Vermont

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the U.S. state. For other uses, see Vermont (disambiguation).

State of Vermont

Flag of Vermont Great Seal of Vermont Nickname(s): The Green Mountain State Motto(s): Freedom and Unity
Official language(s)	None[1]
Capital	Montpelier
Largest city	Burlington
Area	Ranked 45th
- Total	9,620 sq mi (24,923 km²)
- Width	80 miles (130 km)
- Length	160 miles (260 km)
- % water	3.8
- Latitude	42°44'N to 45°0'43"N
- Longitude	71°28'W to 73°26'W
Population	Ranked 49th
- Total (2000)	608,827
- Density	65.8/sq mi  25.41/km² (30th)
- Median income	$45,692 (19th)
Elevation
- Highest point	Mount Mansfield[2] 4,393 ft  (1,340 m)
- Mean	1,000 ft  (300 m)
- Lowest point	Lake Champlain[2] 95 ft  (29 m)
Admission to Union	March 4, 1791 (14th)
Governor	Jim Douglas (R)
U.S. Senators	Patrick Leahy (D) Jim Jeffords (I) retiring Bernie Sanders (I) Senator-elect
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4 (DST)
Abbreviations	US-VT
Web site	www.vermont.gov

Vermont (pronounced [vɚˈmɔ̃nt]) is a state in the New England region of the United States, located in the northeastern part of the country. The state ranks 45th by total area, and 43rd by land area at 9,250 square miles, and has a population of 608,827, making it the second least populous state (behind Wyoming). The only New England state with no coastline along the Atlantic Ocean, Vermont is notable for the Green Mountains in the west and Lake Champlain in the northwest. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north.

Originally inhabited by Native American tribes (Abenaki, Algonquian, and Iroquois), the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by France but became a British possession after France's defeat in the French and Indian War. For many years, rightful control of the area was disputed by the surrounding colonies. Settlers who held land titles granted by the Province of New Hampshire, through their Green Mountain Boys militia eventually prevailed. Vermont became the 14th state to join the United States, following a 14-year period during and after the Revolutionary War as the independent Republic of Vermont. Vermont is one of only five U.S. states or parts of states to have once been an independent nation, the other four being California, Hawaii, Texas, and the Florida Parishes of Louisiana.

Famous for its scenery, dairy products and maple syrup (it is the leading producer of maple syrup in the United States[1]), Vermont has a long history of independent political thinking (see Ethan Allen, Matthew Lyon, George Aiken, Jim Jeffords and Bernie Sanders). The state capital is Montpelier, and the largest city is Burlington.

[edit] Geography

See also: List of counties in Vermont, List of Vermont county seats, List of towns in Vermont, and List of mountains in Vermont

Vermont is located in the New England region in the eastern United States and comprises 9,614 square miles (24,902 km²), making it the 45th largest state. Of this, land comprises 9,250 square miles (23,955 km²) and water comprises 365 square miles (948 km²), making it the 43rd largest in land area and the 47th in water area.

Map of Vermont, showing cities, roads and rivers

The west bank of the Connecticut River marks the eastern border of the state with New Hampshire (the river itself is part of New Hampshire). Lake Champlain, the major lake in Vermont, is the sixth-largest body of fresh water in the United States and separates Vermont from New York in the northwest portion of the state. From north to south, Vermont is 159 miles (256 km). Its greatest width, from east to west, is 89 miles (143 km) at the Canadian border; the narrowest width is 37 miles (60 km) at the Massachusetts line. The state's geographic center is Washington, three miles (5 km) east of Roxbury.

The origin of the name Green Mountains (French: Verts monts) is uncertain. Some authorities say that they are so named because they have much more forestation than the higher White Mountains of New Hampshire and Adirondacks of New York. Other authorities say that they are so named because of the predominance of mica-quartz-chlorite schist, a green-hued metamorphosed shale. The range forms a north-south spine running most of the length of the state, slightly west of its center. In the southwest portion of the state are the Taconic Mountains; the Granitic Mountains are in the northeast. In the northwest near Lake Champlain is the fertile Champlain Valley. In the south of the valley is Lake Bomoseen.

Vermont has 14 counties. Four border Quebec in Canada to the north, and two border Massachusetts in the south. In the west is New York and in the east is New Hampshire, each bordered by five counties. Only two of Vermont's counties—Lamoille and Washington—are entirely surrounded by Vermont territory.

Several mountains have timberlines: Mount Mansfield, the highest mountain in the state, as well as Killington are examples. About 77 percent of the state is covered by forest; the rest is covered in meadow, uplands, lakes, ponds and swampy wetlands.

Areas in Vermont administered by the National Park Service include the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock.

[edit] Climate

Vermont has a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfb), with warm, humid summers and cold winters, which become colder at higher elevations. Vermont is known for its mud season in spring followed by a generally mild summer and a colorful autumn, and particularly for its cold winters. The northern part of the state, including the rural northeastern section (dubbed the "Northeast Kingdom") is known for exceptionally cold winters, often averaging 10 °F (6 °C) colder than the southern areas of the state. Annual snowfall averages between 60 to 100 inches (150–250 cm) depending on elevation, giving Vermont some of New England's best cross-country and downhill ski areas.

In the autumn, Vermont's hills experience an explosion of red, orange and gold foliage displayed on the sugar maple as cold weather approaches. This famous display of color that occurs so abundantly in Vermont is not due so much to the presence of a particular variant of the sugar maple; rather it is caused by a number of soil and climate conditions unique to the area.

The highest-recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C), at Vernon on July 4, 1911; the lowest-recorded temperature was -50 °F (-46 °C), at Bloomfield on December 30, 1933.

[edit] History

Mount Mansfield, at 4,393 feet (1,339 m), is the highest elevation point in Vermont. Other high points are Killington Peak, Mount Ellen, Mount Abraham, and Camel's Hump. The lowest point in the state is Lake Champlain at 95 feet (29 m). The state's average elevation is 1,000 feet (300 m).

