Outdoor Advertising Billboards for Rent in New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. New Hampshire ranks 44th in land area, 46th in total area of the 50 states, and 41st in population. It became the first post-colonial sovereign nation in the Americas when it broke off from Great Britain in January 1776, and was one of the original thirteen states that founded the United States of America six months later. It was the ninth state to ratify the United States Constitution, bringing that document into effect. New Hampshire was the first U.S. state to have its own state constitution, and is the only state with neither a general sales tax nor a personal income tax at either the state or local level. Concord is the state capital, while Manchester is the largest city in the state.

It is known internationally for the New Hampshire primary, the first primary in the quadrennial U.S. presidential election cycle.

Its license plates carry the state motto: "Live Free or Die." The state nickname is "The Granite State", in reference to its geology and its tradition of self-sufficiency. Several other official nicknames exist but are rarely used.

Among prominent individuals from New Hampshire are founding father Nicholas Gilman, Senator Daniel Webster, editor Horace Greeley, founder of the Christian Science religion Mary Baker Eddy, poet Robert Frost, and author Dan Brown. New Hampshire has produced one president, Franklin Pierce.

New Hampshire's recreational attractions include skiing and other winter sports, hiking and mountaineering, observing the fall foliage, summer cottages along many lakes, motor sports at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Motorcycle Week, a popular motorcycle rally held in Laconia in June.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	141,885		—
1800	183,858		29.6%
1810	214,460		16.6%
1820	244,155		13.8%
1830	269,328		10.3%
1840	284,574		5.7%
1850	317,976		11.7%
1860	326,073		2.5%
1870	318,300		−2.4%
1880	346,991		9.0%
1890	376,530		8.5%
1900	411,588		9.3%
1910	430,572		4.6%
1920	443,083		2.9%
1930	465,293		5.0%
1940	491,524		5.6%
1950	533,242		8.5%
1960	606,921		13.8%
1970	737,681		21.5%
1980	920,610		24.8%
1990	1,109,252		20.5%
2000	1,235,786		11.4%
Est. 2008	1,315,809		6.5%

As of 2005, New Hampshire has an estimated population of 1,309,940, which is an increase of 10,771, or 0.8%, from the prior year and an increase of 74,154, or 6.0%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 23,872 people (that is 75,060 births minus 51,188 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 51,968 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 11,107 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 40,861 people.

The center of population of New Hampshire is located in Merrimack County, in the town of Pembroke. The center of population has moved south 12 miles (19 km) since 1950, a reflection of the fact that the fastest growth in the state has been along its southern border, which is within commuting range of Boston and other Massachusetts cities.

Demographics of New Hampshire (csv)
By race	White	Black	AIAN*	Asian	NHPI*
2000 (total population)	97.56%	1.05%	0.64%	1.56%	0.06%
2000 (Hispanic only)	1.50%	0.13%	0.04%	0.02%	0.01%
2005 (total population)	96.97%	1.29%	0.63%	2.04%	0.07%
2005 (Hispanic only)	2.04%	0.18%	0.04%	0.03%	0.01%
Growth 2000–05 (total population)	5.36%	30.39%	3.96%	38.30%	13.91%
Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only)	4.76%	29.02%	3.69%	38.47%	20.29%
Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only)	43.91%	39.72%	7.81%	26.49%	-25.23%
* AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

As of 2004, the population includes 64,000 residents born outside the United States (4.9%).

In 2006, New Hampshire had the lowest birth rate in the nation.

Ancestry groups

The largest ancestry groups in New Hampshire are:

• 26.6% French (French or French Canadian)
• 21.1% Irish
• 20.1% English
• 10.4% Italian
• 10.3% German
• 7.8% Scottish or Scots-Irish

The large Irish American and French-Canadian populations are descended largely from mill workers, and many still live in the former mill towns, like Manchester. New Hampshire has the highest percentage of residents of French/French-Canadian ancestry of any U.S. state.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 3.41% of the population aged 5 and older speak French at home, while 1.60% speak Spanish.

Religion

Percentage of New Hampshire residents by religion (from USA Today):

• Christian – 72%
  • Catholic – 35%
  • Protestant – 32%
    • Baptist – 6%
    • Congregationalist/United Church of Christ – 6%
    • Episcopalian/Anglican – 4%
    • Methodist – 3%
    • Lutheran – 1%
    • Pentecostal/Charismatic – 1%
    • Presbyterian – 1%
    • Protestant, no supplied denomination – 10%
  • Unspecified Christian – 5%
• Jewish – 1%
• Other – 2%
• No religion – 17%
• Less than 0.5% each –

Mormon/Latter Day Saints, Churches of Christ, non-denominational, Jehovah's Witnesses, Assemblies of God, Muslim/Islamic, Buddhist, Evangelical, Church of God, and Seventh-Day Adventist

A survey suggests that people in New Hampshire and Vermont are less likely than other Americans to attend weekly services and only 54% say that they are "absolutely certain there is a God" compared to 71% in the rest of the nation. New Hampshire and Vermont are also at the lowest levels among states in religious commitment. About 23% percent of the respondents attend religious service at least once a week (39% nationally). Thirty-six percent said religion is very important to them (56% nationally). According to the ARDA the largest single Protestant denominations are the United Church of Christ with 34,299; and the United Methodist Church with 18,927 members. The Catholic Church had 431,259 members.

Transportation

New Hampshire has a well-maintained, well-signed network of Interstate highways, U.S. highways, and state highways.

Major routes

• Interstate 89 runs northwest from near Concord to Lebanon on the Vermont border.
• Interstate 93 is the main Interstate highway in New Hampshire and runs north from Salem (on the Massachusetts border) to Littleton (on the Vermont border). I-93 connects the more densely populated southern part of the state to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains further to the north.
• Interstate 95 runs north-south briefly along New Hampshire's seacoast to serve the city of Portsmouth, before entering Maine.
• U.S. Route 1
• U.S. Route 2
• U.S. Route 3 parallels Interstate 93 except south of Manchester, where it heads toward Nashua.
• U.S. Route 4

State highway markers still depict the Old Man of the Mountain despite that rock formation's demise in 2003. Several route numbers align with the same route numbers in neighboring states. State highway numbering does not indicate the highway's direction.

• New Hampshire Route 16 is a major north-south highway in the eastern part of the state that generally parallels the border with Maine, eventually entering Maine as Maine Route 16. The southernmost portion of NH 16 is a four lane freeway, co-signed with U.S. Route 4.
• New Hampshire Route 101 is a major east-west highway in the southern part of the state that connects Keene with Manchester and the Seacoast region. East of Manchester, NH 101 is a four-lane, limited access freeway that runs to Hampton Beach and I-95.