Boston

Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1630, it is the largest city in New England. It has expanded throughout and beyond the Shawmut peninsula, and has become one of the oldest and most culturally significant cities in the United States. It is recognized as a global or world city. Boston was the location of several major events during the American Revolution, and was a major shipping port and manufacturing center. Today, the city is a center of higher education and health care. Its economy is also based on research, finance, and technology—principally biotechnology.

The city, citizens of which are called Bostonians, lies at the center of Greater Boston, a region that includes all of Suffolk County and the cities of Cambridge, Quincy, Newton, Somerville, Revere, and Chelsea, the towns of Brookline, Milton, and Winthrop and suburban communities farther from Boston. The Greater Boston area also encompasses portions of the state of New Hampshire and is the eleventh largest metropolitan area in the U.S.