[edit] Prehistory and Precolumbian

Main article: History of Vermont

Vermont was covered with shallow seas periodically from the Cambrian to Devonian periods. Most of the sedimentary rocks laid down in these seas were deformed by mountain-building. Fossils, however, are common in the Lake Champlain region. Lower areas of western Vermont were flooded again, as part of the St. Lawrence Valley "Champlain Sea" at the end of the last ice age, when the land had not yet rebounded from the weight of the glaciers. Shells of salt-water mollusks, along with the bones of beluga whales, have been found in the Lake Champlain region. Little is known of the pre-Columbian history of Vermont. The western part of the state was originally home to a small population of Algonquian-speaking tribes, including the Mohican and Abenaki peoples. Between 8500 to 7000 BCE, at the time of the Champlain Sea, Native Americans inhabited and hunted in Vermont. From 8th century BCE to 1000 BCE was the Archaic Period. During the era, Native Americans migrated year-round. From 1000 BCE to 1600 CE was the Woodland Period, when villages and trade networks were established, and ceramic and bow and arrow technology was developed. Sometime between 1500 and 1600, the Iroquois drove many of the smaller native tribes out of Vermont, later using the area as a hunting ground and warring with the remaining Abenaki. The population in 1500 is estimated to be around 10,000 people. In 950, the Viking explorer, Olaf Tomsson is alleged to have reached the Northern part of the state, where he settled for several years before leaving because of war with the local Abenaki.

The second European to see Vermont is thought to be Jacques Cartier, in 1535. On July 30, 1609, French explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed the area of what is now Lake Champlain, giving to the mountains the appellation of les Verts Monts (the Green Mountains).

[edit] Colonial

France claimed Vermont as part of New France, and erected Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte in 1666 as part of the fortification of Lake Champlain. This was the first European settlement in Vermont and the site of the first Roman Catholic Mass.

During the latter half of the 17th century, non-French settlers began to explore Vermont and its surrounding area. In 1690, a group of Dutch-British settlers from Albany under Captain Jacobus de Warm established the De Warm Stockade at Chimney Point (eight miles or 13 km west of present-day Addison). This settlement and trading post was directly across Lake Champlain from Crown Point, New York (Pointe à la Chevelure).

In 1731, the French arrived. Here they constructed a small temporary wooden stockade (Fort de Pieux) on what was Chimney Point until work on Fort St. Frédéric began in 1734. The fort, when completed, gave the French control of the New France/Vermont border region in the Lake Champlain Valley and was the only permanent fort in the area until the building of Fort Carillon more than 20 years later. The government encouraged French colonization, leading to the development of small French settlements in the valley. The British attempted to take the Fort St. Frédéric four times between 1755 and 1758; in 1759, a combined force of 12,000 British regular and provincial troops under Sir Jeffrey Amherst captured the fort. The French were driven out of the area and retreated to other forts along the Richelieu River. One year later a group of Mohawks burnt the settlement to the ground, leaving only chimneys, which gave the area its name.

The first permanent British settlement was established in 1724, with the construction of Fort Dummer in Vermont's far southeast under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight. This fort protected the nearby settlements of Dummerston and Brattleboro. These settlements were made by the Province of Massachusetts Bay to protect its settlers on the western border along the Connecticut River. The second British settlement was the 1761 founding of Bennington in the southwest.

During the French and Indian War, some Vermont settlers, including Ethan Allen, joined the colonial militia assisting the British in attacks on the French. Fort Carillon on the New York-Vermont border, a French fort constructed in 1755, was the site of two British offensives under Lord Amherst's command: the unsuccessful British attack in 1758 and the retaking of the following year with no major resistance (most of the garrison had been removed to defend Quebec, Montreal, and the western forts). The British renamed the fort Fort Ticonderoga (which became the site of two later battles during the American Revolutionary War). Following France's loss in the French and Indian War, the 1763 Treaty of Paris gave control of the land to the British.

The end of the war brought new settlers to Vermont. A fort at Crown Point had been built, and the Crown Point Military Road stretched from the east to the west of the Vermont wilderness from Springfield to Chimney Point, making travel from the neighboring British colonies easier. Three colonies laid claim to the area. The Province of Massachusetts Bay claimed the land on the basis of the 1629 charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Province of New York claimed Vermont based on land granted to the Duke of York (later King James II) in 1664. The Province of New Hampshire also claimed Vermont based upon a decree of George II in 1740. In 1741, George II ruled that Massachusetts's claims in Vermont and New Hampshire were invalid and fixed Massachusetts's northern boundary at its present location. This still left New Hampshire and New York with conflicting claims to the land.

The flag adopted by the Vermont Republic served originally as an infantry banner for the Green Mountain Boys

The situation resulted in the New Hampshire Grants, a series of 135 land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by New Hampshire's colonial governor, Benning Wentworth. The grants sparked a dispute with the New York governor, who began granting charters of his own for New Yorker settlement in Vermont. In 1770, Ethan Allen—along with his brothers Ira and Levi, as well as Seth Warner—recruited an informal militia, the Green Mountain Boys, to protect the interests of the original New Hampshire settlers against the new migrants from New York. When a New York judge arrived in Westminster with New York settlers in March 1775, violence broke out as angry citizens took over the courthouse and called a sheriff's posse. This resulted in the deaths of Daniel Houghton and William French in the "Westminster Massacre."

[edit] Independence, the Vermont Republic, and Statehood

1790 Act of Congress admitting Vermont to the federal union. Statehood began on March 4, 1791.

Flag of Vermont following statehood Vermont abandoned the Green Mountain Boys Infantry Flag in exchange for a new flag identical to the U.S. except for the Vermont coat-of-arms in a single large star upon the upper blue canton. That flag was used until 1923 when the present state flag, the state coat-of-arms upon a blue field (above), was adopted.

Moss Glen Falls, Granville, VT

On January 18, 1777, representatives of the New Hampshire Grants convened in Westminster and declared the independence of the Vermont Republic. For the first six months of the republic's existence, the republic was called New Connecticut.

On June 2, a second convention of 72 delegates met at Westminster, known as the "Westminster Convention." At this meeting, the delegates adopted the name "Vermont" on the suggestion of Dr. Thomas Young of Philadelphia, a supporter of the delegates who wrote a letter advising them on how to achieve admission into the newly independent United States as the 14th state. The delegates set the time for a meeting one month later. On July 4, the Constitution of the Vermont Republic was drafted during a violent thunderstorm at the Windsor Tavern owned by Elijah West and was adopted by the delegates on July 8 after four days of debate. This was among the first written constitutions in North America and was indisputably the first to abolish the institution of slavery, provide for universal manhood suffrage and require support of public schools. The Windsor tavern has been preserved as the Old Constitution House, administered as a state historic site.

