New Hampshire is a relatively small state of the union. Yet it will play a huge part in American politics as the "first in the nation" presidential primary. Today six mainstream candidates for the GOP nomination will square off in the Granite State to try to further their political ambitions.
Here's a look at the demographics and geography of New Hampshire, a tiny state with huge clout.
Population
New Hampshire has an official population of 1,316,470, according to the U.S. Census as of 2010. The state grew by 6.5 percent from 2000. Almost 94 percent of the population are white, 1.1 percent are black 2.8 percent are Hispanic and 2.2 percent are Asian.
A full 79.2 percent of the population is 18 years of age or older. Nearly three-quarters of the residents of New Hampshire own their own homes. The median income in 2009 was just over $60,000 per person. New Hampshire is a very wealthy state in terms of quality of life. New Hampshire ranks 42nd out of 50 in terms of population. By comparison in other early voting states, Iowa ranks 30th, South Carolina is 24th and Florida is fourth in population size.
Geography
New Hampshire is bordered by Maine to the east, Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west and Canada to the north. New Hampshire has a small sea coast with Dover as the main port city. Largest cities include Manchester, Nashua, Concord, Derry, Dover, Rochester and Salem. Only Manchester has over 100,000 people.
New Hampshire encompasses 9,350 square miles including the water. Enchanted Learning states New Hampshire ranks 46th in terms of size among the 50 states. Only New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware the Rhode Island are smaller.
Voters
As of December 2011, there are 767,383 registered voters in New Hampshire. That breaks down to just over 58 percent of the population that is registered to vote. Nearly a three-quarters of all adults 18 and over are registered voters.
Voting is done in various towns and cities. New Hampshire has 10 counties, 13 municipalities, 221 towns and 22 unincorporated areas. Polling places open as early as 6 a.m. and stay open as late as 8 p.m. in some towns.
2 comments