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Western Massachusetts is an area located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is part of the United States region of New England. Despite its relatively small size, geographically, it features diverse topography, and outsized contributions to American history and culture, owing in large part to its 22 universities, approximately 100,000 university students, and institutions, (such as Tanglewood, Springfield Armory, Jacob's Pillow, etc.) 〔http://gonewengland.about.com/od/westernmasscolleges/Colleges_and_Universities_Western_Massachusetts.htm〕 Western Massachusetts encompasses the rolling Berkshire Mountains to the west, which are a popular vacation resort; the fertile Connecticut River Valley to the east, which features an eclectic array of university towns, the major city of Springfield, and numerous agricultural hamlets;〔http://www.massvacation.com/regions-towns/western-massachusetts/〕 and further to the east, the sparsely populated Quabbin region provides outdoor recreational opportunities.〔http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/water-res-protection/watershed-mgmt/quabbin-reservoir-fishing-guide.html〕 ==Geography== The four Massachusetts counties of Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden and Berkshire are typically considered to be in western Massachusetts, and a few municipalities at the western border of former Worcester County, especially those near the Quabbin Reservoir are considered by some to be in western Massachusetts. Hampden county with about two thirds of the western Massachusetts population includes the City of Springfield; to the north, Hampshire county has the college towns of Northampton, Amherst and South Hadley; further north, rural Franklin county bordered Vermont and New Hampshire; to the west is Berkshire county, bordering New York, Vermont and Connecticut and the other three counties. Subsequent to the elimination of the Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, Berkshire and Worcester county governments (along with several other but not all of the Massachusetts counties) in the late 1990s, most county functions were assigned to the state government. The municipalities of Franklin and Hampshire counties subsequently organized two voluntary county-oriented "regional councils of government". 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「Western Massachusetts」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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