The Battle of Bennington, fought on August 16, 1777, was a seminal event in the history of the state of Vermont. The nascent republican government, created after years of political turmoil, faced challenges from New York, New Hampshire, Great Britain and the new United States, none of which recognized its sovereignty. The republic's ability to defeat a powerful military invader gave it a legitimacy among its scattered frontier society that would sustain it through fourteen years of fragile independence before it finally achieved statehood as the 14th state in the union in 1791.

During the summer of 1777, the invading British army of General John Burgoyne slashed southward from Canada to the Hudson River, captured the strategic stronghold of Fort Ticonderoga, and drove the Continental Army into a desperate southward retreat. Raiding parties of British soldiers and native warriors freely attacked, pillaged and burned the frontier communities of the Champlain Valley and threatened all settlements to the south. The Vermont frontier collapsed in the face of the British invasion. The New Hampshire legislature, fearing an invasion from the east, mobilized the state's militia under the command of General John Stark.

General Burgoyne received intelligence that large stores of horses, food and munitions were kept at Bennington, which was the largest community in the land grant area. He dispatched 2,600 men, nearly a third of his army, to seize the colonial storehouse there, unaware that General Stark's New Hampshire troops were then traversing the Green Mountains to join up at Bennington with the Vermont continental regiments commanded by Colonel Seth Warner, together with the local Vermont and western Massachusetts militia. The combined American forces, under Stark's command, attacked the British column at Hoosick, New York, just across the border from Bennington. The American troops were defending their homes, families and property. General Stark reportedly challenged his men to fight to the death, telling them that: "There are your enemies. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" In a desperate, all-day battle fought in intense summer heat, the army of yankee farmers killed or captured virtually the entire British detachment. General Burgoyne never recovered from this loss and eventually surrendered the remainder of his 6,000-man force at Saratoga, New York, on October 17.

The Battles of Bennington and Saratoga are recognized as the turning point in the Revolutionary War because they were the first major defeat of a British army and convinced the French that the Americans were worthy of military aid. Stark became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington", and the anniversary of the battle is still celebrated in Vermont as a legal holiday known as "Bennington Battle Day." Under the portico of the Vermont Statehouse, next to an heroic granite statue of Ethan Allen, there is a brass cannon that was captured from the British troops at the Battle of Bennington.

Vermont continued to govern itself as a sovereign entity based in the eastern town of Windsor for fourteen years. The Vermont Republic issued its own currency, coins and operated a statewide postal service. Thomas Chittenden, who came to Vermont from Connecticut in 1774, acted as head of state, using the term governor over president. Chittenden governed the nascent republic from 1778 to 1789 and from 1790 to 1791. Chittenden exchanged ambassadors with France, the Netherlands, and the American government then at Philadelphia. In 1791, Vermont joined the federal Union as the fourtenth state–the first state to enter the union after the original thirteen colonies, and a counterweight to slaveholding Kentucky, which was admitted to the Union shortly afterward.

The gold leaf dome of the neoclassical Vermont State House (Capitol building) in Montpelier designed by Ammi B. Young and amplified by Thomas Silloway.

Vermont had a unicameral legislature until 1836.

An 1854 Vermont Senate report on slavery echoed the Vermont Constitution's first article, on the rights of all men, questioning how a government could favor the rights of one people over another. The report fueled growth of the abolition movement in the state, and in response, a resolution from the Georgia General Assembly authorizing the towing of Vermont out to sea. The mid to late 1850s saw a transition from Vermonters mostly favoring slavery's containment, to a far more serious opposition to the institution, producing the Radical Republican and abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. As the Whig party shriveled, and the Republican party emerged, Vermont strongly trended in support of its candidates, first on the state level and later for the presidency. In 1860 it voted for President Lincoln, giving him the largest margin of victory of any state.

[edit] The Civil War

Main article: Vermont in the Civil War

During the American Civil War, Vermont sent more than 34,000 men into United States service, contributing 18 regiments of infantry and cavalry, 3 batteries of light artillery, 3 companies of sharpshooters, 2 companies of frontier cavalry, and thousands in the regular army and navy, and in other states’ units. Almost 5,200 Vermonters were killed or mortally wounded in action or died of disease. Vermonters, if not Vermont units, participated in every major battle of the war.

Among the most famous of the Vermont units were the 1st Vermont Brigade, the 2nd Vermont Brigade, and the 1st Vermont Cavalry.

A large proportion of Vermont’s state and national-level politicians for several decades after the Civil War were veterans.

The northernmost land action of the war, the St. Albans Raid, took place in Vermont.

[edit] Postbellum era and beyond

The two decades following the end of the American Civil War (1864-1885) saw both economic expansion and contraction, and fairly dramatic social change. Vermont's system of railroads expanded and were linked to national systems, agricultural output and export soared and incomes increased. But Vermont also felt the effects of recessions and financial panics, particularly the 1873 Panic which resulted in a substantial exodus of young Vermonters. The transition in thinking about the rights of citizens, first brought to a head by the 1854 Vermont Senate report on slavery, and later Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in changing how citizens perceived civil rights, fueled agitation for women's suffrage. The first election in which women were allowed to vote was on December 18, 1880, when women were granted limited suffrage and were first allowed to vote in town elections, and then in state legislative races.

Large-scale flooding occurred in early November 1927. During this incident, 85 people died, 84 of them in Vermont. Another flood occurred in 1973, when the flood caused the death of two people and millions of dollars in property damage.

On April 25, 2000, as a result of the Vermont Supreme Court's decision in Baker v. Vermont, the Vermont General Assembly passed and Governor Howard Dean signed into law H.0847, which provided the state sanctioned benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples in the form of civil unions. Controversy over the civil unions bill was a central issue in the subsequent 2000 elections.

See also: List of forts in Vermont

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Population

The center of population of Vermont is located in Washington County, in the city of Warren [2].

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2005, Vermont has an estimated population of 623,050, which is an increase of 1,817, or 0.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 14,223, or 2.3%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 7,148 people (that is 33,606 births minus 26,458 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 7,889 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 4,359 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 3,530 people.

