Upstate New York is the portion of the American state of New York lying north of the New York metropolitan area. The Upstate region includes most of the land area of the state of New York, but a minority of the state's population. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Island, most definitions of the region exclude all or part of Westchester and Rockland counties. Major cities in Upstate New York, from east to west, include Albany, Binghamton, Syracuse and Buffalo. Before the American Revolutionary War, Upstate was populated by Native Americans and was home to the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy; the region saw many battles between the Continental Army and the Iroquois, several treaties drawn up after the war ceded much of the land to settlers of European descent. It is rural with rugged terrain. Upstate New York was transformed by the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, which eased the movement of goods from the upper midwest, the cities along the Great Lakes, Upstate New York, to the port of New York City.

As a result, Upstate became a hotbed for manufacturing, giving birth to such firms as General Electric, IBM, Xerox, it welcomed a large influx of immigrants. Since the mid-20th century, American de-industrialization has contributed to economic and population decline Upstate, the region is considered part of the Rust Belt. Upstate New York contains vast areas of rural land; as a result, Upstate supports a strong agricultural industry, is notable for its milk and other dairy products, its fruit production, winemaking. Significant hydroelectric power is generated by plants on the Niagara Rivers; the Catskills supply New York City's water. The region is home to several popular tourist and recreational destinations, including Niagara Falls, the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains, the Finger Lakes, the latter created by retreating glaciers; because of its geography, rivers have played a important role in Upstate New York's history. All the above cities are on navigable or navigable rivers or lakes; until railroads arrived around 1850, New York ran on rivers: the Hudson, its tributary the Mohawk, to a lesser extent the Susquehanna and its tributary the Chemung.

There was regular steamboat service along the Hudson River between New York City and Albany beginning in 1807, the first such regular service in the world. There was regular commercial and passenger transportation along the Mohawk in small boats until the Erie Canal opened. Utica, about as far as you can go on the Mohawk, was in the early nineteenth century a busy port and the economic capital of western New York; the Erie Canal was the biggest and most expensive engineering project in the world up to that date, if upstream speed was at first that of a mule, its economic importance was immense, it transformed the state of New York. There is no clear official boundary between Downstate New York; the most expansive definition of the term Upstate New York excludes only New York City and Long Island, which are always considered to be part of "Downstate" New York. Another usage locates the Upstate/Downstate boundary further north, at the point where New York City's suburbs segue into its exurbs, as the exurbs do not fall within the US Census' urban area.

This latter boundary places most, but not all, of Westchester and Rockland Counties in Downstate, while putting the northwestern edge of Rockland County as well as the northernmost quarter of Westchester County in Upstate. Yet another usage follows the U. S. Census definition of the New York metropolitan area prior to 2010, which included Westchester and Putnam Counties; this was the definition used by the plaintiffs in the federal redistricting case Rodriguez v. Pataki. In New York State law, the definition of the Upstate boundary varies: while Westchester is always considered downstate under state law, some definitions include Rockland and Putnam Counties in the downstate region, others include Orange and Dutchess Counties. Ulster County, and, in the largest state-defined extent of downstate, Columbia County, are sometimes included; the division line between the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York places Sullivan County and Dutchess County in the Southern District, Ulster and Columbia Counties in the Northern District.

Within New York State, surveys have had difficulty determining a consensus. In a 2016 poll of New York voters in which respondents were asked to choose among four definitions of where Upstate begins, three were about common, selected by between 25% and 30% of respondents each: north of New York City, north of Westchester County, north of Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County. An informal 2018 poll found the Hudson Valley region is the most disputed area regarding whether it is Upstate or Downstate. Residents of Upstate New York prefer to identify with a more specific subregion, such as Western New York or Central New York. A number of businesses and institutions in the area have "Upstate" as part of their name. Examples of this include the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, the Upstate New York Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation serving 31 of New York's 62 counti

The following is a list of saints of Iceland. The list includes all Christian saints with Icelandic connections, either because they were of Icelandic origin and ethnicity, or because they travelled to Iceland from their own homeland and became noted in their hagiography for their work in Iceland and amongst the Icelandic people. A small number may have had no Icelandic connection in their lifetime, but have nonetheless become associated with Iceland through the depositing of their relics in Icelandic religious houses in the Middle Ages. St. Thorlak Thorhallsson is the only canonized saint native to Iceland, since 1984 has functioned formally as the country's patron saint despite centuries of devotion. By the time of his birth, the Catholic Church was established in Iceland following contention between Norwegian and German missionaries with native pagan religions in the two centuries preceding. Thorlak was born into an aristocratic family in Hlíðarendi in 1133, Thorlak's parents noticed his budding intellectual capabilities and asked a local priest to instruct him.

He was ordained a priest at age 18, subsequently studied in Paris and England. After returning to Iceland in 1165, he founded a monastery of Canons Regular and devoted himself to a life of contemplative prayer, he was ordained a bishop by Augustine of Nidaros in 1178 and worked to reform the Church and religious life in Iceland. He died on December 23, 1193, his relics were translated to the cathedral of Skálholt in 1198, his informal veneration in Iceland began less than a decade following his death with the translation of his earthly remains. St. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1984, instituting his feast of December 23 on the liturgical calendar and designating him as patron saint of Iceland; the same pontiff visited Iceland five years following, at which occasion the Icelandic saga Þorláks saga helga was republished in commemoration of the papal visit. Many places like Iceland and Wales that were distant from Rome and in relative isolation were overlooked when it came to placing saints in the Catholic calendar.

This explains why Iceland has only one saint recognised by the Vatican. The only Canonised Saint was only made so in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. List of Anglo-Saxon saints List of saints of Ireland List of Cornish saints List of saints of Northumbria List of Breton saints List of Welsh saints List of Swedish Saints List of Russian saints List of saints of Poland List of Serbian saints List of American saints and beatified people List of Mexican saints List of Brazilian saints List of Saints from Oceania List of Australian Saints

Michée Chauderon was an alleged Genevan witch. She was the last person to be executed for sorcery in the city of Geneva in the Republic of Geneva. Chauderon worked as a washerwoman. At one point, she had an argument with one of her employers, they reported her for having summoned a demon into the body of their daughter. Chauderon was interrogated; the so-called devil's mark was found on her body, she was tortured with strappado. During the torture, she said that one day, she had met Satan in her garden in the shape of a black man with the feet of a cow, he had promised her wealth if she denounced God, which she had done, she was judged guilty of sorcery and sentenced to be hanged and burned. Between 1520 and 1681, 340 people were put on trial for sorcery in Geneva, 150 were executed. Chauderon was the last person to be executed for sorcery in the city of Geneva, but not the last in Switzerland. Home.datacomm.ch Maitre.cles.free.fr Michel Porret, L'Ombre du diable. Michée Chauderon, dernière sorcière exécutée à Genève pour sorcellerie, Genève, ISBN 978-2825709757, Georg, 2009