Massachusetts map

Where Massachusetts is

Massachusetts is in southern New England on the Atlantic coast. It is about 190 miles east to west and 110 miles north to south at its widest, though the main body is only about 50 miles deep. New Hampshire and Vermont lie to the north, the Atlantic to the east, Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, and New York to the west. Cape Cod curls 65 miles into the Atlantic from the southeast corner, with the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket to its south. Boston is on Massachusetts Bay in the east; the Connecticut River valley and the Berkshire hills lie in the west.

Major cities

Geography

• Mount Greylock — 3,489 feet, the highest point, in the Taconic range of the Appalachians in the northwest corner.
• Connecticut River — crosses the western part of the state north to south for about 70 miles through Springfield and the Pioneer Valley.
• Merrimack and Charles rivers — the Merrimack powered the mill cities of Lowell and Lawrence; the Charles separates Boston from Cambridge.
• Quabbin Reservoir — about 39 square miles, the largest body of water, created in the 1930s to supply Boston.
• Coast — about 192 miles of general coastline, including Cape Cod, Cape Ann, Boston Harbor and the islands; the lowest point is sea level. See US coastlines.
• Berkshires — the hilly western third, separated from the rest of the state by the Connecticut valley.

Borders

All of Massachusetts's land borders are surveyed lines rather than rivers. The northern border with New Hampshire was set in 1741 three miles north of the Merrimack, then straight west to Vermont. The southern border with Connecticut and Rhode Island is a 1713 line with the Southwick Jog, where Massachusetts dips 2.5 miles south. The New York border was settled in 1787 and later adjusted to give New York the Boston Corner in 1853. The border with Rhode Island was disputed until the Supreme Court ruled in 1846. Massachusetts abolished most county governments in the late 1990s, but the 14 counties remain as geographic units.

Regions of Massachusetts

Greater Boston, the North Shore (Salem, Gloucester), the South Shore (Quincy, Plymouth), the Merrimack Valley (Lowell, Lawrence), MetroWest (Framingham), Cape Cod and the Islands, the SouthCoast (New Bedford, Fall River), Central Massachusetts (Worcester), the Pioneer Valley (Springfield, Northampton, Amherst) and the Berkshires (Pittsfield, Williamstown).

Related maps

• Massachusetts county map — all 14 counties with seats.
• Blank Massachusetts map — outline for printing.
• Printable Massachusetts map.
• Boston — the oldest continuously used state capital in the US.
• Neighbors: New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York.
• Region: Northeast · New England.
• Time zone: Eastern.
• Geography: Appalachian Mountains, Coastlines, US rivers.