Vermont Population Density Map

[edit] Race and sex

Vermont's population is:

• 51.0% female
• 49.0% male

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Vermont ranks:

• 2nd in its proportion of Whites
• 41st in its proportion of Asians
• 49th in its proportion of Hispanics
• 48th in its proportion of Blacks
• 29th in its proportion of Native Americans
• 39th in its proportion of people of mixed race
• 28th in its proportion of males
• 24th in its proportion of females

[edit] Ethnicity

The largest ancestry groups are:

• 23.3% French or French Canadian
• 18.4% English
• 16.4% Irish
• 9.1% German
• 6.4% Italian

Residents of British ancestry (especially English) live throughout most of Vermont. The northern part of the state maintains a significant percentage of people of French-Canadian ancestry.

In the last two decades, the Burlington area has welcomed the resettlement of several refugee communities. These include individuals and families from South East Asia, Bosnia, Sudan, and Tibet. These communities have grown to include non-refugees and in some cases are several generations in the making.

[edit] Religion

Like many of the neighboring states, Vermont's largest religious affiliation in the colonial period was Congregationalism. In 1776, 63% of affiliated church members in Vermont were Congregationalists. At the time, however, most settlers were not church members because much of the land was wilderness. Only 9% of people belonged to a church at the time. The Congregational United Church of Christ remains the largest Protestant denomination and Vermont has the largest percentage of this denomination of any state.

Today about three quarters of Vermont residents identify themselves as Christians. The largest single religious body in the state is the Roman Catholic Church. A Catholic Church survey in 1990 reported that 25% of Vermonters were members of the Catholic Church, although more than that self-identify as Catholics.

Overall, Vermont's current religious distribution is:

• Christian – 74%
  • Roman Catholic – 39%
  • Protestant – 34%
    • Congregational/United Church of Christ – 7%
    • Methodist – 7%
    • Episcopal – 5%
    • Baptist – 3%
    • Other Protestant – 12%
  • Other Christian – 1%
• Jewish – 1%
• Other Religions – 1%
• Non-Religious – 24%

Almost one-quarter of Vermonters identify themselves as non-religious, tying Vermont with Oregon as having the second-highest percentage of non-religious people in the United States. Only Washington State has a higher percentage.

More than one-third of Vermonters are self-identified Protestants. The largest Protestant denomination in the state is the United Church of Christ, and the second largest is the United Methodist Church, followed by Episcopalians, and Baptists.

Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young—the first two leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—were both born in Vermont. Adherents to the Mormon faith, however, do not make up a single percentage point of Vermont's population. A memorial to Joseph Smith, at his birthplace in Sharon, is maintained by the LDS.

Judaism and Unitarian Universalism claim around 1% each of the state's population. The 2001 Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia reported that the state has 5,000 Jews—3000 in Burlington and 500 each in Montpelier-Barre and Rutland—and four Reform and two Conservative congregations. It is notable that in Burlington, a Jewish and Muslim congregation share the same building, an example of Vermont's culture of tolerance and mutual respect.

Other religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism have very few adherents. However, although small in relation to other religions, Vermont has the highest concentration of western-convert Buddhists in the country and several Buddhist retreat centers.[3]

[edit] Economy

According to the 2004 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, Vermont’s gross state product was $22.1 billion. The per capita personal income was $32,770 in 2004.

Over the past two centuries, Vermont has had both population explosions and population busts. First settled by farmers, loggers and hunters, Vermont lost much of its population as farmers moved west into the Great Plains in search of abundant, easily tilled land. Logging similarly fell off as over-cutting and the exploitation of other forests made Vermont's forest less attractive. Although these population shifts devastated Vermont's economy, the early loss of population had the beneficial effect of allowing Vermont's land and forest to recover. The accompanying lack of industry has allowed Vermont to avoid many of the ill-effects of 20th century industrial busts, effects that still plague neighboring states. Today, most of Vermont's forests consist of second-growth.

Of the remaining industries, dairy farming is the primary source of agricultural income.

An important and growing part of Vermont's economy is the manufacture and sale of artisan foods, fancy foods, and novelty items trading in part upon the Vermont "brand" which is managed by the Vermont Secretary of Agriculture and fiercely defended by the Vermont Secretary of State and Attorney General. Examples of these specialty exports include Cabot Cheese, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Fine Paints of Europe, Vermont Butter and Cheese Company, several micro breweries, ginseng growers, Burton Snowboards, Lake Champlain Chocolates, King Arthur Flour, and Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. Vermont's Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets maintains the highest dairy standards in the U.S. Only France's Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fishing and Rural Affairs (see Minister of Agriculture (France)) has standards for butterfat content equal to Vermont's.

Captive insurance plays an increasingly large role in Vermont's economy. With this form of alternative insurance, large corporations or industry associations form standalone insurance companies to insure their own risks, thereby substantially reducing their insurance premiums and gaining a significant measure of control over types of risks to be covered. There are also significant tax advantages to be gained from the formation and operation of captive insurance companies. According to the Insurance Information Institute, Vermont in 2004 was the world's third-largest domicile for captive insurance companies, following Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

Tourism is the state's largest industry. In the winter, world famous ski resorts like Stowe, Killington Ski Resort, Mad River Glen, Sugarbush, Stratton, Jay Peak, Okemo, and Bromley draw skiers from around the globe, although their largest markets are Boston, Montreal and the New York metropolitan area. In the summer, resort towns like Stowe, Manchester, and Woodstock draw visitors looking for a mountain vacation. Resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions employ many people year-round.

Numerous summer camps contribute to Vermont's economy. Trout fishing, lake fishing and even ice fishing draw outdoor enthusiasts to the state, as does the excellent hiking on the Long Trail. Several noteworthy horse shows are annual events. Golf courses are springing up with spas to service the weary client. One major fashion outlet mall isn't really a mall but the old town of Manchester gentrified.

The towns of Rutland and Barre are the traditional centers of marble and granite quarrying and carving in the U.S. For many years Vermont was also the headquarters of the smallest union in the U.S., the Stonecutters Association, of about 500 members.

In recent years, Vermont has been deluged with plans to build condos and houses on what was relatively inexpensive, untouched land. Vermont's government has responded with a series of laws controlling development and with some pioneering initiatives to prevent the loss of Vermont's dairy industry.

