Native Americans called it "Paumonock," meaning "land of tribute," because of its fish-like shape. The Colonizing Dutch christened it "Lange Eilandt," and British Settlers later anglicized the name to "Long Island." Indeed, the region lives up to both names: it is fish-shaped with its mouth at Jamaica Bay and its tail forming two peninsulas stretching to Orient and Montauk Points. It is also the largest island adjoining the continental United States, extending 118 miles east-northeast from the mouth of the Hudson River. Twenty miles at its widest point, the 1,377-square-mile island is separated from the mainland on the north by the Long Island Sound and surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the south and east.Long Island includes the four Brooklyn), Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. But because Brooklyn and Queens are part of the five-county City of New York, the Long Island reference is commonly used to mean Nassau and Suffolk counties exclusively. Long Island measures approximately 100 miles from the Nassau-Queens border to Montauk Point, including 56 miles from the Queens border to Riverhead. From Riverhead, two peninsulas extend eastward separated by the waters of Great Peconic Bay and Gardiners Bay. The northern peninsula, the "North Fork," ends at Orient Point and is 28 miles in length.
  The southern peninsula, the "South Fork," ends at Niontauk Point and is 44 miles long. Nestled in the bays between the two forks are two small islands:
    Shelter Island and privately-owned Gardiners Island. Nassau-Suffolks land area is 1,198 square miles (287 square miles in Nassau and 911 square miles in Suffolk) and has a linear shoreline of approximately 1,600 miles. Out of 3,100 counties nationwide, both Nassau and Suffolk rank among the top 25 in population, with more than 2.6 million residents.
    As original settlers, 13 Indian tribes once occupied Long Island; three in Nassau, eight in Suffolk, and two in the area of what is now the county border. Today, only two Indian reservations remain: Poosepatuck and Shinnecock, both in Suffolk County.The colonial period, 1660-1775, was a time of great growth for Long Island. Rolling meadows and woodlands gave way to farms and villages; rough log shelters were made into comfortable homes: and churches, roads, grist mills and shipyards were built.
    Long Island was a major player in the Revolutionary \'sar. The Island was sharply divided in 1776 regarding independence from the Crown of England. Long Islander Nathan Hale is the best known of General Washingtons spies, but others were operating throughout the Revolution. Indeed, Suffolk was the center of the famed Culper espionage ring. which kept General Washington informed of British activities in New York City . Information was carried by rider out to Setauket and then across
    Long Island Sound to Connecticut by whale boat. From there it was relayed to the American forces in Westchester. Peace was finally negotiated and the occupation troops--British and Hessian-- departed in 1783.
    During the early 19th century, two maritime industries, whaling and fishing, became integral to Long Islands economy. And, as a natural outgrowth, Long Island became a major center of shipbuilding during the fIrst half of the century. By the late-1800s, the railroad had established an elaborate system of tracks throughout the Island, signaling marked change in Long Islands landscape.
    Long Island began the 20th century as an isolated rural farming area. In the coming decades, it would become an interdependent, industrial economy--an incubator for emerging technologies, sowing seeds of change.