Vermont

Vermont is a  in the  region of the. The state ranks 45th by total area, and 43rd by land area at 9,250 square miles, and has a population of 608,827, making it the second least populous state (second only to ). The only New England state with no coastline along the, Vermont is notable for the in the west and  in the northwest. It is bordered by to the south,  to the east,  to the west, and the  of  to the north.

Originally inhabited by tribes (, and ), the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by  but became a British possession after France's defeat in the. For many years, control of the area was disputed by the surrounding, notably between and. Settlers who held land titles granted by these colonies were opposed by the militia, which eventually prevailed in creating an independent state. Vermont became the 14th state to join the United States, following a 14-year period during and after the as the independent.

It is the leading producer of in the United States. The state capital is, and the largest city is.

Geography
Vermont is located in the New England region in the eastern United States and comprises 9,614 square miles (24,902 km²), making it the 45th largest state. Of this, land comprises 9,250 square miles (23,955 km²) and water comprises 365 square miles (948 km²), making it the 43rd largest in land area and the 47th in water area. In area, it is larger than and smaller than.

The west bank of the marks the eastern border of the state with New Hampshire (the river itself is part of New Hampshire). , the major lake in Vermont, is the sixth-largest body of fresh water in the United States and separates Vermont from New York in the northwest portion of the state. From north to south, Vermont is 159 miles (256 km). Its greatest width, from east to west, is 89 miles (143 km) at the Canadian border; the narrowest width is 37 miles (60 km) at the Massachusetts line. The state's is, three miles (5 km) east of.

There are six distinct physiographic regions of Vermont. Categorized by geological and physical attributes, they are the Northeastern Highlands, the Green Mountains, the Taconic Mountains, the Champlain Lowlands, the Valley of Vermont and the Vermont Piedmont.

The origin of the name Green Mountains (: Verts monts) is uncertain. Some authorities say that they are so named because they have much more than the higher White Mountains of New Hampshire and Adirondacks of New York. Other authorities say that they are so named because of the predominance of --, a green-hued metamorphosed shale. The range forms a north-south spine running most of the length of the state, slightly west of its center. In the southwest portion of the state are the ; the Granitic Mountains are in the northeast. In the northwest near Lake Champlain is the fertile. In the south of the valley is.

Several mountains have timberlines:, the highest mountain in the state, as well as are examples. About 77 percent of the state is covered by forest; the rest is covered in meadow, uplands, lakes, ponds and swampy wetlands.

Areas in Vermont administered by the include the  and the  in.

Cities in Vermont
(2003 estimated population):
 * - 39,148
 * - 17,103
 * - 16,285
 * - 9,166
 * - 7,945
 * - 7,565
 * - 6,561
 * - 5, 092
 * - 2,789

Largest towns in Vermont
Although these are large enough to be considered cities, they are not incorporated as such. Largest Towns (2003 est.)


 * , 18,933
 * , 17,175
 * , 15,637
 * , 11,996
 * , 10,610
 * , 9,924

Climate
Vermont has a continental moist climate, with warm, humid summers and cold winters, which become colder at higher elevations. It has a of Dfb, similar to Minsk, Stockholm and Fargo. Vermont is known for its in spring followed by a generally mild early summer, hot Augusts and a colorful autumn, and particularly for its cold winters. The northern part of the state, including the rural northeastern section (dubbed the "") is known for exceptionally cold winters, often averaging 10 ° (6 °) colder than the southern areas of the state. Annual fall averages between 60 to 100 inches (150–250 cm) depending on elevation, giving Vermont some of New England's best cross-country and downhill.

In the autumn, Vermont's hills experience an explosion of red, orange and gold foliage displayed on the as cold weather approaches. This famous display of color that occurs so abundantly in Vermont is not due so much to the presence of a particular variant of the sugar maple; rather it is caused by a number of soil and climate conditions unique to the area.

The highest-recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C), at on, ; the lowest-recorded temperature was -50 °F (-46 °C), at  on ,.

Prehistory and Precolumbian
Vermont was covered with shallow seas periodically from the Cambrian to Devonian periods. Most of the sedimentary rocks laid down in these seas were deformed by mountain-building. Fossils, however, are common in the Lake Champlain region. Lower areas of western Vermont were flooded again, as part of the St. Lawrence Valley "" at the end of the last ice age, when the land had not yet rebounded from the weight of the glaciers. Shells of salt-water mollusks, along with the bones of beluga whales, have been found in the Lake Champlain region.

Little is known of the history of Vermont. The western part of the state was originally home to a small population of -speaking tribes, including the and  peoples. Between 8500 to 7000 BC, at the time of the Champlain Sea, inhabited and hunted in Vermont. From 8th century BC to 1000 BC was the Archaic Period. During the era, Native Americans migrated year-round. From 1000 BC to AD 1600 was the Woodland Period, when villages and trade networks were established, and ceramic and technology was developed. Sometime between 1500 and 1600, the drove many of the smaller native tribes out of Vermont, later using the area as a  ground and warring with the remaining Abenaki. The population in 1500 is estimated to be around 10,000 people.

Colonial
The first an to see Vermont is thought to have been, in 1535. On, ,  claimed the area of what is now , giving to the mountains the appellation of les Vert Monts (the Green Mountains). France claimed Vermont as part of, and erected on  in 1666 as part of the  of Lake Champlain. This was the first European settlement in Vermont and the site of the first.