In 2001, Vermont produced 275,000 gallons (1,040,000 l) of maple syrup, about one-quarter of U.S. production. The Vermont Department of Agriculture maintains a rating standard for maple syrup that is higher than the U.S. Department of Agriculture's, all other states, and Canada.

Vermont collects personal income tax in a progressive structure of five different income brackets, ranging from 3.6% to 9.5%. Vermont's general sales tax rate is 6%. The tax is imposed on sales of tangible personal property, amusement charges, fabrication charges, some public utility charges and some service contracts. There are 46 exemptions from the tax which include medical items, food, manufacturing machinery, equipment and fuel, residential fuel and electricity, clothing, and shoes with a purchase price of $110 or less. A use tax is imposed on the buyer at the same rate as the sales tax. The buyer pays the use tax when the sellers fails to collect the sales tax or the items are purchased from a source where no tax is collected. The use tax applies to items taxable under the sales tax. Property taxes are imposed for the support of education and municipal services. Vermont does not assess tax on intangible personal property. Vermont does not collect inheritance taxes; however, its estate tax is decoupled from the federal estate tax laws and therefore the state still imposes its own estate tax.

Vermont is the only one of the 48 contiguous states without a Target store. It is also the only state within the entire United States whose state capital does not have a McDonald's restaurant.

[edit] Transportation

Vermont's main mode of travel is by automobile. Individual communities and counties have public transit, but their breadth of coverage is frequently limited. Greyhound Lines services a number of small towns and Amtrak serves stations in Rutland and Fair Haven (off the Ethan Allen Express) and St. Albans, Essex Jct., Waterbury, Montpelier, Randolph, White River Jct., Windsor, Bellows Falls and Brattleboro on the Vermonter line.

Interstates I-89, I-91, and I-93 are major highways in Vermont.

Vermont is served by two commercial airports:

• Burlington International Airport is the largest in the state with regular flights to many major cities including Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.
• Rutland State Airport is the only other commercial airport in the state and has regular flights to Albany and Boston.

Vermont's local community public and private transportation.

• Addison county has the ACTR (Addison County Transit Resources) out of Middlebury, also serving Bristol and Vergennes.
• Bennington county features the GME (American Red Cross Green Mountain Express) out of Bennington and the YT (Yankee Trails) running out of Rensselaer, New York.
• The RCT (Rural Community Transportation) runs out of Saint Johnsbury and services Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille and Orleans counties.
• Burlington (home of University of Vermont) has CCTA (Chittenden County Transportation Authority) and CATS (University of Vermont Campus Area Transportation System).
• Colchester in Chittenden county is serviced by the SSTA (Special Services Transportation Agency).
• The Network (Northwest Vermont Public Transit Network, NVPT) running out of Saint Albans, services Franklin and Grand Isle counties.
• Stowe, in Lamoille county, is serviced by STS (Stowe Trolly System, Village Mountain Shuttle, Morrisville Shuttle).
• STS (Stagecoach Transportation Services) out of Randolph in Orange county also serves parts of Windsor county.
• Rutland county has the Bus (Marble Valley Regional Transit District, MVRTD) out of Rutland.
• In Washington county the GMTA (Green Mountain Transit Authority) runs out of the capital city, Montpelier.
• Brattleboro in Windham county is served by the BeeLine (Brattleboro Town Bus). Windham is served, out of West Dover, by the MOOver (Deerfield Valley Transit Association, DVTA).
• Ludlow (in Windsor county), home of Okemo Mountain is served by the LMTS (Ludlow Municipal Transit System). Windsor is also served by Advanced Transit (AT) out of Wilder and the CRT (Connecticut River Transit) out of Springfield which also serves parts of Windham county.
• The Burlington and Grand Isle areas are connected to New York State by ferries operated by LCTC, the Lake Champlain Transportation Company.

[edit] Law and government

[edit] The Constitution of the State of Vermont

Provision is made for the following "frame of government" under the Constitution of the State of Vermont: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch.

[edit] Executive branch

Vermonters independently elect a state governor and lieutenant governor every two years (as opposed to every four years, which is the most common term length for a governor of a U.S. state). The current governor of Vermont is Jim Douglas, who assumed office in 2003. The offices of the Governor of Vermont, and other offices of the executive branch, are located at the The Pavilion in Montpelier.

Vermont does not have a term limit for the governor.

[edit] Legislative branch

Vermont's state legislature is the Vermont General Assembly, a bicameral body composed of the Vermont House of Representatives (the lower house) and the Vermont Senate (the upper house) meet at the Vermont State House. The Senate is composed of 30 state senators, while the House of Representatives has 150 members. Like the governor, members of the General Assembly serve two-year terms.

[edit] Judicial branch

The Vermont Supreme Court is the state supreme court, made up of five justices who serve six year terms. Superior courts in the state are made up of eight judges serving a term of six years. Appointments to the state supreme court, superior court, and district courts are made by the governor, from a list of names submitted by the state's Judicial Nominating Committee and then are confirmed by the Senate. At the end of each six year term, the Gereral Assembly votes by joint ballot (each member, senator or representative, getting one vote) on whether to retain the judge or justice (known as a judicial retention vote). Judges on lower courts are elected on a partisan ballot. The Vermont Constitution spells out the process of judicial appointment and retention in Chapter 2, Sections 32 thru 35, 50 and 51 [4].

[edit] Civil rights and liberties

The Vermont Constitution outlines and guarantees broad rights for its citizens. Even in the eighteenth century it was seen as being among the most far reaching in the new world and in Europe, and it predated the Bill of Rights by a dozen years. The Constitution's first chapter, "Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of The State of Vermont" prohibits slavery, indentured servitude, and allowed for universal manhood suffrage, regardless of property ownership. The Declaration of Rights set in place broad protections of religious freedom and conscience while erecting a strong firewall between church and state, by prohibiting establishment or promotion of any faith by the government, or compulsion to worship. The "Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of The State of Vermont" is believed to have been a model for France's Déclaration universelle sur des droits de l'homme (Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man).

