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U.S. State
*** Shopping-Tip: U.S. State
A '''state of the United States''' (a '''U.S. state''') is any one of the fifty
State (subnational) states (four of which officially favor the term ''
Commonwealth (United States) commonwealth'') which, along with the
District of Columbia, form the
United States United States of America. The separate
state governments and the
United States federal government share
sovereignty, in that an "American" is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of residence. However, state citizenship is very flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states (with the exception of convicts on
parole).
Image:Map of USA with state names.svg 398px|thumb|right|Map of the United States with state names
The
United States Constitution allocates power between the two levels of government in general terms. The idea is that by ratifying the Constitution, each state (a) transfers certain sovereign powers to the federal government, e.g., the power to create money; (b) agrees to share other powers, e.g., the power to raise a militia; and (c) exclusively retains the remainder for itself, e.g., authority to regulate the practice of law and medicine. The tasks of education, health, transportation, and other infrastructure are generally the responsibility of the states. All states transferred, shared, and kept the same powers.
Over time, the Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization, with the federal government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a continuing debate over "
states' rights," which concerns the extent and nature of the powers that the states have given to the federal government.
Legal relationship
Legal status at end of Revolutionary War
At the time of the
United States Declaration of Independence Declaration of Independence from
Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain in 1776, the
13 colonies became 13 independently sovereign states. They became fourteen in 1777 with the formation of the
Vermont Republic. For a brief period, they were in effect legally separate nations.
Union as a single nation
Upon the adoption of the
Articles of Confederation Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the states became a
confederation, a single sovereign political entity as defined by international law — empowered to levy war and to conduct international relations — albeit with a very loosely structured and inefficient central government. After the failure of the union under the Articles of Confederation, the thirteen states joined the modern union via the process of ratifying the
United States Constitution.
Relationship among the states
Under
Article Four of the United States Constitution Article IV of the Constitution, which outlines the relationship between the states, the
United States Congress has the power to admit new states to the union. The states are required to give "
Full Faith and Credit Clause full faith and credit" to the acts of each other's legislatures and courts, which is generally held to include the recognition of legal contracts, marriages, criminal judgments, and—at the time—slave status. The states are guaranteed military and civil defense by the federal government, which is also required to ensure that the government of each state remains a republic.
Admission of states into the union
Image:US states by date of statehood.PNG List of U.S. states by date of statehood thumb|220px|US states by [[List of U.S. states by date of statehood|date of statehood.html" title="Meaning of date of statehood.html" title="Meaning of thumb|220px|US states by [[List of U.S. states by date of statehood|date of statehood">thumb|220px|US states by [[List of U.S. states by date of statehood|date of statehood">date of statehood.html" title="Meaning of thumb|220px|US states by [[List of U.S. states by date of statehood|date of statehood">thumb|220px|US states by [[List of U.S. states by date of statehood|date of statehood
Since the ratification of the Constitution, the number of states has expanded from 13 to 50. The Constitution is rather laconic on the process by which new states can be added, noting only that "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union", and forbidding a new state to be created out of the territory of an existing state without the consent of both that state's legislature and of Congress.
In practice, nearly all states admitted to the union after the original thirteen have been formed from U.S. territories (that is, land under the sovereignty of the United States federal government but not part of any state) that were
Organized territory organized (given a measure of self-rule by Congress). Generally speaking, the organized government of a territory would make known the sentiment of its population in favor of statehood; Congress would then direct that government to organize a
constitutional convention to write a state constitution. Upon acceptance of that Constitution, Congress would then admit that territory as a state. The broad outlines in this process were established by the
Northwest Ordinance, which actually predated the ratification of the Constitution.
However, Congress has ultimate authority over the admission of new states, and is not bound to follow this procedure. A few U.S. states outside of the original 13 have been admitted that were never organized territories:
*'''Vermont,''' an unrecognized but ''de facto'' independent republic until its admission in 1791
*'''Kentucky,''' a part of Virginia until its admission in 1792
*'''Maine,''' a part of Massachusetts until its admission in 1820
*'''Texas,''' an independent republic until its admission in 1845
*'''California,''' created as a state out of the unorganized territory of the
Mexican Cession in 1850 without ever having been a separate organized territory itself
*'''West Virginia,''' a part of Virginia until its admission in 1863
Congress is also under no obligation to admit states even in those areas whose population expresses a desire for statehood. For instance, the Republic of Texas requested annexation to the United States in 1836, but fears about the conflict with Mexico that would result delayed admission for nine years.
Utah Territory was denied admission to the union as a state for decades because of discomfort with
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' dominance in the territory, and particularly with the Mormon elite's practice of
polygamy.
