Maine Summary

Maine has a population of more than 1.2 million. It is known for its windswept rocky beaches, tidy seacoast villages of white wooden houses, picturesque lighthouses, and succulent lobster dinners. Its craggy mountains are covered with forests, ski resor ts, and trails for hikers, hunters, and mountain bikers—its nickname, “Vacationland,” is well deserved.

Eighty-nine percent of the state is covered in forest (more than 17 million acres), made up of fir, spruce, and mixed hardwoods. The forests are home to many birds and animals, including moose, the state animal.These mountains and valleys are dotted with more than 2,500 lakes. Moosehead Lake in the center of the state and Sebago Lake in the southwest are the biggest.

Maine has an extensive network of lakes and rivers, and fishing was vital to the early settlers; it remains important today. Fur trapping, lumbering, and shipbuilding were successful industries for the new settlers.Textile mills and shoemaking factories built in the 1800s still operate, but manufacturing has declined since the 1950s, and tourism has grown. Maine also produces potatoes, apples, oats, milk, eggs, beans, peas, broccoli, and hay—and 99 percent of the country’s blueberries.

Abenaki Native Americans (Algonquian-speaking peoples) lived throughout the state when Europeans first arrived, but were decimated by smallpox soon after.The Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes lived in the central area of the state.

In the seventeenth century Maine was annexed to Massachusetts, but in 1819 Maine voted to separate. From the start, Maine’s territory and resources were fought over by the British, French, Canadians, and Americans. This kept settlers and investment away until Maine gained statehood. But the lack of industry had a good side—there were large areas of unpolluted wilderness, an ideal basis for tourism.