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Delaware History, Geography, Population, State Facts

The First State

Great Seal of the State of Delaware

Adopted on January 17, 1777.

Delaware state seal was first adopted on January 17, 1777, and contains the coat of arms. It also bears the inscription around it "Great Seal of the State of Delaware" and the dates 1793, 1847, and 1907.

** - The Great Seal is provided here for educational purposes only. State law restricts reproduction of the Great Seal for other purposes.

Henry Hudson, sailing under the Dutch flag, is credited with Delaware's discovery in 1609. The following year, Capt. Samuel Argall of Virginia named Delaware for his colony's governor, Thomas West, Baron De La Warr. An attempted Dutch settlement failed in 1631. Swedish colonization began at Fort Christina (now Wilmington) in 1638, but New Sweden fell to Dutch forces led by New Netherlands' governor Peter Stuyvesant in 1655.

England took over the area in 1664, and it was transferred to William Penn as the lower Three Counties in 1682. Semiautonomous after 1704, Delaware fought as a separate state in the American Revolution and became the first state to ratify the Constitution in 1787.

During the Civil War, although a slave state, Delaware did not secede from the Union.

Delaware Photos

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Capital City: Dover

Delaware: State of Delaware Official Web Site

Admission to Statehood: Click for Date & List

Airports: Airports Map • Airport Links

Amtrak: Northeast

Area: 2489 sq.mi, 49th Land 1955 sq. mi., 49th Water 535 sq.mi., 40th Coastline 28 mi., 21st Shoreline 381mi., 21st

Area Codes: Delaware

Biographies: Famous People from Delaware

Bird: The Delaware state bird

Border States: Regional List • Maryland • New Jersey • Pennsylvania

Cam World: Live Web Cams

Climate: Delaware

Community Pages: Delaware Cities, Towns, communities List

Constitution: 1st State

County Profile: County Map 3 Counties

Courts: Judicial System

Current Events: Delaware News Headlines

Department Education | Certification | Delaware Colleges and Universities - An index of Delaware's Universities and Colleges.| Delaware State University - The former State College for Colored Students, now known as Delaware State University, was established May 15, 1891.| University of Delaware - Delaware's largest and oldest University, founded as a small private academy in 1743

Driving: DMV

Economy: Agriculture: Poultry, nursery stock, soybeans, dairy products, corn. Industry: Chemical products, food processing, paper products, rubber and plastic products, scientific instruments, printing and publishing.

Flag: Delaware (DE)

Flower: Peach Blossom Prunus persica

Cyndi's List • Historical Societies

Geographic Center: Kent, 11 miles south of Dover

Geology Maps: Delaware

Ghost Towns: Ghost Towns

Governor: Office of Governor

Highest Point: Ebright Azimuth; 442 feet, 49th

Highways: Delaware Highways

History: History Timeline • Historical • Civil War

Hotels, Motels & Inns:

Kids Corner: State of Delaware Kids Site