Capital: Dover

Governor: Ruth Ann Minner, D (to Jan. 2005)

Lieut. Governor: John C. Carney, Jr., D (to Jan. 2005)

Senators: Joseph R. Biden, Jr., D (to Jan. 2003); Thomas R. Carper, D (to Jan. 2007)

Secy. of State: Edward J. Freel, D (pleasure of governor)

State Treasurer: Jack Markell, D (to Jan. 2002)

Atty. General: M. Jane Brady, R (to Jan. 2002)

Entered Union (rank): Dec. 7, 1787 (1)

Present constitution adopted: 1897

Motto: Liberty and independence

State Symbols:

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' Gov. Peter Stuyvesant in 1655.

England took over the area in 1664 and it was transferred to William Penn as the southern 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.

In 1802, Ëleuthère Irénée du Pont established a gunpowder mill near Wilmington that laid the foundation for Delaware's huge chemical industry. Delaware's manufactured products now also include vulcanized fiber, textiles, paper, medical supplies, metal products, machinery, machine tools, and automobiles.

Delaware also grows a great variety of fruits and vegetables and is a U.S. pioneer in the food-canning industry. Corn, soybeans, potatoes, and hay are important crops. Delaware's broiler-chicken farms supply the big Eastern markets, and fishing and dairy products are other important industries.

Points of interest include the Fort Christina Monument, Hagley Museum, Holy Trinity Church (erected in 1698, the oldest Protestant church in the United States still in use), and Winterthur Museum, in and near Wilmington; central New Castle, an almost unchanged late 18th-century capital; and the Delaware Museum of Natural History.

Nickname: Diamond State; First State; Small Wonder

Origin of name: From Delaware River and Bay; named in turn for Sir Thomas West, Baron De La Warr

10 largest cities (1999 est.): Wilmington, 71,491; Dover, 32,099; Newark, 28,318; Milford, 7,084; Seaford, 6,724; Smyrna, 6,060; Elsmere, 5,634; New Castle 4,952; Georgetown, 4,554; Middletown, 4,394

Land area: 1,955 sq mi. (5,153 sq km)

Geographic center: In Kent Co., 11 mi. S of Dover

Number of counties: 3

Largest county by population and area: New Castle, 487,182 (1999 est.); Sussex, 938 sq mi.

State forests: 3 (9,353 ac.)

State parks : 13

Residents: Delawarean

1999 resident population est.: 753,538

1990 resident census population (rank): 666,168 (46). Male: 322,968; Female: 343,200. White: 535,094 (80.3%); Black: 112,460 (16.9%); American Indian: 2,019 (0.3%); Asian: 9,057 (1.4%); Other race: 7,538 (1.1%); Hispanic: 15,820 (2.4%). 1990 percent population under 18: 24.5; 65 and over: 12.1; median age: 32.7.