as one of the cultural regions that existed in the Western Hemisphere at the time of European colonists in the 15th and later centuries.

[20] For the most part, the people of the Northeastern Woodlands, on whose lands European fishermen began camping to dry their codfish in the early 1600s, lived in villages, especially after being influenced by agricultural traditions of the Ohio and Mississippi valley societies.

[35][page needed] The idea of an independent United States of America, with the designs of its government would be created primarily in the Northeast in a series of declarations, constitutions, and documents.

It was based in New York City from 1785 until 1790, when it was moved to Congress Hall in Philadelphia, where it remained for a decade, until 1800, when the construction of the new national capital of Washington, D.C. was completed.

[45][page needed] Due to the settlement of the Midwest and Great Plains, agriculture would collapse in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, with many farms being abandoned by the end of the century, returning to rural forest.

[47] Abolitionist movements would start in the Northeast and Midwest and would become prominent towards the mid-19th century, these groups advocated the shrinking or banning of slavery in the United States.

In a 2009 Gallup survey, less than half of residents in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont reported religion as an important part of their daily life.

[58] The vast area from central Virginia to northern Maine, and from western Pennsylvania, from Pittsburgh in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east, have all been loosely grouped into the Northeast at one time or another.

The U.S. Census Bureau's definition of the Northeast includes nine states: Maine, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

[60][61][62][63] The U.S. Census Bureau has acknowledged the obvious limitations of this definition and the potential merits of a proposal created after the 1950 census,[64] that would include changing regional boundaries to include Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. with the Mid-Atlantic states, but ultimately decided that "the new system did not win enough overall acceptance among data users to warrant adoption as an official new set of general-purpose State groupings.

The previous development of many series of statistics, arranged and issued over long periods of time on the basis of the existing State groupings, favored the retention of the summary units of the current regions and divisions.

[10] The highlands, including the Piedmont and the Appalachian Mountains, are heavily forested, ranging from rolling hills to summits greater than 6,000 feet (1,800 m), and pocked with many lakes.

The Northeast has 72 National Wildlife Refuges, encompassing more than 500,000 acres (780 sq mi; 2,000 km2) of habitat and designed to protect some of the 92 different threatened and endangered species living in the region.

In winter, the subtropical high retreats southeastward, and the polar jet stream moves south bringing colder air masses from up in Canada and more frequent storm systems to the region.

In the southern part of the Northeast from coastal Rhode Island southwest to eastern Maryland, the Appalachians partially protect these locations from the extreme cold coming from the west and the interior of North America.

The northernmost portion of the humid subtropical zone (Cfa/Do) begins at Martha's Vineyard and extreme SW Rhode Island and extends southwestward down the coastal plain to central and southern Maryland.

Due to the faster growth of the South Atlantic region, it will take over the #2 division rank in population density in the next estimate, dropping New England to 3rd position.

[15] Due to its vast population and diverse landscapes, the Northeast has a large and robust economy, ranging from financial services in Manhattan, to agriculture in Central Pennsylvania.

Some of the largest companies based in New York City area include, Verizon, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, MetLife, PepsiCo, IBM, Time Warner, Goldman Sachs, and Pfizer.

As of 2021[update], the Philadelphia metropolitan area is estimated to produce a GMP of $479 billion US dollars, making it the 9th largest economy in the United States.

The Boston metropolitan area is a major center for insurance, finance, and technology, serving as the global headquarters for General Electric, Liberty Mutual, and other large companies.

Rural regions and states, including most of Upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, rely more on agriculture, logging, mining, and tourism to help boost their local and statewide economies.

Light Rail The following table includes all airports categorized by the FAA as large or medium hubs[96] located in the Northeastern states.

[111] Places like Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Newark, and Pittsburgh would become large water and rail hubs during the Industrial Revolution and would see tremendous booms in population and use.

[118] The mid-20th century would see the rise of urban and suburban freeways and the decline of passenger and freight rail, with many lesser used tracks being abandoned or torn up during this time.

Despite the lack of new major road projects in the Northeast, the region has still continued to grow in population, resulting in the rise of alternative forms of transport like HOV lanes or commuter rails.

This has led to the Northeast having one of the highest transit usage percentages in North America, with the Long Island Railroad being the most used commuter rail in the continent.

[131] According to a 2009 Gallup poll, the Northeastern states differ from most of the rest of the U.S. in religious affiliation, generally reflecting the descendants of immigration patterns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with many Catholics arriving from Ireland, Italy, French Canada - Quebec, Portugal and east-central Europe.

[132] Compared to other U.S. regions, the Northeast, along with the Pacific Northwest, has had the lowest regular religious service attendance and the fewest people for whom religion is an important part of their daily lives as of 2015.

[133] The Northeast region is home to numerous professional sports franchises in the "Big Four" leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB),[134] with more than 100 championships collectively among them.