Episode: 3
Massachusetts is the most populous state in the New England region of the United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The capital of Massachusetts is Boston. Massachusetts has a total area of 10,565 square miles (27,337 km2).The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Massachusetts at the end of 2019 was approximately 6.9 million people. English is most widely spoken in Massachusetts, with about 86% of the population speaking only English at home, while about 7.5% speak Spanish, 3% speak Portuguese, 1.6% speak Chinese, 1.1% speak French and less than 1% of the population speaks other languages. In 2019, the real GDP of Massachusetts was approximately US$59595.56 billion. Massachusetts’ GDP per capita in 2019 was 75,258.Sectors important to the Massachusetts economy include higher education, biotechnology, information technology, finance, health care, tourism, manufacturing, and defense. Tourism has played an increasingly important role in the state’s economy in recent years, with Boston and Cape Cod prominent.The main landmark of Massachusetts is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This university is one of the most important and popular universities in the world. Pakistani-American scientist Nargis Maulawala is the Dean of the School of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Nargis Maulawala was previously associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a professor. Earlier, Nargis Maulawala was also part of the team that achieved the feat of detecting gravitational waves in space. Nargis Maulawala, from MIT’s Physics Department, was part of a joint team from the three institutions that worked on a project to detect gravitational waves. Born in Karachi, Nargis moved to the US as a young student, graduating with a BA in Physics and Astronomy in 1990, and a PhD in 1997.This state and especially its capital Boston is known as the city of knowledge. The schools here are known all over the world.Massachusetts public schools are funded by the lottery. Students are provided free breakfast and lunch in their schools. Here, children of all US citizens are provided free education in these public schools, but private schools, colleges and universities charge huge fees. There are also a good number of non-American students studying in the same colleges and universities. Springfield, Massachusetts, is a beautiful town that was settled specifically for Costa Rican immigrants. Today there are also large numbers of people from the Spanish, Arab, Indian and Pakistani communities.I live in the same city of Springfield with my long-time friend Faisal Ghafoor. In the next few days I will be exploring other parts of Massachusetts and will share my wanderings with you.Where are we on our own journey?The direction of the wind is where we are(Courtesy of Wikipedia and others)