State bird
Chickadee
Sources: Designation & background
Local timeAugusta ·
U.S. States / Northeast · Card 019
Maine
The Pine Tree State
Acadia National Park protects rocky Atlantic headlands, forests and coastal habitats.
Maine and its surroundings
● State capital · Gold highlights Maine.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
At a glance
- Capital
- Augusta
- Postal abbreviation
- ME
- Population
- 1,414,874July 1, 2025 · Census estimate
- Total area
- 91,633 km²35,380 square miles · land and water
- Statehood
- March 15, 1820State number 23
- Region
- Northeast
Sources: Census · population · Census · area
State symbols & traditions
State song
State of Maine Song
Sources: Designation & background
State dessert
Wild Maine blueberry pie
Sources: Designation & background
Geography & flag
01
Location
Neighboring states: New Hampshire.
02
Landscape & places
Acadia National Park protects rocky Atlantic headlands, forests and coastal habitats. Its carriage roads and other historic routes also show how people planned access through a landscape that combines conservation and recreation.
03
Land and water
The total area includes 79,883 km² of land and 11,750 km² of water, according to Census area measurements.
State flag
The state coat of arms on blue, with a star and Dirigo above and Maine below.
Sources: Census · geographic reference · Census · area measurements · National Park Service · Acadia
How the landscape works
Acadia’s headlands, forests, and coastal habitats show how land and sea meet in several different ways. Its historic carriage roads also reveal choices about access: people designed routes through a protected landscape. Conservation is not always the absence of human decisions. It includes deciding where and how people can experience a place while caring for it.
History
How Maine’s separation became part of the slavery debate
Maine had been governed as part of Massachusetts. After Massachusetts agreed to separation, Maine’s application for statehood became tied to Missouri’s application. The issue was national political power: admitting another slave state without a free state would change the balance in the Senate.
The Missouri Compromise paired Maine’s admission as a free state with a path for Missouri to enter as a slave state. Maine became a state in 1820; Missouri followed in 1821. The legislation also restricted slavery in much of the remaining Louisiana Purchase. It temporarily settled the admission dispute without resolving the larger conflict over slavery.
Read more: Historical source ↗
Why this mattered
Maine’s separation from Massachusetts was a local political change that became linked to a national dispute. Admission of Maine as a free state was paired with Missouri’s admission as a slave state. The arrangement addressed the balance between free and slave states, while a geographic restriction addressed slavery in other Louisiana Purchase lands. These were connected but different parts of the compromise.
Key dates
-
Massachusetts agreed to separation
-
Statehood · State number 23
-
Boundary with Canada settled by treaty
Sources: Congressional Research Service · statehood · U.S. Census Bureau · historical geography · National Park Service
People and place
Indigenous history and communities today
The Penobscot Nation’s own information connects Maine with a living Wabanaki community and government. Maine’s separation from Massachusetts did not mark the beginning of the region’s political and cultural history.
Continue with Penobscot Nation. This is one starting point, not a complete account of the peoples connected to this land.
Compare
Maine and New Hampshire
| Measure | Maine | New Hampshire |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2025) | 1,414,874 | 1,415,342 |
| Land area (km²) | 79,883 | 23,187 |
| People per km² of land | 17.7 | 61.0 |
New Hampshire has more people per square kilometer of land. Population density divides population by land area. It is an average across the whole jurisdiction, not a claim that residents are evenly spread out.
Calculated from the Census population series and land-area measurements used on these pages. Rounded figures; water area is excluded. Explore New Hampshire.
Economy
Main activities
In 2025, real estate and rental and leasing was the largest of the broad industry groups compared here by current-dollar output. Other major groups included educational services, health care, and social assistance, professional and business services, and government and government enterprises.
Total economic output was $102.8 billion in current dollars in 2025.
Largest industry groups · 2025
- Real estate and rental and leasing: 16.3%
- Educational services, health care, and social assistance: 12.7%
- Professional and business services: 12.0%
- Government and government enterprises: 11.4%
Share of total current-dollar GDP. These figures measure output, not employment.
Sources: BEA · annual GDP by state, SAGDP2
Production, jobs and wages answer different questions
The industry chart measures the value of production. It does not count workers. An industry with a large share of GDP need not employ the most people or pay the highest wages. Employment and wage data would be needed to answer those questions.
Population & economic trends
Population, 2020–2025
Millions of people1.412025 · millions of people
July 1 resident population estimates, using the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 series.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau
View data table
| Year | People |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 1,364,546 |
| 2021 | 1,379,009 |
| 2022 | 1,391,585 |
| 2023 | 1,401,992 |
| 2024 | 1,408,438 |
| 2025 | 1,414,874 |
Real GDP, 2010–2025
Billions of chained 2017 dollars78.202025 · billions of chained 2017 dollars
Real GDP measures economic output adjusted for inflation. The chart uses BEA’s chained 2017 dollars.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
View data table
| Year | Millions of chained 2017 dollars |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 59,958.5 |
| 2011 | 59,429.7 |
| 2012 | 59,181.7 |
| 2013 | 59,013.9 |
| 2014 | 59,589.8 |
| 2015 | 60,563.0 |
| 2016 | 62,037.1 |
| 2017 | 63,000.6 |
| 2018 | 64,806.3 |
| 2019 | 66,758.4 |
| 2020 | 67,639.2 |
| 2021 | 71,353.5 |
| 2022 | 72,884.4 |
| 2023 | 75,514.0 |
| 2024 | 77,758.6 |
| 2025 | 78,200.8 |
Read the trend, then ask what explains it
Maine’s population increased by about 3.7% between 2020 and 2025 in this series. That shows the size of the change. The chart alone cannot tell us how much came from births, deaths or migration.
Real GDP adjusts for changes in prices, so it helps compare production over time. Current-dollar GDP includes price changes. Neither measure tells us how income is distributed among residents.
Representation
- Electoral votes
- 42024 & 2028 elections
- Voting U.S. House seats
- 22020 Census allocation
- U.S. Senate seats
- 2
Electoral votes equal the state’s U.S. House seats plus its two U.S. Senate seats. These allocations apply to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections. Maine awards two electoral votes to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each congressional district.
Practice
Test your knowledge
Use the explanations and data on this page to answer ten questions. Hints and links to the relevant sections are available throughout.
10 questions about Maine
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Sources & notes
Narrative and quiz updated 5 October 2026. Statistical data prepared 27 September 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025, July 1 estimates for 2020–2025. Real GDP: BEA annual state accounts, SAGDP9, millions of chained 2017 dollars; industry shares: SAGDP2, current dollars. Data downloaded 27 September 2026. Area measurements include land and water.
Sources: Census · population estimates · BEA · state GDP · Census · area measurements · Natural Earth · map data
The capital clock shows current local time. Statistical figures are dated estimates and may be revised.
Updated 29 October 2026. Statistics retain the dated series shown in the charts; these are not live figures. Sources are linked beside each topic.