<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Released in 2000 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Lists of United States state symbols </Td> </Tr> <P> New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States . It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north . New Hampshire is the 5th smallest by area and the 10th least populous of the 50 states . Concord is the state capital, while Manchester is the largest city in the state . It has no general sales tax, nor is personal income (other than interest and dividends) taxed at either the state or local level . The New Hampshire primary is the first primary in the U.S. presidential election cycle . Its license plates carry the state motto, "Live Free or Die". The state's nickname, "The Granite State", refers to its extensive granite formations and quarries . </P> <P> In January 1776, it became the first of the British North American colonies to establish a government independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain's authority, and it was the first to establish its own state constitution . Six months later, it became one of the original 13 states that founded the United States of America, and in June 1788 it was the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, bringing that document into effect . </P>

What ocean forms part of the boundary of new hampshire