Portal:Connecticut

The Connecticut Portal

Connecticut (/kəˈnɛtɪkət/ ^ⓘ kə-NET-ih-kət) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Connecticut lies between the major hubs of New York City and Boston along the Northeast Corridor, where the New York metropolitan area, which includes four of Connecticut's seven largest cities, extends into the southwestern part of the state. Connecticut is the third-smallest state by area after Rhode Island and Delaware, and the 29th-most populous with more than 3.6 million residents as of 2024, ranking it fourth among the most densely populated U.S. states.

The state is named after the Connecticut River, the longest in New England, which roughly bisects the state and drains into the Long Island Sound between the towns of Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. The name of the river is in turn derived from anglicized spellings of Quinnetuket, a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river". Before the arrival of the first European settlers, the region was inhabited by various Algonquian tribes. In 1633, the Dutch West India Company established a small, short-lived settlement called House of Hope in Hartford. Half of Connecticut was initially claimed by the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the first major settlements were established by the English around the same time. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to form the Connecticut Colony, while other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony; both had merged into the first by 1664.

Connecticut's environmental history is shaped by Indigenous land stewardship, colonial displacement, industrial development, and modern environmental regulation. The Pequot and Mohegan peoples maintained sustainable relationships with the land prior to colonization, which were later disrupted by forced removal and legal restrictions on land and sovereignty. Industrial growth in the 19th and 20th centuries concentrated manufacturing along river systems, contributing to pollution and environmental inequality. In response, modern state and federal environmental policies have been developed to regulate pollution and protect natural resources. (Full article...)

Recognized content -

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

MGM studio publicity portrait, c. 1941

Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose career as a leading lady on stage and screen spanned six decades. Known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, she cultivated a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly played strong-willed, sophisticated women. She worked in a varied range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama. Her accolades include a record four Academy Awards for Best Actress, two British Academy Film Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards and eight Golden Globe Awards.

Raised in Connecticut by progressive parents, Hepburn began to act while at Bryn Mawr College. Favorable reviews of her work on Broadway brought her to the attention of Hollywood. Her early years in film brought her international fame, including an Academy Award for Best Actress for her third film, Morning Glory (1933), but this was followed by a series of commercial failures culminating in the critically lauded box office failure Bringing Up Baby (1938). (Full article...)

List of recognized articles

General images -

The following are images from various Connecticut-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Reservoir Road in Newtown. Few roads surpassed this quality in Connecticut until the mid-1800s. (from Transportation in Connecticut)
Image 2Winsted (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 3Milford (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 4New London (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 5A map showing Connecticut's land claims. (from History of Connecticut)
Image 6Middletown (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 7Bridgeport (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 8Police arrive at Sandy Hook Elementary, after the shooting (from History of Connecticut)
Image 9Pequot War of 1637 (from History of Connecticut)
Image 10Hartford (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 11School zones generally have a speed limit of 25 mph. (from Transportation in Connecticut)
Image 12Ansonia (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 13Bristol (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 14Norwalk (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 15Norwich (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 16The New Haven system (from History of Connecticut)
Image 171895 map from Rand McNally (from History of Connecticut)
Image 18Governor Jonathan Trumbull (from History of Connecticut)
Image 19Torrington (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 20Map showing the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies and the CT-NY dispute (from History of Connecticut)
Image 21Waterbury (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 22New Britain (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 23Derby (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 24West Haven (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 25Groton (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 26A map of Connecticut featuring highways and major routes alongside airports, buses, ferries, and railways. (from Transportation in Connecticut)
Image 27A 1942 advertisement for recreational lodging in Goshen stating that the facility is not a hotel and caters to Christian clientele specifically. (from History of Connecticut)
Image 28Shelton (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 29A map showing Connecticut's towns in 1770. (from History of Connecticut)
Image 30Meriden (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 31The Charter Oak in Hartford (from History of Connecticut)
Image 32Stamford (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 33New Haven (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)
Image 34The cover of the first timetable for Ridgefield to Branchville bus services (from Transportation in Connecticut)
Image 35Some bridges on the Merritt Parkway were constructed by workers paid by the US Works Progress Administration (from History of Connecticut)
Image 36A Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line train at Stamford. (from Transportation in Connecticut)
Image 37Danbury (from List of municipalities in Connecticut)

Selected picture -

One of the beaches on the west side of Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Connecticut

State facts

Nicknames: The Provisions State, The Land of Steady Habits, The Constitution State, The Nutmeg State
Capital: Hartford
Governor: Ned Lamont (D)
Lieutenant Governor: Susan Bysiewicz (D)
Secretary of State: Stephanie Thomas (D)
Attorney General: William Tong (D)

Senators: Chris Murphy (D), Richard Blumenthal (D)
Representatives: Jahana Hayes (D), Jim Himes (D), Joe Courtney (D), John B. Larson (D), Rosa DeLauro (D)

Total area: 5,543 mi²
- Land: 4,845 mi²
- Water: 698 mi²
Highest elevation: 2,379 ft (Mount Frissell)

Population 3,576,452 (2015 est)
Admission to the Union: January 9, 1788 (5^th)

State symbols:

Animal: Sperm whale
Bird: American Robin
Fish: American Shad
Flower: Mountain Laurel
Fossil: Dinosaur Track
Insect: European Praying Mantis
Ship: USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
Songs: Yankee Doodle
Tree: Charter Oak
Mineral: Almandine

Selected article -

Downtown

New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 134,023 at the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in Connecticut and the largest in the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, with the Greater New Haven metropolitan area having an estimated 577,000 residents.

New Haven was one of the first planned cities in the U.S. A year after its founding by English Puritans in 1638, eight streets were laid out in a three-by-three grid, creating the "Nine Square Plan". The central common block is the New Haven Green, a 16-acre (6 ha) square at the center of Downtown New Haven. The Green is now a National Historic Landmark, and the "Nine Square Plan" is recognized by the American Planning Association as a National Planning Landmark. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know? -

... that the Hotel Marcel has been called both Connecticut's ugliest building and one of New England's best hotels?
... that more than 90 percent of Connecticut voters in 1876 agreed to repeal the requirement of being white to vote?
... that the Connecticut studio of the sculptor of Mount Rushmore featured a massive stone fireplace that could hold logs up to 10 feet (3.0 m) in length?
... that a Connecticut TV station offered $100 to the first viewer who called in, twenty times—but nobody called?
... that the Saybrook Colony was sold to Connecticut for an annual payment of 180 pounds of equal quantities of wheat, peas, and either rye or barley?
... that televangelist Gene Scott went 65 hours without sleep when he barricaded himself in the studios of his Connecticut TV station to protest an order to pay taxes?

Connecticut News

July 17, 2026 – Wildfires in 2026: The U.S. state of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection deploys firefighters to assist with wildfire efforts in Quebec, Canada. (CT.Gov) (WVIT)

Related WikiProjects

WikiProject Connecticut • WikiProject Connecticut routes • WikiProject UCONN

Selected panorama

The former Providence & Worcester railroad bridge between Middletown and Portland, Connecticut

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State of Connecticut
Hartford (capital)
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