New York - The US Explained

Throughout US history, the country has been dominated by an urbanized string of cities stretching along the coast of the Northeastern United States. Home to a stunning 52 million people, an enormous chunk of the US population, the Megalopolis, as it’s referred to, has guided and exerted influence over much of American culture, history, politics and business for centuries, and likely will continue to do so as long as it remains the country’s urban core. At the center of this string of humanity sits New York City, far and away the largest urban area in the United States, and one of the most populous and famous on Earth. Outside America’s megacity, the rest of the state of New York, often overlooked for the highly influential metropolis downstate, contains vast and nearly uninhabited mountain wilderness, beautiful lakes and islands, canals and waterfalls, forests and farms, small towns and important industrial cities. Today only three states surpass New York in population, and whether any do in terms of sheer influence is up for debate. With its skyscraper-studded megacity, a global center of business, immigration, entertainment, and culture, and a large, beautiful upstate stretching from Lake Erie to Lake Champlain, this is episode 11 - New York.