Delaware is a state in the Mid-Atlantic area of the United States, bordered to the south and west by Maryland, to the north by Pennsylvania, and the east by New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean. The state is called after the adjacent Delaware River, named for Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and the first colonial governor of Virginia. 

Delaware occupies the northeastern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula and several islands and territories in the Delaware River. It is the second-smallest, sixth-least populous, and sixth-most densely populated state. Wilmington is the largest city in Delaware, while Dover is the state capital and second-largest city. The state is divided into three counties, the fewest of any state (unless one counts Louisiana and Alaska, which do not have counties but parishes and boroughs, respectively): New Castle County, Kent County, and Sussex County, from north to south. 

New Castle, a component of the Philadelphia-centered Delaware Valley-Delaware Valley Metropolitan Statistical Area, is more urbanized than the two counties to the south. Delaware’s geography, culture, and history include characteristics of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern areas of the United States.