[edit] Federal legislative representation

Vermont is represented (after the 2006 elections and effective in 2007) in the U.S. Senate by Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, and Bernie Sanders, an independent, caucusing with the Democrats. Vermont made history with Sanders's election as the first Democratic Socialist to be elected to the Senate. Sanders has served as Vermont's sole US Representative from 1991-2007 and also served as mayor of Burlington (Vermont's largest city) from 1981-1988. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Vermont's single congressional district is represented by Peter Welch, a Democrat. Among Vermont's distinguished public servants, U.S. Senator Winston Prouty (R) gained national prominence as an early critic of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Upon his departure from the Republican Party, Senator Jeffords cited the late Senator Prouty, a member of Vermont's most prominent political family, for the latter's legendary spirit of independence. George Aiken (R), who served as senator from 1941 until 1975, was equally prominent; he is perhaps best known for his proposal that the United States declare victory in Vietnam and leave.

[edit] Politics

Vermonters are known for their political independence. Vermont is one of the few states that was an independent republic, and has a long history of contrarian voting in national elections. Notably, Vermont is the only state to have voted for a presidential candidate from the Anti-Masonic Party, and Vermont and Maine were the only states to vote against Franklin D. Roosevelt in his second election.

Vermont's unique history and history of independent political thought has led to movements for the establishment of the 'Second Vermont Republic' and other plans advocating secession. These relatively small political movements are similar in nature to those found in California,Hawaii,Louisiana and Texas; although the historical contexts are variant.

Today, Vermont is known nationally for its liberal political views, although this is perhaps an oversimplification. Perhaps the best description would be that Vermont tends to be very liberal or libertarian when it comes to social issues, but tends to be moderate to conservative when it comes to fiscal issues. The Vermont government maintains a proactive stance with regards to the environment, social services and prevention of urbanization. For example, facing severe pressures from out-of-state real estate developers, the state passed the Land Use and Development Law (Act 250) in 1970. The law, which was the first of its kind in the nation, created nine District Environmental Commissions consisting of private citizens who have the power to approve or disapprove land development and subdivision plans that would have a significant impact on the state's environment and many small communities. Another case involves the recent controversy over the adoption of civil unions, an institution which grants same-sex couples nearly all the rights and privileges of marriage. In Baker v. Vermont (1999), the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that, under the Constitution of Vermont, the state must either allow same-sex marriage or provide a separate but equal status for them. The state legislature chose the second option by creating the institution of civil union; the bill was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Howard Dean. At the same time, Vermont is one of only two states in the Union to allow any adult to carry a concealed firearm without any sort of permit.

Vermont is the home state of the only two current members of the United States Congress who do not associate themselves with a political party: Representative Bernie Sanders and Senator Jim Jeffords.

Attempts by out-of-state candidates (so called "flatlanders") to be elected to office in Vermont have often been thwarted by locals. In 1998, a 79-year-old farmer named Fred Tuttle received national attention by defeating a Massachusetts multimillionaire in the Republican Primary for Senate. With a campaign budget of $201, Tuttle garnered 55% of the primary vote, then promptly announced his support for the Democratic incumbent, Patrick Leahy. This campaign was an example of ostension, as Fred had starred as himself in the Vermont-produced film, A Man With A Plan, which depicted him winning a shoestring-funded election to Congress.

Republicans dominated Vermont politics from the party's founding in 1854 until the mid-1970s. This likely owes more to the state's abolitionist history and later to their tendency towards fiscal conservatism than to social conservatism. For example in 1980 when faced with a choice between the socially conservative Reagan and a "big government" Democrat, many from Vermont voted for the 3rd party candiadate, John Bayard Anderson, who ran on a more libertarian platform. In the early 1960s many progressive Vermont Republicans and newcomers to the state helped bolster the state's small Democratic Party. Until 1992, Vermont had supported a Democrat for president only once since the party's founding—in Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide victory against Barry Goldwater. In 1992, it supported Democrat Bill Clinton for president and has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since. Vermont gave John Kerry his fourth largest margin of victory in 2004. He won the state's popular vote by 20 percentage points over incumbent George W. Bush, taking almost 59% of the vote. Essex County in the state's northeastern section was the only county to vote for Bush.

The Vermont Progressive Party is a small liberal political party created in the early 1980s. The Vermont Progressive party is similar to the Green Party in its environmental policies but operates more center-left similar to the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands – SPD) in its business and social policies. It has represented a handful of seats in the Vermont legislature for two decades and has run candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. The party is similar in spirit to an earlier Vermont party called the Liberty Union Party based upon the ideas of Social Democrat Eugene V. Debs. The party has a similar philosophy to Vermont's lone congressman, Bernie Sanders. It has had official recognition as a political party by the state government since 1999.

Vermont's liberal/libertarian views do not coincide with the general American political stereotype that rural states tend toward conservatism (the red state phenomenon). The contradiction is thrown into great relief when it is observed that Vermont's longtime doppleganger neighbor, New Hampshire, is consistently Republican in its politics (although New Hampshire leans more toward libertarianism than toward standard Republicanism).

[edit] Education

[edit] Academies and grammar schools

Vermont's 1777 constitution was the first in English-speaking North America to mandate public funding for universal education. This requirement was first met by elementary-level village schools with sessions held in the cooler months to accommodate farm work. Most schools educated similar numbers of girls and boys. Conditions in these schools varied, and the highest level of instruction was tenth grade. By the end of the eighteenth century, grammar schools, instructing students in English, algebra, geometry, Greek, and Latin, had been established at Bennington, Burlington, Castleton, Middlebury, Montpelier, and Windsor. These grammar schools were of a higher caliber than the smaller villages' schools, and the level of education at some was equivalent to college level. By the middle nineteenth century, an expansion in settlement and the population of the state, coupled with increased prosperity, brought grammar schools to all corners of Vermont. Even the most remote Northeast Kingdom had established high-school-level instruction in Craftsbury, Danville, Hardwick, and Newport. Many of these established grammar schools and academies, though not entirely public, received funds from area town governments in exchange for education of their students. As a system of public funding for primary and secondary education took root, many of these schools became municipal public schools. Several remained private, becoming private high-school-level academies, and several become colleges; the Rutland County Grammar School became Castleton State College, the Lamoille County Grammar School became Johnson State College, and the Addison County Grammar School became Middlebury College.

