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Delaware ()〔''Random House Dictionary''.〕 is one of the Mid-Atlantic states located in the Northeast megalopolis region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, to the northeast by New Jersey, and to the north by Pennsylvania. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Delaware )〕 after whom what is now called Cape Henlopen was originally named. Delaware is in the northeastern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula and is the second smallest, the sixth least populous, but the sixth most densely populated of the 50 United States. Delaware is divided into three counties, the lowest number of counties of any state. From north to south, the three counties are New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. While the southern two counties have historically been predominantly agricultural, New Castle County has been more industrialized. Before its coastline was explored by Europeans in the 16th century, Delaware was inhabited by several groups of Native Americans, including the Lenape in the north and Nanticoke in the south. It was initially colonized by Dutch traders at Zwaanendael, near the present town of Lewes, in 1631. Delaware was one of the 13 colonies participating in the American Revolution and on December 7, 1787, became the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thereby becoming known as ''The First State''. ==Etymology== The state was named after the Delaware River which in turn derived its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (1577–1618), the governor of the Colony of Virginia at the time the river was first explored by Europeans. The Delaware Indians, a name used by Europeans for Lenape people indigenous to the Delaware Valley, also derive their name from the same source. The surname ''de La Warr'' comes from Sussex and is of Anglo-Norman origin. It came probably from a Norman lieu-dit ''La Guerre''. This toponymic could derive from the Latin word ''ager'', from the Breton ''gwern'' or from the Late Latin ''varectum'' (fallow). The toponyms Gara, Gare, Gaire (the sound ä often mutated in æ) also appear in old texts cited by Lucien Musset, where the word ''ga(i)ra'' means gore. It could also be linked with a patronymic from the Old Norse ''verr''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Delaware」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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