USA Massachusetts - The People : USA  

USA Massachusetts - The People - Travel guide

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USA Massachusetts - The People

The People

The state is noted for a rich diversity in the national background of its residents. Although the earliest settlers were English, people of many countries subsequently made their home in Massachusetts. In the 1840s the potato famine drove many Irish to Massachusetts, and they have since passed the English in numbers to become the state's largest ethnic group.

In the second half of the 19th century the mills and factory towns in central and western Massachusetts attracted many French Canadians, and around the turn of the century, Italians became a third major influx. The descendants of the English (Yankees), the Irish, the Greeks, and the Italians have dominated state politics in recent years.

Many descendants of immigrants from Poland, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Lithuania, and other countries have also retained their ethnic identities. Numerous communities in the state are strongly identified with one ethnic group or another. Although blacks have lived in the state since colonial times, the major black migration into Massachusetts took place in the second half of the 20th century.

The 1998 census had Massachusetts' population as 6,147,000. The State Capital is Boston, other major cities or towns include Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, New Bedford, Cambridge, Brockton, Fall River, Quincy and Newton.