[edit] Educating teachers

In the 1860s a shortage of qualified teachers brought the establishment of state "normal schools," a term based on the French term école normale – a school to train teachers. The grammar schools at Castleton, Johnson, and Randolph Center became normal schools, additional normal schools were established in Concord and Lyndonville. Additional post secondary schools instructing students to become teachers were called seminaries. While several were nominally associated with Protestant churches, none were seminaries in the sense of training ministers. These seminars also graduated teachers to staff Vermont's growing number of primary and secondary schools.

[edit] The one-room school house

The one-room school house, born of small multi-age rural populations, continued well into the twentieth century. Rural towns without a single central village often built two to a half-dozen school houses across their terrain. Much of this came from a lack of transportation and a need for students to return home by mid afternoon for farm chores. By 1920 all public schools, including the one-room school houses, were regulated by the state government. In the early 1930s state legislation established a review and certification program similar to accreditation. Schools were issued regulations about teacher education and curriculum. Education quality in rural areas was maintained through a program called Vermont Standard Schools. Rural school houses meeting certification requirements were issued a green and white plaque with the Vermont coat of arms and the words "Vermont Standard School." These were proudly affixed to the school houses as a sign of quality.

[edit] Higher education

During the period of the Vermont Republic several towns on the east side of the Connecticut River were part of Vermont. This included Hanover, and Dartmouth College. Statehood brought about establishment of the Connecticut River as a natural border. Having lost Dartmouth College, Ira Allen established the University of Vermont (UVM) in 1791 to complement the smaller college at Castleton. By the mid-twentieth century all but one of the state normal schools, and many of the seminaries, had become four year colleges of liberal arts and sciences. Experimentation at the University of Vermont by George Perkins Marsh, and later the influence of Vermont born philosopher and educator John Dewey brought about the concepts of electives and learning by doing. Today Vermont has five colleges within the Vermont State Colleges system, UVM, fourteen other private, degree-granting colleges, including Middlebury College, a private, co-educational liberal arts college founded in 1800, and the Vermont Law School at Royalton.

[edit] Sports

The logo of the Vermont Lake Monsters is "Champ," the legendary sea monster of Vermont's Lake Champlain.

No major professional hockey teams are based in Vermont. The largest professional franchise is the Vermont Lake Monsters, formerly the Vermont Expos, a single-A minor league baseball team based in Burlington. The Vermont Frost Heaves are a franchise of the American Basketball Association, and will be based in Barre starting in fall 2006. Vermont also has a semi-professional football team in the Vermont Ice Storm, based in South Hero, which plays its home games at Colchester High School. The Vermont Voltage is a USL Premier Development League soccer club that plays in St. Albans. The University of Vermont is the only state university in the nation not to have a football team. Soccer, hockey, and basketball are the primary varsity sports at the school.

[edit] Miscellaneous topics

Vermont is the birthplace of former presidents Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur.

Vermont is one of four states (along with Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine) to have prohibited all billboards from view of highway rights-of-way by law, except for signs on the contiguous property of the business location.

A major political issue for some years has been taxation and education funding. The town of Killington is currently trying to secede from Vermont and join New Hampshire due to what the locals say is an unfair tax burden.[5][6]

Vermont has many festivals, including the Vermont Maple Festival, Festival on the Green, the Enosburg Falls Dairy Festival, the Apple Festival (held each Columbus Day Weekend), the Marlboro Music Festival, and the Vermont Mozart Festival. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is supported by the state and performs throughout the area. The Poetry Society of Vermont publishes a literary magazine called The Green Mountain Troubadore which encourages submissions from members of various ages. Every year they hold various contests - one being for high school age young people. The Brattleboro-based Vermont Theatre Company presents an annual summer Shakespeare festival. Brattleboro also hosts the summertime Strolling of the Heifers parade which celebrates Vermont's unique dairy culture. Montpelier is home to the annual Green Mountain Film Festival. In the Northeast Kingdom, The Bread and Puppet Theatre holds weekly shows in Glover in a natural outdoor amphitheater.

One of Vermont's best known musical exports is group Phish, whose members met while attending school in Vermont. The state has always held great importance for Phish—for example, lead singer and guitarist Trey Anastasio built a studio in Vermont used by the band and others, called The Barn. Phish ended their tenure together as a band with a farewell concert weekend in the state's Northeast Kingdom, which was dubbed "Coventry" after (in part) the venue city of Coventry, Vermont, on August 16, 2004.

Vermont was the last state to get a Wal-Mart (there are four, as of June 2006), is currently the only state without a Lowe's (as of June 2006), and it remains the only state without a McDonald's restaurant or big box store within the city limits of the capital.

[edit] Largest cities in Vermont

Largest cities (2003 est.):

• Burlington, 39,148
• Rutland, 17,103
• South Burlington, 16,285
• Barre, 9,166

[edit] Largest towns in Vermont

Although these towns are large enough to be considered cities, they are not incorporated as such. Largest Towns (2003 est.)

• Essex, 18,933
• Colchester, 17,175
• Bennington, 15,637
• Brattleboro, 11,996
• Hartford, 10,610
• Milton, 9,924

[edit] State symbols

The state song and state symbols are designated by act of the state legislature and confirmed by the governor.

The hermit thrush is Vermont's state bird.

Vermont's state song is "These Green Mountains," composed by Diane Martin and arranged by Rita Buglass Gluck. This song was officially designated as the state song on May 22, 2000, when Governor Howard Dean signed No. 99 of the Acts of 2000 into law. This song replaced "Hail to Vermont!," which was written by Josephine Hovey-Perry and made the state song in 1938.

The state bird is the hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus). This was adopted as No. 1 of the Acts of 1941, effective June 1, 1941. The bird was only designated after debate in the legislature; though the hermit thrush is found in all of 14 counties and has a distinctive sweet call, it leaves the state during the winter for its yearly southward migration. Many legislators favored the blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) or the crow.

The red clover (Trifolium pratense) was designated as the state flower by No. 159 of the Acts of 1894, effective February 1, 1895. The red clover is often seen in the countryside of Vermont hosting the state insect, the honeybee (Apis mellifera), which was originally introduced from Europe; it was designated by No. 124 of the Acts of 1978, effective July 1, 1978.