During the latter half of the 17th century, non-French settlers began to explore Vermont and its surrounding area. In 1690, a group of -British settlers from under Captain Jacobus de Warm established the De Warm Stockade at  (eight miles or 13 km west of present-day ). This settlement and trading post was directly across Lake Champlain from, (Pointe à la Chevelure).

In 1731, more French settlers arrived. They constructed a small temporary wooden stockade on what was Chimney Point until work on  began in 1734. The fort, when completed, gave the French control of the New France/Vermont border region in the Lake Champlain Valley and was the only permanent fort in the area until the building of Fort Carillon more than 20 years later. The government encouraged French colonization, leading to the development of small French settlements in the valley. The British attempted to take the Fort St. Frédéric four times between 1755 and 1758; in 1759, a combined force of 12,000 British regular and provincial troops under Sir captured the fort. The French were driven out of the area and retreated to other forts along the. One year later a group of burnt the settlement to the ground, leaving only chimneys, which gave the area its name.

The first permanent British settlement was established in 1724, with the construction of in Vermont's far southeast under the command of  Timothy Dwight. This fort protected the nearby settlements of and. These settlements were made by the to protect its settlers on the western border along the. The second British settlement was the 1761 founding of in the southwest.

During the, locally known as the , some Vermont settlers, including , joined the colonial militia assisting the British in attacks on the French. on the -Vermont border, a French fort constructed in 1755, was the site of two British offensives under Lord Amherst's command: the and the  with no major resistance (most of the garrison had been removed to defend, , and the western forts). The British renamed the fort (which became the site of two later battles during the ). Following France's loss in the, the gave control of the land to the British.

The end of the war brought new settlers to Vermont. A fort at had been built, and the Crown Point Military Road stretched from the east to the west of the Vermont wilderness from  to Chimney Point, making travel from the neighboring  easier. Three colonies laid claim to the area. The Province of Massachusetts Bay claimed the land on the basis of the 1629 charter of the. The claimed Vermont based on the early Dutch Charter to the West India Company for lands west of the, and the identical land granted to the Duke of York (later ) in 1664. The also claimed Vermont based upon a decree of  in 1740. In 1741, George II ruled that Massachusetts's claims in Vermont and New Hampshire were invalid and fixed Massachusetts's northern boundary at its present location. This still left New Hampshire and New York with conflicting claims to the land.

The situation resulted in the, a series of 135 s made between 1749 and 1764 by New Hampshire's colonial governor,. The grants sparked a dispute with the New York governor, who began granting charters of his own for New Yorker settlement in Vermont. In 1770, Ethan Allen&mdash;along with his brothers and Levi, as well as Seth Warner&mdash;recruited an informal militia, the, to protect the interests of the original New Hampshire settlers against the new migrants from New York. When a New York judge arrived in with New York settlers in March 1775, violence broke out as angry citizens took over the  and called a sheriff's posse. This resulted in the deaths of Daniel Houghton and William French in the "Westminster Massacre."

Independence, the Vermont Republic, and Statehood
On, , representatives of the New Hampshire Grants convened in Westminster and declared the independence of the. For the first six months of the republic's existence, the republic was called.

On, a second convention of 72 delegates met at Westminster, known as the "Westminster Convention." At this meeting, the delegates adopted the name "Vermont" on the suggestion of Dr. Thomas Young of, a supporter of the delegates who wrote a letter advising them on how to achieve admission into the newly independent United States as the 14th state. The delegates set the time for a meeting one month later. On, the was drafted during a violent thunderstorm at the  owned by Elijah West and was adopted by the delegates on  after four days of debate. This was among the first written constitutions in and was indisputably the first to abolish the institution of slavery, provide for universal manhood suffrage and require support of public schools. The Windsor tavern has been preserved as the, administered as a.

The, fought on , , was a seminal event in the history of the state of Vermont. The nascent republican government, created after years of political turmoil, faced challenges from New York, New Hampshire, Great Britain and the new United States, none of which recognized its sovereignty. The republic's ability to defeat a powerful military invader gave it a legitimacy among its scattered frontier society that would sustain it through fourteen years of fragile independence before it finally achieved statehood as the 14th state in the union in 1791.

During the summer of 1777, the invading British army of General slashed southward from Canada to the Hudson River, captured the strategic stronghold of Fort Ticonderoga, and drove the Continental Army into a desperate southward retreat. Raiding parties of British soldiers and native warriors freely attacked, pillaged and burned the frontier communities of the Champlain Valley and threatened all settlements to the south. The Vermont frontier collapsed in the face of the British invasion. The New Hampshire legislature, fearing an invasion from the east, mobilized the state's militia under the command of General.

General Burgoyne received intelligence that large stores of horses, food and munitions were kept at Bennington, which was the largest community in the land grant area. He dispatched 2,600 men, nearly a third of his army, to seize the colonial storehouse there, unaware that General Stark's New Hampshire troops were then traversing the Green Mountains to join up at Bennington with the Vermont continental regiments commanded by Colonel Seth Warner, together with the local Vermont and western Massachusetts militia. The combined American forces, under Stark's command, attacked the British column at, just across the border from Bennington. General Stark reportedly challenged his men to fight to the death, telling them that: "There are your enemies. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" In a desperate, all-day battle fought in intense summer heat, the army of farmers killed or captured virtually the entire British detachment. General Burgoyne never recovered from this loss and eventually surrendered the remainder of his 6,000-man force at, on.

