Short answers, pulled from the story.
Maine is the only state in the United States that shares a border with just one other state, New Hampshire. This unique geographical isolation defines the state's identity, separating it from the rest of the New England region by the Gulf of Maine to the southeast and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast.
Formal statehood and admission as the 23rd state occurred on the 15th of March 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise, which geographically restricted the spread of slavery and enabled the admission of Missouri the following year, keeping a balance between slave and free states.
The earliest known inhabitants were Algonquian-speaking Wabanaki peoples, including the Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Penobscot, Androscoggin, and Kennebec. These nations governed the area before European arrival, eventually merging to form the Wabanaki Confederacy during King Philip's War to aid the Wampanoag and Mahican.
As of 2024, the population reached a record 1,400,000, making it the most rural state in the nation. The population density is 41.3 people per square mile, making it the least densely populated state east of the Mississippi River.
The capital is Augusta, while the largest city, Portland, serves as the economic and cultural heart of the region. The original state capital was Portland, Maine's largest city, until it was moved to the more central Augusta in 1832.