New Hampshire has a number of distinct regions, each deeply rooted in the state’s history. The heavily forested White Mountains area in the north is popular with outdoors enthusiasts and tourists in summer and winter alike. The lakes region around Lake Winnipesaukee is a favoured locality for summer camps and resorts and for aquatic sports. The seacoast region, which includes Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, and Hampton, has many maritime activities. The south-central, or Merrimack, region surrounds Manchester and Nashua and is the most heavily industrialized section of the state. The Dartmouth–Sunapee Lake region in the west-central portion of New Hampshire is dotted with educational institutions and summer homes. The area around Monadnock Mountain, in the southwestern corner of the state, is noted for many small industries and such attractions as the MacDowell Colony, a residential retreat in Peterborough for artists, and for the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, an outdoor shrine dedicated to the country’s war dead. Each region is officially organized and finances its own promotional activities. White Mountain National Forest constitutes more than one-tenth of the state’s area and is almost uninhabited.

Ethnic and religious origins

In the colonial period the majority of the people were of English origin, but a significant influx of Scotch-Irish, who were largely Presbyterian in faith, began in 1719. They settled in the south-central and southwestern portions of New Hampshire and named their principal towns Derry, Londonderry, Antrim, and Dublin, for places they had left behind in Ireland.

In the past New Hampshire had a system of town churches in which any officially recognized denomination could be designated at the annual town meeting to receive public tax support. Prior to the American Revolution, five denominations were officially recognized: Congregational, Baptist, Presbyterian, Quaker (Society of Friends), and Church of England. The system was discarded in 1819 by the Toleration Act passed by the legislature. Since then all churches have been privately supported, and any denomination may function freely.

Between 1845 and 1920, immigrants came to New Hampshire from all parts of Europe. The first Roman Catholic congregation was established in 1823, the first Roman Catholic school in 1859, and a statewide diocese in 1884. The first Jewish congregation was organized in 1892 and the first Greek Orthodox church in 1905. The New Hampshire Council of Churches, organized in 1945, has developed broad ecumenical policies to include many faiths.

Population composition

New Hampshire’s citizens are overwhelmingly of European heritage (white); Asians and Pacific Islanders and African Americans constitute only a tiny fraction of the population, as do Hispanics. The largest group not directly descended from origins in the British Isles are the French Canadians, or Canado-Américaines, who first began to arrive in the years immediately after the American Civil War, chiefly from Quebec. They were attracted mainly to such industrial cities as Manchester, Nashua, Laconia, and Berlin. By the end of World War I, New Hampshire had the largest percentage of French Canadians among the states.

Demographic trends

In the first U.S. census, in 1790, New Hampshire had a population of 141,885. Since then each decennial count has recorded a growth, except for that of 1870, when there was an extensive post-Civil War exodus to the Midwest. The urban population is concentrated to a large extent in the southern and southeastern regions, and the larger urban centres, with the exception of Berlin, are all located south of the White Mountains.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

Agricultural acreage decreased by two-thirds in the 20th century. Ornamental and greenhouse plants, dairy products, and a variety of fruits and vegetables are still grown or produced on the state’s some 3,000 farms; livestock raising is also important. More than half of the timber harvested is used for sawlogs, and nearly two-fifths goes for pulpwood to supply paper and newsprint industries. The state ranks low in commercial fishing yields but has marketable catches of lobsters and deep-sea fish.

Resources and power

There are many rock quarries, chiefly of granite, throughout New Hampshire, but only the granite quarries in Concord are still in operation. Sand and gravel are the major minerals produced in terms of both tonnage and value. Other native minerals that have commercial value include garnet, zircon, beryl, and bog iron.

Hydroelectric power was once the predominant energy source in New England, but it has been surpassed by nuclear power—much of it produced at the plant in Seabrook—and petroleum-derived power. There are still a number of electricity-generating dams in operation on New Hampshire rivers, including the Connecticut, Androscoggin, and Merrimack; the energy they generate meets a small but significant percentage of the needs of the state and the region.

Manufacturing and services

The manufacture of machinery and electrical and electronic goods, along with precision-instrument and computer-related products, has largely supplanted the textile and garment industry, much of which either closed or moved to the South after 1945. Paper and wood products are the next largest industries. The only large industrial centre north of the White Mountains is Berlin, which has paper and pulp mills.

In 1955 the state legislature established an Industrial Park Authority, now the Business Finance Authority, to attract more business to New Hampshire. Supplemented by the endeavours of individual cities and towns and by various private organizations, the authority has been successful in modernizing the industrial and business life of the state.

Next to manufacturing, tourism contributes the greatest proportion to the state economy. An organized effort began in the early 20th century to publicize New Hampshire as a tourist area, and this effort has steadily expanded. With the increase in popularity of winter sports following World War II and the lure of a fall foliage season, New Hampshire became as attractive to visitors in the cold months as it had been in the summer. Among other service activities that also have grown significantly are insurance and banking, medical and health care establishments, miscellaneous business services, and wholesale and retail trade.

Transportation

Rail transportation in New Hampshire is quite limited; most of the state’s rights-of-way have been abandoned. Amtrak provides passenger service along the Connecticut River—mostly on the Vermont side—and via its Boston-Portland (Maine) route, which crosses through the New Hampshire seacoast region. Freight service operates on a limited scale in several parts of the state. There are also a few scenic railroads offering rides to tourists. Outstanding among these is the Cog Railway, a 6-mile (10-km) line running to the summit of Mount Washington that has been in operation since 1869.

Although there is limited local bus service in a few of New Hampshire’s larger cities, intercity buses connect New Hampshire communities with the Boston metropolitan area. The interstate highway system runs to most parts of the state and is complemented by state turnpikes (toll roads) and a well-developed network of state highways. The state’s topography tends to make travel easiest in a north-south direction.

The road system lets many people living in southern New Hampshire commute to jobs in Massachusetts and gives tourists from eastern metropolitan areas access to the state’s lakes and mountains. New Hampshire has two commercial airports: the rapidly developing Manchester Airport and Portsmouth International Airport, part of the Pease International Tradeport complex developed on the site of the former Pease Air Force Base (which closed in 1991). New Hampshire also has a number of smaller airports that offer commuter and private services, as well as numerous local airports.