The Battles of and  are recognized as the turning point in the Revolutionary War because they were the first major defeat of a British army and convinced the French that the Americans were worthy of military aid. Stark became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington", and the anniversary of the battle is still celebrated in Vermont as a legal holiday known as "Bennington Battle Day." Under the portico of the Vermont Statehouse, next to an heroic granite statue of Ethan Allen, there is a brass cannon that was captured from the British troops at the Battle of Bennington.

Vermont continued to govern itself as a sovereign entity based in the eastern town of Windsor for fourteen years. The Vermont Republic issued its own currency, coins and operated a statewide postal service. , who came to Vermont from in 1774, acted as head of state, using the term governor over president. Chittenden governed the nascent republic from 1778 to 1789 and from 1790 to 1791. Chittenden exchanged ambassadors with France, the Netherlands, and the American government then at Philadelphia. In 1791, Vermont joined the federal Union as the fourteenth state–the first state to enter the union after the original thirteen colonies, and a counterweight to slave holding, which was admitted to the Union shortly afterward.



Vermont had a legislature until 1836.

An 1854 report on slavery echoed the Vermont Constitution's first article, on the rights of all men, questioning how a government could favor the rights of one people over another. The report fueled growth of the abolition movement in the state, and in response, a resolution from the Georgia General Assembly authorizing the towing of Vermont out to sea. The mid to late 1850s saw a transition from Vermonters mostly favoring slavery's containment, to a far more serious opposition to the institution, producing the and. As the Whig party shriveled, and the emerged, Vermont strongly trended in support of its candidates, first on the state level and later for the presidency. In 1860 it voted for, giving him the largest margin of victory of any state. This strong lean toward the Republican Party has continued until very recently as evidenced by only electing 2 senators from other parties since the civil war ( from the and, an independent).

The Civil War
During the, Vermont sent more than 34,000 men into United States service, contributing 18 regiments of and , 3 batteries of light , 3 companies of , 2 companies of , and thousands in the regular army and navy, and in other states’ units. Almost 5,200 Vermonters, 15%, were killed or mortally wounded in action or died of disease. Vermonters, if not Vermont units, participated in every major battle of the war.

Among the most famous of the Vermont units were the, the , and the.

A large proportion of Vermont’s state and national-level politicians for several decades after the Civil War were veterans.

The northernmost land action of the war, the, took place in Vermont.

Postbellum era and beyond
The two decades following the end of the American Civil War (1864-1885) saw both economic expansion and contraction, and fairly dramatic social change. Vermont's system of railroads expanded and were linked to national systems, agricultural output and export soared and incomes increased. But Vermont also felt the effects of recessions and financial panics, particularly the which resulted in a substantial exodus of young Vermonters. The transition in thinking about the rights of citizens, first brought to a head by the 1854 Vermont Senate report on slavery, and later Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in changing how citizens perceived civil rights, fueled agitation for women's suffrage. The first election in which women were allowed to vote was on, , when women were granted limited and were first allowed to vote in town elections, and then in state legislative races.

Large-scale occurred in early November 1927. During this incident, 85 people died, 84 of them in Vermont. Another flood occurred in 1973, when the flood caused the death of two people and millions of dollars in property damage.

On, , as a result of the 's decision in , the passed and Governor  signed into law H.0847, which provided the state sanctioned benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples in the form of. Controversy over the civil unions bill was a central issue in the subsequent 2000 elections.

Population
The of Vermont is located in, in the town of.

According to the, as of 2005, Vermont has an estimated population of 623,050, which is an increase of 1,817, or 0.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 14,223, or 2.3%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 7,148 people (that is 33,606 births minus 26,458 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 7,889 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 4,359 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 3,530 people.

Race and gender
Vermont's population is:
 * 51.0%
 * 49.0%

Among the 50 states and the, Vermont ranks:
 * 2nd in its proportion of
 * 2nd oldest median age
 * 41st in its proportion of
 * 49th in its proportion of
 * 48th in its proportion of
 * 29th in its proportion of s
 * 39th in its proportion of people of
 * 28th in its proportion of
 * 24th in its proportion of

Ethnicity and language
The largest ancestry groups are:


 * 23.3%
 * 18.4%
 * 16.4%
 * 9.1%
 * 8.3% American
 * 6.4%
 * 4.6%
 * 0.4%

Residents of British ancestry (especially English) live throughout most of Vermont. The northern part of the state maintains a significant percentage of people of French-Canadian ancestry.

In the last two decades, the Burlington area has welcomed the resettlement of several refugee communities. These include individuals and families from South East Asia, Bosnia, Sudan, and Tibet. These communities have grown to include non-refugees and in some cases are several generations in the making.

According to the, 2.54% of the population aged 5 and over speak at home, while 1.00% speak.

Religion
Like many of its neighboring states, Vermont's largest religious affiliation in the colonial period was. In 1776, 63% of affiliated church members in Vermont were Congregationalists. At the time, however, most settlers were not church members because much of the land was wilderness. Only 9% of people belonged to a church at the time. The Congregational remains the largest Protestant denomination and Vermont has the largest percentage of this denomination of any state.

Today more than two-thirds of Vermont residents identify themselves as. The largest single religious body in the state is the. A Catholic Church survey in 1990 reported that 25% of Vermonters were members of the Catholic Church, although more than that self-identify as Catholics.