Secession
The Constitution is silent on the issue of the
secession of a state from the union. The Articles of Confederation had stated that the earlier union of the colonies "shall be perpetual," and the
Preamble to the United States Constitution preamble to the Constitution states that Constitution was intended to "form a more perfect union." In 1860 and 1861, several states attempted to secede, but were brought back into the Union by force of arms during the
American Civil War Civil War. Subsequently, the federal judicial system, in the case of ''
Texas v. White,'' established that states do not have the right to secede without the consent of the other states.
Naming issues: Commonwealths, republics, and states
Four of the states bear the formal title of
Commonwealth:
Kentucky,
Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania, and
Virginia. In these cases, this is merely a name and has no legal effect. Somewhat confusingly, two U.S. territories --
Puerto Rico and the
Northern Marianas -- are also referred to as commonwealths, and do have a legal status different from the states.
Texas and
California are referred to on some official seals and documents as the
Republic of Texas and the
California Republic. These are historical artifacts: Texas was an independent nation for nine years, and California was (unrecognized) for about 25 days. However, these anachronisms have no legal consequence.
State judicial systems
States are free to organize their judicial systems differently from the federal judiciary, as long as
due process is protected. See
state court and
state supreme court for more information. Most have a trial level court, generally called a District Court or County Court, a first-level appellate court, generally called Courts of Appeals, and a Supreme Court. Texas, however, has a [http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us Court of Criminal Appeals] as the highest court for criminal cases and the Supreme Court for civil cases. Although New York follows the traditional three-level pattern, the trial court is called a ''Supreme Court'', appeals are heard by the ''Supreme Court, Appellate Division'' and the highest court is the ''Court of Appeals''; however, unlike Texas, these are only differences in terminology, not function.
New states on the horizon?
Today, there are very few U.S. territories left that might potentially become new states. In light of recent events, the most likely candidate may be
Puerto Rico. The commonwealth's government has organized several
referendum referenda on the question of status over the past several decades, though Congress has not recognized these as binding; all shown resulted in narrow victories for the status quo over statehood, with independence supported by only a small number of voters. In December 2005, a presidential task force proposed a new set of referenda on the issue; if Congress votes in line with the task force's recommendation, it would pave the way for the first Congressionally mandated votes on status in the island, and, potentially, statehood, by the end of the decade.
Most residents of the
District of Columbia support statehood of some form for that jurisdiction -- either statehood for the whole district or for the inhabited part, with the remainder remaining under federal jurisdiction. However, the strong left-leaning politics of the District's residents make the idea of its admission as a state unpalatable to the Republican-controlled Congress, and questions persist over the District's government's ability to successfully manage its finances. While statehood is always a live political question in the District, the prospects for any movement in that direction in the immediate future seem dim. Instead, an emphasis on continuing Home Rule in the District while also giving the District a vote in Congress is gaining support. It seems likely that the District will gain a voting member of the House of Representatives at some point, while the question of Senators for the District is unresolved.
For the remaining permanently inhabited U.S. non-state jurisdictions -- the
United States Virgin Islands,
Guam, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and
American Samoa -- the prospects of statehood are remote. All have relatively small populations -- Guam, with the most inhabitants, has a population less than 35 percent that of Wyoming, the least populous state -- and have governments that are heavily reliant on federal funding.
Origin of states' names
Image:US state names language2.PNG list_of U.S. state name etymologies thumb|[[list of U.S. state name etymologies|U.S. state name etymologies.html" title="Meaning of U.S. state name etymologies.html" title="Meaning of thumb|[[list of U.S. state name etymologies|U.S. state name etymologies">thumb|[[list of U.S. state name etymologies|U.S. state name etymologies">U.S. state name etymologies.html" title="Meaning of thumb|[[list of U.S. state name etymologies|U.S. state name etymologies">thumb|[[list of U.S. state name etymologies|U.S. state name etymologies
State names speak to the circumstances of their creation. (See the lists of
list of U.S. state name etymologies U.S. state name etymologies and
lists of U.S. county name etymologies U.S. county name etymologies for more detail.)
'''British'''
: Southern states on the
Atlantic Ocean Atlantic coast originated as British colonies named after
British monarch British monarchs:
Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia, the
Carolinas,
Virginia, and
Maryland. Some northeastern states, also former British colonies, take their names from places in the
British Isles:
New Hampshire,
New Jersey, and
New York.
Pennsylvania, meaning "Penn's woods," in Latin, takes its name from its founder,
William Penn.
'''Native American'''
: Many states' names are those of
Indigenous peoples of the Americas Native American tribes or are from Native American languages:
Nebraska,
Kansas,
Massachusetts,
Hawaii,
Connecticut,
Missouri,
Iowa,
Wisconsin,
Illinois,
Minnesota, the
Dakotas,
Mississippi,
Texas,
Utah,
Ohio and others. Additionally, the name of
Idaho was presented as a Native American word by eccentric lobbyist
George M. Willing, though it was later revealed that he made it up.
