Overview New England is made up of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. These six states encompasse an area of 66,672 square miles, about 2 percent of the total area of the United States. Around 13 million people live in this region, around 5 percent of the U.S. Population. It has the highest per-capita income of all the regions in the country. In 1997, this figure was $30,000 compared to the national figure of $25,000. According to "Working Mother", the region has twelve of the 100 best U.S. companies for working mothers in a diverse array of areas. Furthermore, New England ranks first or second among the other nine regions in the country in measures of manufacturing export intensity. The service sector including advertising, management consulting, software and insurance, entertainment, education and health care account for 46 percent of all New England jobs. The region has a disproportionate share of total U.S. employment in certain industries such as investments (31 percent); securities and commodities (19 percent); pension, health and welfare funds (16 percent); life insurance (15 percent); higher education (14 percent); savings institutions (14 percent); and libraries (13 percent). New England is not a rich region in natural resources. Thus, it has concentrated its economic success in the areas of biotechnology, environmental technology, information-based enterprises, computers, and communications. Presently, the region is also focusing on new fields such as aquaculture and photonics. A disadvantage in the region has been the cost of electricity, customers pay approximately 50 percetn more than the national average. In terms of trade, the region has concentrated on marketing to Canada and Western Europe, there is still much to be done on Latin America, Asia and Africa which represent a growing percentage of the U.S. overall export market. Machinery, electronics, and instrumentation are the most representative component of the region's exports whereas raw materials constitue a small portion of its exports. Some important regional organizations include the New England Council formed in 1925 by business leaders and New England governors; the New England Governors' Conference; and the New England Board of Higher Education. New England is also well known for its higher education. There are approximately 260 colleges and university with a student population of 795,000 and employs over 28,000 professors. It attracts around 9 percent of all foreign students to the U.S. which represents about 40,000 students. The Universities provide important R&D, just in 1997 they spent around $2 billion dollars accounting for 8.3 percent of the country's total yielding more than 10 percent of the patents awarded to U.S. higher education institutions. New England is home to more than 560 museums of all kinds - one for every 22,700 people.