Over one-fifth of Vermonters identify themselves as non-religious, tying Vermont with Oregon as having the second-highest percentage of non-religious people in the United States. Only Washington State has a higher percentage.

Twenty-four percent of Vermonters attend church regularly. This low is matched only by New Hampshire.

Almost one-third of Vermonters are self-identified. The largest Protestant denomination in the state is the United Church of Christ, and the second largest is the, followed by , "other" Christians, and.

and &mdash;the first two leaders of &mdash;were both born in Vermont. Adherents to the Mormon faith, however, do not make up a single percentage point of Vermont's population. A memorial to Joseph Smith, at his birthplace in Sharon, is maintained by the LDS.

The state has 5,000 people of ish faith - 3000 in Burlington and 500 each in Montpelier-Barre and Rutland&mdash;and four and two  congregations.

Vermont has the highest concentration of western-convert Buddhists in the country. It is home to several Buddhist retreat centers.

Economy
In 2007, Vermont was ranked 32nd among states in which to do business. It was 30th last year.

According to the 2005 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, Vermont’s (GSP) was $23 billion. This places the state 50th among the 50 states. It stood 38th in per capita GSP. The per capita personal income was $32,770 in 2004.

Components of GSP were:


 * Government - $3,083 million (13.4%)
 * Real Estate, Rental and Leasing - $2,667 million (11.6%)
 * Durable goods manufacturing - $2,210 million (9.6%)
 * Health Care and Social Assistance - $2,170 million (9.4%)
 * Retail trade - $1,934 million (8.4%)
 * Finance and Insurance - $1,369 million (5.9%)
 * Professional and technical services - $1,276 million (5.5%)
 * Construction - $1,258 million (5.5%)
 * Wholesale trade - $1,175 million (5.1%)
 * Accommodations and Food Services - $1,035 million (4.5%)
 * Information - $958 million (4.2%)
 * Non-durable goods manufacturing - $711 million (3.1%)
 * Other Services - $563 million (2.4%)
 * Utilities - $553 million (2.4%)
 * Transportation and Warehousing - $484 million (2.1%)
 * Educational Services - $478 million (2.1%)
 * Administrative and Waste Services - $436 million (1.9%)
 * Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting - $375 million (1.6%)
 * Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation - $194 million (.8%)
 * Mining - $100 million (.4%)
 * Management of Companies - $35 million (.2%)

Agriculture
Agriculture contributes $2.6 billion, about 12%, directly and indirectly to the states economy.

Over the past two centuries, Vermont has had both population explosions and population busts. First settled by farmers, loggers and hunters, Vermont lost much of its population as farmers moved west into the in search of abundant, easily tilled land. Logging similarly fell off as over-cutting and the exploitation of other forests made Vermont's forest less attractive. Although these population shifts devastated Vermont's economy, the early loss of population had the beneficial effect of allowing Vermont's land and forest to recover. The accompanying lack of industry has allowed Vermont to avoid many of the ill-effects of 20th century industrial busts, effects that still plague neighboring states. Today, most of Vermont's forests consist of second-growth.

Of the remaining industries, is the primary source of agricultural income.

In recent years, Vermont has been deluged with plans to build and houses on what was relatively inexpensive, untouched land. Vermont's government has responded with a series of laws controlling development and with some pioneering initiatives to prevent the loss of Vermont's dairy industry.

In 1947 there were 11,206 dairy farms in the state. In 2003 there are fewer than 1,500, a decline of 80%. The number of cattle had declined by 40%. However, milk production had doubled in the same period due to tripling the production per cow.

An important and growing part of Vermont's economy is the manufacture and sale of artisan foods, fancy foods, and novelty items trading in part upon the Vermont "brand" which the state

manages and defends. Examples of these specialty exports include, the , , Vermont Butter and Cheese Company, several micro breweries, ginseng growers, , , , and.

In 2001, Vermont produced 275,000 US gallons (1,040,000 L) of maple syrup, about one-quarter of U.S. production. For 2005 that number was 410,000 accounting for 37% of national production.

In 2000, only 3% of the state's working population was still engaged in agriculture.

Wine industry started in Vermont in 1985. There are 14 wineries today.

Manufacturing
, in Essex Junction, is Vermont's largest for-profit employer. It provides 25% of all manufacturing jobs in Vermont. It is responsible for $1 billion of the state's annual economy.

Housing
Vermont is the 17th highest state in the nation for mortgage affordability. However, in 41 other states, inhabitants contributed within plus or minus 4% of Vermont's 18.4% of household income to a mortgage.

Labor
As of 2006, there were 305,000 workers in Vermont. 11% of these are unionized. A 2007 survey claimed that Vermonters were the least satisfied with their job in the whole nation and were the most likely to be making plans to leave.

Insurance
plays an increasingly large role in Vermont's economy. With this form of alternative insurance, large corporations or industry associations form standalone insurance companies to insure their own risks, thereby substantially reducing their insurance premiums and gaining a significant measure of control over types of risks to be covered. There are also significant tax advantages to be gained from the formation and operation of captive insurance companies. According to the Insurance Information Institute, Vermont in 2004 was the world's third-largest domicile for captive insurance companies, following and the.

Tourism
Tourism is the state's largest industry. In winter, the ski resorts, , , , , , , and  host skiers from around the globe, although their largest markets are the Boston, Montreal and New York metropolitan areas. In the summer, resort towns like, , and host visitors. Resorts, hotels, restaurants, and shops, designed to attract tourists, employ people year-round.

