The capital of Massachusetts is Boston. Boston is also the largest city in Massachusetts. The abbreviation for Massachusetts is MA. The unofficial nickname of Massachusetts is "The Bay State" or "The Old Bay State."

Residents of Massachusetts's are known as "Massachusettsans." The state song of Massachusetts is "All Hail to Massachusetts."

Massachusetts takes its name from the Massachusetts tribe of Native Americans, who lived in the Great Blue Hill region, south of Boston. The Indian term supposedly means "at or about the Great Hill."

Massachusetts is ranked 13th in population and received its statehood February 6, 1788.

Massachusetts state motto is "Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem (By the Sword We Seek Peace, But Peace Only Under Liberty)."

Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont are all bordering states of Massachusetts. Charles River, Connecticut River and Merrimack River are popular bodies of water associated with Massachusetts.

There were 933,898 K12 students in the Massachusetts public schools in 1996. Out of those students 81,375 were first grade students. There were also 64,574 k12 public school teachers in the Massachusetts public schools system. There were a total of 1,856 Massachusetts public schools in 1996. (Source: IES National Center for Education Statistics)


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Ten Largest Cities in Massachesetts
City	Population
Boston	599,351
Worcester	173,966
Springfield	149,938
Lowell	103,512
Cambridge	101,388
Brockton	93,092
New Bedford	91,849
Quincy	91,622
Fall River	90,905
Lynn	87,122
(Source: U.S. Census, July, 2007)