The city of Boston is the country's 24th biggest city with an estimated population of about 600,000 people. The Boston metropolitan area supports over 4.4 million people, making it the 11th largest within the USA based on the census. Boston has been called "Beantown" and "The Hub". It makes up the biggest city in the state of Massachusetts and New England, which is comprised of New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The city of Boston is the capital city of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The city is situated on the eastern Massachusetts coast. It is located on the Boston Harbor at the mouth of the Charles River. This river separates the city of Boston from Cambridge.
In the year 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded the city of Boston. The majority of early settlers were Puritans and they placed their strong ethic on the city of Boston. Individuals who came to the city of Boston were not very tolerant of different religions. Hence, many of the nearby colonies were established by individuals who were fleeing persecution from the Puritans.
Boston in addition to the area surrounding the city, is affluent in early American colonial history. There is also much history of the American Revolution in the region. The Revolutionary War began in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, outside of Boston.
Boston's economy is really dependent upon health care, and finance, biotechnology and software and computer technology. The Life-Sciences sector represents at least one in six jobs within Boston too. The region's economy is largely impacted by the education industry. Some of the major employers include educational institutions as well as high technology industries which act as incubators for several up and coming businesses in the region.
There is a highly educated work force in the Metropolitan Boston area. The area ranks in the top 16 percent nationally for college educated people when compared across the USA to similar sized cities. People who have a bachelors degree or higher within Boston are in excess of 35 percent based on data from the U.S. Department of Commerce recorded during 2000. This higher education accomplishment rate ranks the city of Boston 5th amongst large cities in the USA for bachelor's degree holders. The rate is even higher in the region nearby Boston and here, it is common to see higher education achievement rates up to 40 percent.
Many federal agencies hold their regional headquarters in Boston because it is the capital city. Government is a huge part of the economic sector around and in the city. Port Boston is among the oldest fishing and industrial ports within North America. It serves as a major east coast seaport.
The city of Boston and eastern Massachusetts are major tourist destinations mostly in part to their rich American Revolution and colonial history. There are 4 famous convention centers in the city: the Bayside Expo Center, The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, the World Trade Center Boston and the Hynes Convention Center.