Summer camps contribute to Vermont's tourist economy. fishing, lake fishing, and draw outdoor enthusiasts to the state, as does the hiking on the. In winter, nordic and backcountry skiers visit to travel the length of the state on the. Several s are annual events. Vermont's state parks, historic sites, museums, golf courses, and new boutique hotels with spas were designed to attract tourists.

Quarrying
The towns of and  are the traditional centers of marble and granite quarrying and carving in the U.S. For many years Vermont was also the headquarters of the smallest union in the U.S., the Stonecutters Association, of about 500 members. Up the western side of the state runs the "Marble Valley" joining up with the "Slate Valley" that runs from just inside New York across from Chimney Point until it meets the "Granite Valley" that runs south past Rutland, home of the Rock of Ages quarry, the largest granite quarry in America. Vermont is the largest producer of slate in the country. Production of dimension stone is the greatest producer of revenues by quarrying.

Taxes
Vermont stands 14th highest out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for state and local taxation, with a per capita load of $3,681. The national average is $3,447. However, CNNMoney ranked Vermont highest in the nation based on the percentage of per capita income. The rankings showed Vermont had a per capita tax load of $5,387, 14.1% of the per capita income of $38,306.

Vermont collects personal in a progressive structure of five different income brackets, ranging from 3.6% to 9.5%.

Vermont's general rate is 6%, which is imposed on sales of tangible personal property, amusement charges, fabrication charges, some public utility charges and some service contracts (some towns impose an additional 1% Local Option Tax). There are 46 exemptions from the tax which include medical items, food, manufacturing machinery, equipment and fuel, residential fuel and electricity, clothing, and shoes. A is imposed on the buyer at the same rate as the sales tax. The buyer pays the use tax when the sellers fails to collect the sales tax or the items are purchased from a source where no tax is collected. The use tax applies to items taxable under the sales tax. es are imposed for the support of education and municipal services.

Vermont does not assess tax on. Vermont does not collect ; however, its is decoupled from the federal estate tax laws and therefore the state still imposes its own estate tax.

Government Finances
Vermont is the only state in the union not to have a balanced budget requirement. In 2007, Moody's Investors Service gave its top rating of Aaa to the state.

Transportation
Vermont's main mode of travel is by automobile. Individual communities and counties have public transit, but their breadth of coverage is frequently limited. services a number of small towns. Two trains serve Vermont. The serves Rutland and Fair Haven, while the  serves Saint Albans, Essex Junction, Waterbury, Montpelier, Randolph, White River Junction, Windsor, Bellows Falls and Brattleboro.

For a more detailed explanation see a.

Major Routes

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A 2005-6 study ranks Vermont 37th out of the states for "cost-effective road maintenance." The state fell 13 places in the rankings since 2004-5. The study notes that states heading the list have good roads on a thin budget.

Federal data indicates that 16% of Vermont's 2,691 bridges had been rated structurally deficient by the state in 2006.

Local community public and private transportation

 * Addison County has the ACTR (Addison County Transit Resources) out of Middlebury, also serving Bristol and Vergennes.
 * Bennington County features the GME (American Red Cross Green Mountain Express) out of Bennington and the YT (Yankee Trails) running out of Rensselaer, New York.
 * The RCT (Rural Community Transportation) runs out of Saint Johnsbury and services Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille and Orleans Counties.
 * Burlington (home of the ) has CCTA (Chittenden County Transportation Authority) and CATS (University of Vermont Campus Area Transportation System).
 * Colchester in Chittenden County is serviced by the SSTA (Special Services Transportation Agency).
 * The Network (Northwest Vermont Public Transit Network, NVPT) running out of Saint Albans, services Franklin and Grand Isle Counties.
 * Stowe, in Lamoille county, is serviced by STS (Stowe Trolley System, Village Mountain Shuttle, Morrisville Shuttle).
 * STS (Stagecoach Transportation Services) out of Randolph in Orange County also serves parts of Windsor County.
 * Rutland County has the Bus (Marble Valley Regional Transit District, MVRTD) out of Rutland.
 * In Washington county the GMTA (Green Mountain Transit Authority) runs out of the capital city, Montpelier.
 * Brattleboro in Windham county is served by the BeeLine (Brattleboro Town Bus). Windham is served, out of West Dover, by the MOOver (Deerfield Valley Transit Association, DVTA).
 * Ludlow (in Windsor County) is served by the LMTS (Ludlow Municipal Transit System). Windsor is also served by Advanced Transit (AT) out of Wilder and the CRT (Connecticut River Transit) out of Springfield, which also serves parts of Windham County.
 * There is ferry service to New York State from Burlington, Charlotte, Grand Isle, and Shoreham. All but the Shoreham ferry are operated by the.

Airports
Vermont is served by two commercial airports:
 * is the largest in the state, with regular flights to, , , , , , , , , and.
 * has regular flights to and Boston.

Media
See.

Utilities and Communication

 * Broadband coverage as of 2006
 * Total Coverage = 87%
 * Cable = 68%
 * DSL = 69%
 * Wireless Internet Service Provider = 24%

(Above percentages are of population, not of land area.)

Cell phone coverage in the state, generally, outside of the major metropolitan areas is weak due to interference from mountains, the attempt to serve a small rural population living in a large area rendering investment in improvements uneconomical, and environmentalists opposition to towers. , focusing on rural areas, has better coverage.

