The original inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine were Algonquian-speaking Wabanaki peoples including the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Penobscot. European contact with what is now called Maine starts around year 1200 when Norwegians interacted with the native Penobscot in present-day Hancock County, most likely through trade. About 200 years earlier, from the settlements of Iceland and Greenland, Norwegians had discovered America and attempted to settle areas such as Newfoundland, but failed. However, evidence suggests that Norwegians in Greenland returned to North America for several centuries after the initial discovery to collect timber, the most relevant evidence regarding Maine being the Maine Penny. The first European settlement in Maine was in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, including Samuel de Champlain, the noted explorer. The French named the entire area Acadia, including the portion that later became the state of Maine. The first English settlement in Maine was established by the Plymouth Company at Popham in 1607, the same year as the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. The Popham colonists returned to England after 14 months.

Two Jesuit missions were established by the French: one on Penobscot Bay in 1609, and the other on Mount Desert Island in 1613. The same year, Castine was established by Claude de La Tour. In 1625, Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour erected Fort Pentagouet to protect Castine. The coastal areas of western Maine first became the Province of Maine in a 1622 land patent. Eastern Maine north of the Kennebec River was more sparsely settled and was known in the 17th century as the Territory of Sagadahock. A second settlement was attempted at a place called York, in 1623, by English explorer and naval Captain Christopher Levett, granted 6,000 acres by King Charles I of England. That settlement also failed.

Central Maine was formerly inhabited by people of the Androscoggin tribe. The Androscoggin were a tribe in the Abenaki nation. They were driven out of the area in 1690 during King William's War. They were relocated at St. Francis, Canada, which was destroyed by Rogers' Rangers in 1759, and is now Odanak. The other Abenaki tribes suffered several severe defeats, particularly during Dummer's War, with the capture of Norridgewock in 1724 and the defeat of the Pequawket in 1725, which greatly reduced their numbers. They finally withdrew to Canada, where they were settled at Bécancour and Sillery, and later at St. Francis, along with other refugee tribes from the south.

The province within its current boundaries became part of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652. Maine was much fought over by the French, English, and allied natives during the 17th and early 18th centuries, who conducted raids against each other, taking captives for ransom or adoption by Native American tribes. In early 1692, the Abenaki raided York; killing about 100 of the English settlers and taking another estimated 80 villagers hostage. The Abenaki took captives taken during raids of Massachusetts in Queen Anne's War of the early 1700s to Kahnewake, where some were adopted and others ransomed.

Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost portion of New England. It is known for its scenery—its jagged, mostly rocky coastline, low, rolling mountains, heavily forested interior, and picturesque waterways—as well as for its seafood cuisine, especially lobster and clams. Maine is the northernmost U.S. state with an Atlantic coastline, but in spite of its maritime position, it has a continental climate even in coastal cities such as its largest city Portland.

For thousands of years, native peoples were the only inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine. The first European settlement in Maine was by the French in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The first English settlement in Maine, the short-lived Popham Colony, was established by the Plymouth Company in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the coast of Maine in the 1620s, although the rugged climate, deprivations, and conflict with the local peoples caused many to fail over the years.

As Maine entered the 18th century, only half a dozen European settlements had survived. Patriot and Loyalist forces contended for Maine's territory during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820 when it voted to secede from Massachusetts. On March 15, 1820, it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise. Maine is the 39th most extensive and the 41st most populous of the 50 United States. With respect to crime rates, Maine is also often considered the safest state in the U.S

Maine experiences a humid continental climate with warm humid summers. Winters are cold and snowy throughout the state, and are especially severe in the northern parts of Maine. Coastal areas are moderated somewhat by the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in milder winters and cooler summers in immediate coastal areas.

Public schools are run by one of four types of school districts: 1) local for a single school; 2) School Union whose members share only a superintendent; 3) School Administrative District containing multiple towns and one superintendent; and 4) Community School District that has one elementary school that towns share.
Private schools are less common than public schools. A large number of private elementary schools with fewer than 20 students exist, but most private high schools in Maine can be described as "semi-private." This means that while it costs money to send children there, towns will make a contract with a school to take children from a town or School Administrative District at a slightly reduced rate. Often this is done when it is deemed cheaper to subsidize private tuition than build a whole new school when a private one already exists.