State profile: New Hampshire

Tiny, rich, and famous for being first, New Hampshire has an importance totally out of proportion in presidential elections.

State law says that New Hampshire's primary must be one week before any other and it is this, along with its historic knack for picking the eventual nominees, that give the state its enormous political influence.

From 1952 to 1992, no-one won the presidency without first winning their party's New Hampshire primary, a run ended only when Bill Clinton came second in 1992. George W Bush also came second here in 2000 but won in 2004 when there was no strong challenge from within his party.

KEY FACTS Population: 1,235,786 (ranked 41 among states) Governor: John Lynch (D) Electoral College votes: 4

Because of the crucial importance of early momentum in the presidential primary system, this gives New Hampshire, with just 0.4% of the nation's population, a significance which far outweighs its size. Yet its primary importance is not its only feature of interest.

Historically, New Hampshire has gone its own way and this was the first colony with an independent government.

Since the 19th Century it has shunned high taxes and government intervention, making it a magnet for entrepreneurs and investment.

2006 CONGRESS House of Representatives: 2 Democratic Senate: 2 Republican

The state's dislike for government is reflected in its motto: "Live free or die".

New Hampshire's low taxes have made the state one of the most prosperous and its population more than doubled between 1960 and 2000.

But the exceptional growth of the 1980s meant that the 1990s recession hit particularly hard, although the state has since recovered.

PRESIDENTIAL VOTING RECORD 2004: Kerry 50.3%, Bush 49% 2000: Bush 48%, Gore 47% 1996: Clinton 49%, Dole 39%, Perot 10% 1992: Clinton 39%, Bush 38%, Perot 23%

In the eight years up to 2000, it voted Democrat but that year it gave its support to Mr Bush in the presidential election and returned two Republicans to the House of Representatives.

In 2004, the state voted for Mr Bush's Democratic challenger John Kerry and at the 2006 mid-term elections, it ousted both Republican congressmen, returning Democrats in their place.

While its two senators remain Republicans (there was no race in 2006) the state has a Democratic governor, John Lynch, and in 2006 the Democrats took both houses of the State Legislature for the first time since 1911.