In May 2007, Vermont passed measures intended to make Broadband ( 3mbits minimum ) together with Cellular coverage Universally available to all citizens with the intention of having the first e-State in the Union by 2010. A Synopsis of The Extent of this measure

The Constitution of the State of Vermont
Provision is made for the following "frame of government" under the Constitution of the State of Vermont: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. All members of the executive and legislative branch serve two-year terms including the governor and senators. There are no s for any office.

Executive branch
The current governor of Vermont is, who assumed office in 2003. The offices of the are located at  in, the state capital.

Vermonters elect a state and  on separate tickets. For example, when Republican Governor died in office in 1991, the Democratic Lieutenant Governor  succeeded him for the remainder of that term. In addition to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Vermonters elect four other officials on a statewide ballot: Secretary of State, State Treasurer,, and.

Local government
There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont, towns, cities and villages. As in the other New England states, towns are the basic unit of municipal government. Cities are independent of and equivalent to towns. Villages are included in towns but assume responsibility for some municipal services within their boundaries, usually water, sewage and sometimes local roads. Incorporated villages are not found in any of the other New England states.

Like most of New England, there is slight provision for autonomous county government. Counties and county seats are merely convenient repositories for various government services such as County and State Courts, with several elected officers such as a State's Attorney and Sheriff. All county services are directly funded by the State of Vermont.

Legislative branch
Vermont's is the, a  composed of the  (the ) and the  (the ) meet at the. The Senate is composed of 30 state senators, while the House of Representatives has 150 members.

Judicial branch
The is the state, made up of five justices who serve six year terms. s in the state are made up of eight judges serving a term of six years. Appointments to the state supreme court, superior court, and s are made by the governor, from a list of names submitted by the state's and then are confirmed by the Senate. At the end of each six year term, the General Assembly votes by (each member, senator or representative, getting one vote) on whether to retain the judge or justice (known as a ). Judges on lower courts are elected on a partisan ballot. The spells out the process of judicial appointment and retention in Chapter 2, Sections 32 through 35, 50 and 51.

Vermont is one of twelve states that have no statute. After 1930, there were four executions, the last two being in 1954. Capital punishment was effectively abolished in practice in 1964, with the statutes being completely removed in 1987. State law allows children as young as ten years to be tried as adults, the lowest age limit currently specified by any of the 50 states. The Vermont prison system is administered by Vermont Department of Corrections. There are about 2,200 inmates as of May 2007. There are nine prisons in Vermont:
 * Caledonia Community Work Camp
 * Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility
 * Dale Women's Facility
 * Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility
 * , Newport
 * Northwest State Correctional Facility
 * Southeast State Correctional Facility
 * Southern State Correctional Facility
 * St. Johnsbury Regional Correctional Facility
 * Windsor Women's Correctional Facility

An unusual feature of Vermont Courts are two side Side Judges for county courts, who are elected as officers of the court and participate in non-legal decisions by the court, such as guilt or innocence or voting in tort cases. In addition to their judicial duties, the two Side Judges serve as administrators of the County government. They appoint the County clerk, Treasurer and Auditor, County Road commissioners, Notaries Public and care for the County Court House plus care and maintenance of any other county-owned property.

Civil rights and liberties
The Vermont Constitution outlines and guarantees broad rights for its citizens. Even in the eighteenth century it was seen as being among the most far-reaching in the new world and in Europe, and it predated the by a dozen years. The Constitution's first chapter, "Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of The State of Vermont" prohibits slavery, indentured servitude, and allowed for universal suffrage for men, regardless of property ownership. The Declaration of Rights set in place broad protections of religious freedom and conscience while erecting a strong firewall between church and state by prohibiting establishment or promotion of any faith by the government or compulsion to worship. The "Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of The State of Vermont" is believed to have been a model for France's Déclaration universelle sur des droits de l'homme (Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man).

Federal legislative representation
Vermont is represented in the  by, a , and , an independent, caucusing with the Democrats. Vermont made history with Sanders's election as the first to be elected to the Senate. Sanders has served as Vermont's sole US Representative from 1991-2007 and also served as mayor of (Vermont's largest city) from 1981-1988. In the, Vermont's single is represented by , a Democrat. Among Vermont's distinguished public servants, U.S. Senator (R) gained national prominence as an early critic of Senator. Upon his departure from the Republican Party, Senator Jeffords cited the late Senator Prouty, a member of Vermont's most prominent political family, for the latter's legendary spirit of independence. (R), who served as senator from 1941 until 1975, was equally prominent; he is perhaps best known for his proposal that the United States declare victory in Vietnam and leave.

Statutory
The in Vermont is 16.

Vermont is one of only two states in the Union to allow any adult to without any sort of permit.

Vermont is one of four states (along with Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine) to have prohibited all billboards from view of highway rights-of-way by law, except for signs on the contiguous property of the business location.

Public nudity is legal in Vermont, though not disrobing in public.

Vermont is an. Beer and wine may be sold in local grocery stores unless the town in which it is located has voted "dry" at their town meeting. Only state licensed establishments may sell stronger alcoholic beverages in bottles. The quantity of these stores is limited. Prices are set by the state. The state directly controls the licensing of establishments that sell alcoholic beverages by the drink.

Medical
As a result of statutory benefits like, Vermont, with 9.5% of the population with no medical , has the second best coverage in the country, as of 2004.