Vermont has two official state fish, both adopted by Joint Resolution R-91 of the Acts of 1978 and effective on May 3, 1978: the cold-water fish, the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and the warm-water fish, the walleye (Sander vitreous vitreous).

The state tree is the sugar maple (Acer saccharum), adopted by the Acts of 1949, effective March 10, 1949. The sugar maple is the source of maple syrup, Vermont's most famous export.

The state mammal is the Morgan horse, designated as such by No. 42 of the acts of 1961, effective March 23, 1961. The Morgan horse is a horse breed originally from Vermont.

The state amphibian, adopted by No. 126 of the Acts of 1997, is the Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens).

Vermont has also designated an official state mineral (talc), pie (apple pie), soil ("Tunbridge Soil Series"), beverage (milk), gem (grossular garnet), and fossil (the beluga skeleton at the University of Vermont's Perkins Geology Museum).

Vermont is distinct for being among only three U.S. states with both a state seal and a coat of arms. Vermont is the only U.S. state to have a heraldically correct blazon describing its coat of arms.

[edit] Crime

Vermont is one of twelve states that have no death penalty statute. After 1930, there were four executions; the last was in 1954. Capital punishment was effectively abolished in practice in 1964, with the statutes being completely removed in 1987. State law allows children as young as ten years to be tried as adults, the lowest age limit currently specified by any of the 50 states.

Crime per capita is generally very low.

The Vermont prison system is administered by Vermont Department of Corrections[7]. There are nine prisons in Vermont:

• Caledonia Community Work Camp
• Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility
• Dale Women's Facility
• Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility
• Northern State Correctional Facility
• Northwest State Correctional Facility
• Southeast State Correctional Facility
• Southern State Correctional Facility
• St. Johnsbury Regional Correctional Facility

[edit] Notable Vermonters

• Ethan Allen, commander of the Green Mountain Boys
• Chester A. Arthur, twenty-first president of the United States
• Warren Robinson Austin, early U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
• Wilson Bentley, scientist and photographer
• Pearl Buck, author
• Kelly Clark, Olympic gold medal winner, snowboarding 2002
• Calvin Coolidge, thirtieth president of the United States
• Thomas Davenport, inventor of the electric motor
• John Deere, blacksmith and manufacturer who founded Deere & Company - one of the largest agricultural and construction equipment manufacturers in the world
• George Dewey, hero of Manila Bay and the only Admiral of the Navy ever appointed in America
• John Dewey, philosopher, educator
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher, writer
• Carlton Fisk, Former MLB Hall of Fame Catcher
• Larry Gardner, Former MLB Third Baseman
• Richard Morris Hunt, architect
• Rudyard Kipling, British author, resident of Brattleboro, during which time he wrote The Jungle Book
• Andrea Mead-Lawrence, first American to win two gold Olympic skiing medals
• John LeClair first native born Vermonter to play in the National Hockey League
• Horatio G. Loomis, one of the organizers of the Chicago Board of Trade
• Philip Maxwell, physician and politician and the person for whom Chicago's famous Maxwell Street was named
• Justin Morrill, sponsor of the Land Grant College Act establishing "public ivies"
• Moses Pendleton choreographer
• Phish, rock band
• William Lamb Picknell, nineteenth century painter, member of the National Academy of Design
• Ross Powers, Olympic gold medal winner, snowboarding, 2002
• Rudolph Ruzicka, typeface designer and engraver
• Julian Scott, nineteenth century painter and muralist
• Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian author, historian, and 1970 recipient of Nobel Prize for Literature, lived in Vermont to avoid persecution in Russia, returned to Russia after Perestroika
• Birdie Tebbetts, Former All-Star MLB Catcher and Manager
• Alexander Twilight, first African American to receive a college degree, and to be elected to public office in the United States
• Royall Tyler, playwright and first Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
• Brigham Young, early church president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

[edit] Notable living Vermont residents

• John Irving, Author
• Trey Anastasio, vocals/guitar for Phish, a popular jam-band
• Howard Dean, current Democratic National Committee Chairman
• John Fusco, hollywood movie writer/producer; wrote Hidalgo and Young Guns
• Louise Glück, Pulitzer Prize winning poet
• Luis Guzmán, actor
• Jamaica Kincaid, novelist
• Edward Koren illustrator and cartoonist for the The New Yorker
• Felicity Huffman, actor
• Madeleine M. Kunin, seventy-seventh Governor of the State of Vermont, U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland
• William H. Macy, actor and director
• David Mamet, playwright
• Peter Schumann, founder and director of Bread and Puppet Theater
• Martin St. Louis, NHL hockey star
• KT Tunstall, musician
• M. Emmet Walsh, actor
• Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, for efforts to clear away and ban anti-personnel mines
• Joe Perry, Lead guitarist for Aerosmith
• Jim Cantore, Weather Channel meteorologist

[edit] See also

• Scouting in Vermont
• Vermont media
• Music of Vermont
• The Vermont State Colleges
• Vermont State Police

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

• Vermont government official website
• Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce. Business and tourism information.
• Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing
• Vermont Historical Society..
• "Vermont QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau.
• Vermont's consortium of public colleges. The Vermont State Colleges
• Vermont Agriculture.
• Vermont Arts Council
• Vermont State Facts
• Vermont Independence Movement
• Vermont Life Magazine
• Vermont League of Cities and Towns
• Vermont Arts Council
• Vermont Department of Labor

	State of Vermont
Topics	Constitution | Culture | Geography | Government | History | Images | Towns | Villages in Vermont
Capital	Montpelier
Regions	Champlain Valley | Green Mountains | Mount Mansfield | Northeast Kingdom
Counties	Addison | Bennington | Caledonia | Chittenden | Essex | Franklin | Grand Isle | Lamoille | Orange | Orleans | Rutland | Washington | Windham | Windsor
Cities	Barre City | Burlington | Montpelier | Newport City | Rutland City | South Burlington | St. Albans City | Vergennes | Winooski

	Political divisions of the United States
Capital	District of Columbia
States	Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming
Insular areas	American Samoa | Guam | Northern Mariana Islands | Puerto Rico | Virgin Islands
Minor outlying islands	Baker Island | Howland Island | Jarvis Island | Johnston Atoll | Kingman Reef | Midway Atoll | Navassa Island | Palmyra Atoll | Wake Island

Coordinates: 44°4′N 72°40′W