One of six New England states, Massachusetts is bordered on the north by New Hampshire and Vermont, on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island. New York borders Massachusetts on the west.
Like neighboring Connecticut and Rhode Island, Massachusetts is a maritime state. In other words, it is bordered by the sea. The Atlantic Ocean contributed to Massachusetts’ early history as a great naval center.
One of Massachusetts’ most distinctive features is a curved arm that reaches into the sea. This arm is lined with sandy beaches known as Cape Cod National Seashore. The beaches along northeastern Massachusetts are rocky.
Inland, Massachusetts’ landscapes are quite varied. Much of the state is hilly and is covered with rocks, stones, or thin soils that support forests.
The Connecticut Valley, which runs north to south through western Massachusetts, is more level. It is about 100 miles long and ten to twenty-five miles wide at its widest. It is one of the state’s best known features. The Connecticut Valley actually consists of two different basins, the Hartford and Deerfield. Scientists aren’t sure if these basins were connected. During the Ice Age, glaciers changed the landscape. Today, the Connecticut River runs through what appears as one long, flat valley with some meandering hills.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
