Regoins of New Hampshire

                                   ABOUT THE REGIONS

 New Hampshire is made up of seven very different regions, each as exciting as the next. The Seacoast, Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee, Lakes Region, Merrimack Valley, Monadnock Region, White Mountains and Great North Woods are filled with natural beauty, cultural events and classic New England living.
   It's one family vacation idea after another, and the only way to truly appreciate it all is to see it for yourself. Use the list at left to learn more about each of New Hampshire's distinct, yet equally unforgettable, regions.
   Various Algonquian (Pennacook) tribes inhabited the area prior to European settlement. English and French explorers visited New Hampshire in 1600–1605, and English fishermen settled at Odiorne's Point in present-day Rye in 1623. The first permanent settlement was at Hilton's Point (present-day Dover). By 1631, the Upper Plantation comprised modern-day Dover, Durham and Stratham; in 1679, it became the "Royal Province."
   Since 1952, New Hampshire gained national and international attention for its presidential primary held early in every presidential election year. It immediately became the most important testing grounds for candidates for the Republican and Democratic nominations. The media gave New Hampshire (and Iowa) about half of all the attention paid to all states in the primary process, magnifying the state's decision
powers (and spurring repeated efforts by out-of-state politicians to change the rules.)