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Upstate New York from WikiPedia:

Upstate New York is the region of New York State north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.

There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York, but the term "Upstate" is sometimes used to refer to the whole of the state besides New York City and Long Island. Latitude is generally a consideration in whether or not a place is "upstate", as well as elevation and being away from sea level (hence the prefix "up", meaning both to the north and having a greater altitude). Distance from New York City is also a consideration. Complicating any definition is the usage of the word "upstate" (in lowercase) as a direction, rather than as the name of a region.

Another common perception of the Upstate/Downstate boundary locates it at the point at which New York's suburbs segue into its exurbs. This line would place most, but not all, of Westchester and Rockland counties south of the boundary, putting the northwestern edge of Rockland as well as the northernmost quarter of Westchester (such as Peekskill) in Upstate New York. This definition of Upstate New York corresponds to the orange, yellow, and green areas on the map above.

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