Land

Connecticut is divided into four main geographic regions. They are the Central Lowlands, Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands, and Coastal Lowlands.  The Connecticut and Quinnipiac river valleys form the Central Lowlands, which bisect the state in a north–south direction. The Eastern Highlands range from 500 ft (150 m) to 1,100 ft (335 m) near the Massachusetts border and from 200 ft (60 m) to 500 ft (150 m) in the southeast. The Western Highlands range from 200 ft (60 m) in the south to more than 2,000 ft (600 m) in the northwest.  Mt. Frissell, the highest point in the state at 2,380 ft (726 m) is found in this region. The Coastal Lowlands, about 100 mi (160 km) long and 2–3 mi (3–5 km) wide, consist of rocky peninsulas, shallow bays, sand and gravel beaches, salt meadows, and good harbors at Bridgeport, New Haven, New London, Mystic, and Stonington.
Connecticut has more than 6,000 lakes and ponds. The two largest bodies of water are Lake Candlewood and Barkhmsted. They are both artificial bodies of which Barkhamsted Reservoir is a major source of water for the Hartford area. The main river is the Connecticut, New England's longest river at 407 mi (655 km), of which 69 mi (111 km) lie within Connecticut. Other principal rivers include the Thames, Housatonic, and Naugatuck.

The topography of Connecticut owes to a number of factors including uplift and depression, erosion and deposit, faulting and buckling, lava flows, and glaciations.

During the Ice Ages, the melting Wisconsin glacier created lakes, waterfalls, and sand plains, leaving thin glaciated topsoil and land strewn with rocks and boulders.