Political
Vermonters are known for their political independence. Vermont is one of the few states that was an independent. It has sometimes voted contrarian in national elections. Notably, Vermont is the only state to have voted for a presidential candidate from the, and Vermont and were the only states to vote against  in his second election.

Vermont's unique history and history of independent political thought has led to movements for the establishment of the and other plans advocating. In 2007, about 13% of Vermont's population supported Vermont's withdrawal from the Republic. This is almost double the amount from 2005, which was 8%.

The Vermont government maintains a proactive stance regarding the environment, social services, and prevention of. Legislators have recently tended to vote liberal on social issues, and moderate to conservative on fiscal issues.

Republicans dominated Vermont politics from the party's founding in 1854 until the mid-1970s. Prior to the 1960s, rural interests dominated the legislature. As a result, cities, particularly the older sections of Burlington and Winooski, were neglected and fell into decay. People began to move out to newer suburbs.

In the meantime, many people had moved in from out of state. Much of this immigration included the arrival of more liberal political influences of the urban areas of New York and New England in Vermont.

After the legislature was redistricted under one-person, one-vote, it passed legislation to accommodate these new arrivals. This legislation was the Land Use and Development Law in 1970. The law, which was the first of its kind in the nation, created nine District Environmental Commissions consisting of private citizens, appointed by the Governor, who must approve land development and subdivision plans that would have a significant impact on the state's environment and many small communities.

As a result of Act 250, Vermont was the last state to get a Wal-Mart (there are four, as of December 2006, but only one was a newly-built big box), is currently the only state without a Lowe's or Target (as of September 2007), and it remains the only state without a McDonald's restaurant or big box store within the city limits of the capital. After several years of debates and deliberation, a Lowe's is currently being constructed, and will open on in South Burlington in,.

Another case involves the recent controversy over the adoption of s, an institution which grants same-sex couples nearly all the rights and privileges of. In  (1999), the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that, under the, the state must either allow or provide a  status for them. The state legislature chose the second option by creating the institution of ; the bill was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor.

Vermont is the home state of the only current member of the United States Congress who does not associate with a political party:.

In the early 1960s many Vermont Republicans and newcomers to the state helped bolster the state's small Democratic Party. Until 1992, Vermont had supported a Democrat for president only once since the party's founding&mdash;in 's 1964 landslide victory against. In 1992, it supported Democrat for president and has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since. Vermont gave John Kerry his fourth-largest margin of victory in 2004. He won the state's popular vote by 20 percentage points over incumbent, taking almost 59% of the vote. in the state's northeastern section was the only county to vote for Bush.

On the other hand, Republican Governor Douglas won all counties but Windham in the 2006 election. Vermonters are frequent ticket-splitters.

In 2007, when confronted with an allegedly liberal issue, assisted suicide for the terminally ill, the Democratically controlled House of Representatives rejected the measure by a vote of 82-63.

Minor parties flourish. Rules which eliminate smaller parties from the ballot in most states do not exist in Vermont. As a result, voters often have extensive choices for general elections.

A political issue has been Act 60, which balances taxation for education funding. This has resulted in the town of trying to secede from Vermont and join  due to what the locals say is an unfair tax burden.

A movement favors separating Vermont from the U.S. or making it the 11th province of Canada. Some suggest the state should join Canada due to its liberal policies as opposed to remaining with the U.S.

Taxation
Property taxes are levied by towns based on fair market appraisal. Rates vary from .97% on homesteaded property in Ferdinand, Essex County, to 2.72% on nonresidents property in Barre City. Statewide towns average 1.77% to 1.82% tax rate. To equitably support education, some towns are required by to send some of their collected taxes to be redistributed to school districts lacking adequate support.

State Lotteries
Money from state lotteries supply 2% of the annual expenditures for education.

Town Government
Like most of New England, Vermont has a weak, nearly non-existent, county government. The next effective governmental level below state government are municipalities. Most of these are towns.

Public Health and Safety
Vermont was ranked number two in the nation for safety. Crime statistics on violence were used for the criteria.

In 2007 Vermont was ranked number one in the nation as the healthiest place to live for the sixth time in seven years. Criteria included low teenage birth rate, strong health coverage, the lowest AIDS rate in the country, and 18 other factors. In 2007, Vermont was ranked among the best five states in the country for preventing "premature death" in people under 75 years of age. The rate of survival was twice that of the five lowest performing states.

In 2007, Vermont was ranked the third safest state for highway fatalities.

In 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency cited Chittenden and Bennington as counties with 70 parts of smog per billion which is undesirable.

Education
Vermont was named the nation's smartest state in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, there was a gap between state testing standards and national which is biased in favor of the state standards by 30%, on average. This puts Vermont 11th best in the nation. Most states have a higher bias.

The state authorized two more pre-K grades to the school system for the benefit of three and four year olds. Entry to these two grades is capped.

According to one study, enrolment in kindergarten through 12th grade has declined by nearly 10 percent during the 1990s. During the same period total staff numbers have increased by more than 20 percent. Per pupil spending grew from $6,073 in 1990 to $13,664 in 2006. A study by the Census Bureau lists Vermont with the fourth highest expenditure per pupil in the country at $11,835 for 2005.

