Massachusetts is a US state and part of New England. It is located in the northeastern part of the USA, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name also comes from the Native Americans and means something like “by the big hills”. It probably refers to the Great Blue Hill.
This is a hill formation in Blue Hills Reservation State Park. The reservation is located approximately 15 km southwest of the capital city of Boston. Massachusetts is also called “Bay State”, which means “Bay State” in German.
The US state of Massachusetts
Aquinnah Cliffs and Gay Head Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
Massachusetts borders New Hampshire and Vermont to the north.
To the east is the Atlantic Ocean, to the west is New York State, and to the south is Connecticut and Rhode Island.
With an area of just over 27,000 km², it is roughly the size of the federal state of Brandenburg.
The more than 6.5 million inhabitants are spread over many medium-sized cities.
Important figures from Massachusetts were the Kennedys, who played important roles in American politics.
The importance of education is also evident in Massachusetts, which is doing quite well economically. Around Boston are the intellectual powerhouses of the USA with MIT, the posh Cambridge University and Boston University, where the future of the country will be decisively determined.
The biggest cities
The population of the largest cities in Massachusetts is from 2010 and is rounded.
- Boston 618,000
- Worcester 181,000
- Springfield 153,000
- Lowell 107,000
- Cambridge 105,000
Springfield
Springfield is the largest city on the Connecticut River and the county seat of Hampden County in western Massachusetts. With a population of approximately 160,000, Springfield is the third largest city in the state and the fourth largest city in the New England region. Springfield is often referred to as the “City of Homes”.
There are countless cities in the United States named Springfield, but this Springfield was historically the first. The city is located in the Pioneer Valley and is the birthplace of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. Springfield is also the town where James Naismith invented the game called basketball. The city is thus the birthplace of basketball and the home of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Springfield Falcons AHL hockey team.
The Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of three counties – Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin. The area has the largest concentration of institutions of higher learning in New England. At the GW Vincent Smith Art Museum, you can view the largest collection of Chinese cloisonné (a style of decorating objects, a type of decorative enamel technique) in the Western world. In the city you will also find a planetarium or a memorial to Dr. Suess National Memorial. Springfield also has its own orchestra.
Every September, the city regularly hosts the Eastern States Exposition, also known as the “Big E”, which is the largest in New England and attracts thousands of tourists to Springfield. However, tourists are also attracted to the city in terms of art, history and culture. One of the sought-after attractions during the Christmas holidays are the so-called Bright Nights – the streets and roads around the city are decorated with lights in the form of various fairy-tale characters, many of which are animated. St. Michael’s Cathedral belongs to the important church buildings of the city.
Weather and climate
Summers in Massachusetts are pleasantly warm, rarely exceeding 35 degrees Celsius . On the coast it is of course very pleasant with a little wind and correspondingly increased humidity even in summer. Going inland it becomes more continental.
The winters on the Atlantic are not too cold either, so that you can only rarely expect minus degrees in Celsius in the capital Boston. Heading inland is more likely, and there is often snow there for a while in winter. At the end of August, for example, it is currently between 25 and 28 degrees with light clouds, the humidity varies between 50 and 85% in Boston. The region on the coast is often hit by severe storms, such as hurricanes or tornadoes.
The best time to travel is between May and July, when the temperatures are pleasant and nature is in full bloom.