Proper noun

Singular New England

Plural -

New England

1. Collectively, the six states of the United States colonized by the English in the 17th century, namely Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
2. (Australia) a loosely defined region in the north of the state of New South Wales.

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

In one of the earliest European settlements in the New World, Pilgrims from the Kingdom of England first settled in New England in 1620, in the colony of Plymouth. Ten years later, the Puritans settled north of Plymouth Colony in Boston, thus forming Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. In the late 18th century, the New England colonies would be among the first North American British colonies to demonstrate ambitions of independence from the British Crown via the American Revolution, although they would later oppose the War of 1812 between the United States and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

New England produced the first pieces of American literature and philosophy and was home to the beginnings of free public education. In the 19th century, it played a prominent role in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States. It was the first region of the United States to be transformed by the Industrial Revolution.

Today, New England is a major center of education, high technology, insurance, medicine, and tourism. It is one of the most liberal regions in the United States, known for its universities, historic cities and landmarks, and natural beauty.

It is the only non-geographically defined region recognized by the United States and maintains a strong sense of cultural identity set apart from the rest of the country, although the terms of this identity are often contested, paradoxically combining Puritanism with liberalism, agrarian life with industry, and isolation with immigration.