Academies and grammar schools
Vermont's 1777 constitution was the first in English-speaking North America to mandate public funding for universal education. This requirement was first met by elementary-level village schools with sessions held in the cooler months to accommodate farm work. Most schools educated similar numbers of girls and boys. Conditions in these schools varied, and the highest level of instruction was tenth grade. By the end of the eighteenth century, grammar schools, instructing students in English, algebra, geometry, Greek, and Latin, had been established at Bennington, Burlington, Castleton, Middlebury, Montpelier, and Windsor. These grammar schools were of a higher caliber than the smaller villages' schools, and the level of education at some was equivalent to college level.

By the middle nineteenth century, an expansion in settlement and the population of the state, coupled with increased prosperity, brought grammar schools to all corners of Vermont. Even the most remote Northeast Kingdom had established high-school-level instruction in Brownington, Craftsbury, Danville, Hardwick, and Newport. Many of these established grammar schools and academies, though not entirely public, received funds from area town governments in exchange for education of their students. As a system of public funding for primary and secondary education took root, many of these schools became municipal public schools. Several remained private, becoming private high-school-level academies, and several become colleges; the Orange County Grammar School became, the Rutland County Grammar School became , the Lamoille County Grammar School became , and the Addison County Grammar School became.

Educating teachers
In the 1860s a shortage of qualified teachers brought the establishment of state "normal schools," a term based on the French term école normale – a school to train teachers. The grammar schools at Castleton, Johnson, and Randolph Center became normal schools, additional normal schools were established in Concord and Lyndonville. Additional post secondary schools instructing students to become teachers were called seminaries. While several were nominally associated with Protestant churches, none were seminaries in the sense of training ministers. These seminars also graduated teachers to staff Vermont's growing number of primary and secondary schools.

The one-room school house
The one-room school house, born of small multi-age rural populations, continued well into the twentieth century. Rural towns without a single central village often built two to a half-dozen school houses across their terrain. Much of this came from a lack of transportation and a need for students to return home by mid afternoon for farm chores. By 1920 all public schools, including the one-room school houses, were regulated by the state government. In the early 1930s state legislation established a review and certification program similar to accreditation. Schools were issued regulations about teacher education and curriculum. Education quality in rural areas was maintained through a program called Vermont Standard Schools. Rural school houses meeting certification requirements displayed a green and white plaque with the Vermont coat of arms and the words "Vermont Standard School."

Higher education
During the period of the several towns on the east side of the Connecticut River were part of Vermont. This included Hanover, and Dartmouth College. Statehood brought about establishment of the Connecticut River as a natural border. Having lost Dartmouth College, Ira Allen established the (UVM) in 1791 to complement the smaller college at Castleton. By the mid-twentieth century all but one of the state normal schools, and many of the seminaries, had become four-year colleges of liberal arts and sciences. Experimentation at the University of Vermont by George Perkins Marsh, and later the influence of Vermont born philosopher and educator brought about the concepts of electives and learning by doing. Today Vermont has five colleges within the system,, fourteen other private, degree-granting colleges, including , a private, co-educational liberal arts college founded in 1800, , a Burlington college founded in 1878, the  at Royalton, and , the oldest private military college in the United States and birthplace of , founded in.

Sports
The largest professional franchise is the, formerly the Vermont Expos, a single-A team based in Burlington.

The, the 2007 national champions, are a franchise of the (Blue Conference), and have been based in  and  since the fall of 2006.

Vermont is home to a semi-professional football team, the Ice Storm, based in. It plays its home games at the Colchester High School stadium. It is a member of the.

The is a  soccer club that plays in.

Cultural Pursuits
Vermont festivals include the Vermont Maple Festival, Festival on the Green, the Enosburg Falls Dairy Festival, the Apple Festival (held each Columbus Day Weekend), the , and the. The is supported by the state and performs throughout the area. The Poetry Society of Vermont publishes a literary magazine called The Green Mountain Troubadore which encourages submissions from members of various ages. Every year they hold various contests - one being for high school age young people. The Brattleboro-based presents an annual summer Shakespeare festival. Brattleboro also hosts the summertime Strolling of the Heifers parade which celebrates Vermont's unique dairy culture. Montpelier is home to the annual. In the Northeast Kingdom, The holds weekly shows in Glover in a natural outdoor amphitheater.

One of Vermont's best known musical exports was the group, whose members met while attending school in Vermont. The state had always held great importance for &mdash;for example, lead singer and guitarist built a studio in Vermont used by the band and others, called The Barn. ended their tenure together as a band with a farewell concert weekend in the state's Northeast Kingdom, which was dubbed "Coventry" after (in part) the venue city of, on August 16, 2004.

State symbols
State symbols include:
 * Unofficial favorite state song -
 * the cold-water fish, the
 * the warm-water fish, the
 * State mammal -
 * State amphibian -
 * State reptile -
 * State -
 * State rock -, , and
 * - "Tunbridge Soil Series"
 * - the
 * State reptile -
 * State -
 * State rock -, , and
 * - "Tunbridge Soil Series"
 * - the
 * - the
 * - the
 * - the

Vermont is distinct for being among only three U.S. states with both a and a  Vermont is the only U.S. state to have a heraldically correct  describing its coat of arms.

Notable Vermonters
Vermont is the birthplace of former presidents and.

The is an incomplete, alphabetized list of famous people who at one point called Vermont their home.

Notable fictional Vermonters

 * Vermont was the original home of the fictional villain in the novel .
 * Vermont was also the home of Dick Loudon, 's character on the late 1980s sitcom .