Boston is the capital of the commonwealth of Massachusetts and was settled in 1630 by English Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Boston can be found in the northeastern part of the United States lying on Massachusetts Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. Boston covers an area of 46 square miles and has a population rate of 589,141.
Boston is also called “Beantown” dating from colonial time where “Boston baked beans” became a popular dish. Boston has influenced the country the three last decades immensely due to the fact that it is the spiritual capital of the New England states, the progenitor of the American Revolution and the earliest center of American culture.
Boston’s topography was shaped by glaciers covering the area during the last ice age. It is ringed by modest hills such as the Middlesex Fells in the north and the Blue Hills in the south.
In the 17th century, at the beginning of English settlement, the Shawmut Peninsula was named Trimountain due to its three-topped hill on the northwest corner which is close to the mouth of the Charles River. Beacon Hill is its only surviving remnant.
Charles River flows through the Back Bay to Boston Harbor separating the peninsula from the mainland.
Some 18th-century buildings, such as Faneuil Hall, the Old Corner Book Store, the Old South Meeting House and King’s Chapel, can still be found in Boston.
After World War II, Boston recorded a great growth of the city’s African American population changing the city’s ethnic patterns considerably.
Until the Great Depression of the 1930s, Boston’s economy was dominated by textile industry. However, now, Boston is a world leader in equity fund management, though Boston’s universities remained an important part of the city’s economy.
Boston has a great variety as far as cultural life is concerned. The Boston Symphony Orchestra which is one of the foremost orchestras in the world, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Science at Science Park and the Boston Public Library are just a few places to enjoy aspects of Boston’s cultural life. Boston is also famous for its great number of renowned universities including Harvard University. Harvard University has one of the greatest libraries for scholarship in the world.
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