The Statue of Liberty (French: Statue de la Liberté), or, more formally, Liberty Enlightening the World was presented to the United States by the people of France in 1886. Standing on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, it welcomes visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans traveling by ship.The copper-clad statue, dedicated on October 28, 1886, commemorates the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and was given to the United States to represent the friendship established during the American Revolution.Fredéric Auguste Bartholdi sculpted the statueand obtained a U.S. patent for its structure. Maurice Koechlin – chief engineer of Gustave Eiffel’s engineering company and designer of the Eiffel Tower – engineered the internal structure.