'''Spanish'''
: Because they are on territories previously controlled by
Spain or
Mexico, many states in the southeast and southwest have
Spanish language Spanish names. They include
Colorado,
New Mexico,
Florida,
Nevada and
Montana.
California is also believed to be of Spanish origin, though this is
Origin of the name California not entirely clear.
'''French'''
: Because it was previously a French colony,
Louisiana is named after
Louis XIV of France Louis XIV (the King of France at the time).
Maine is also named after a historical region in France of the same name.
'''Origin unknown'''
: The origins of the names of
Oregon and
Rhode Island are unknown, although various theories exist.
List of states
The states, with their
U.S. postal abbreviations,
Traditional U.S. state abbreviations traditional abbreviations, capitals, largest cities, and flags are as follows. For a complete list of non-state dependent areas and other territory under control of the United States, see
Insular area United States dependent areas.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Postal !! Traditional !! State !! Capital !! Most Populous City !! Flag
|-
| AL || Ala. ||
Alabama .html">Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery ||
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ||
Image:Flag of Alabama.svg 45px
|-
| AK || Alaska ||
Alaska .html">Juneau, Alaska
Juneau ||
Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage ||
Image:Flag of Alaska.svg 45px
|-
| AZ || Ariz. ||
Arizona .html">Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ||
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ||
Image:Flag of Arizona.svg 45px
|-
| AR || Ark. ||
Arkansas .html">Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock ||
Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock ||
Image:Flag of Arkansas.svg 45px
|-
| CA || Cal. or Calif. ||
California .html">Sacramento, California
Sacramento ||
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ||
Image:Flag of California.svg 45px
|-
| CO || Colo. ||
Colorado .html">Denver, Colorado
Denver ||
Denver, Colorado Denver ||
Image:Flag of Colorado.svg 45px
|-
| CT || Conn. ||
Connecticut .html">Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford ||
Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport ||
Image:Flag of Connecticut.svg 45px
|-
| DE || Del. ||
Delaware .html">Dover, Delaware
Dover ||
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ||
Image:Flag of Delaware.svg 45px
|-
| FL || Fla. ||
Florida .html">Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee ||
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ||
Image:Flag of Florida.svg 45px
|-
| GA || Ga. ||
Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia ||
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ||
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ||
Image:Georgia state flag.png 45px
|-
| HI || Hawaii ||
Hawaii .html">Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu ||
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ||
Image:Flag of Hawaii.svg 45px
|-
| ID || Id. ||
Idaho .html">Boise, Idaho
Boise ||
Boise, Idaho Boise ||
Image:Flag of Idaho.svg 45px
|-
| IL || Ill. ||
Illinois .html">Springfield, Illinois
Springfield ||
Chicago, Illinois Chicago ||
Image:Flag of Illinois.svg 45px
|-
| IN || Ind. ||
Indiana .html">Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis ||
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ||
Image:Flag of Indiana.svg 45px
|-
| IA || Ia. ||
Iowa .html">Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines ||
Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines ||
Image:Flag of Iowa.svg 45px
|-
| KS || Kan. or Kans. ||
Kansas .html">Topeka, Kansas
Topeka ||
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ||
Image:Flag of Kansas.svg 45px
|-
| KY || Ky. ||
Kentucky .html">Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort ||
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ||
Image:Flag of Kentucky.svg 45px
|-
| LA || La. ||
Louisiana .html">Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ||
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans * ||
Image:Flag of Louisiana.svg 45px
|-
| ME || Maine ||
Maine .html">Augusta, Maine
Augusta ||
Portland, Maine Portland ||
Image:Flag of Maine.svg 45px
|-
| MD || Md. ||
Maryland .html">Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis ||
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ||
Image:Flag of Maryland.svg 45px
|-
| MA || Mass. ||
Massachusetts .html">Boston, Massachusetts
Boston ||
Boston, Massachusetts Boston ||
Image:Flag of Massachusetts.svg 45px
|-
| MI || Mich. ||
Michigan .html">Lansing, Michigan
Lansing ||
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ||
Image:Flag of Michigan.svg 45px
|-
| MN || Minn. ||
Minnesota .html">Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul ||
Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis ||
Image:Flag of Minnesota.svg 45px
|-
| MS || Miss. ||
Mississippi .html">Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson ||
Jackson, Mississippi Jackson ||
Image:Flag of Mississippi.svg 45px
|-
| MO || Mo. ||
Missouri .html">Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City ||
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City ||
Image:Flag of Missouri.svg 45px
|-
| MT || Mont. ||
Montana .html">Helena, Montana
Helena ||
Billings, Montana Billings ||
Image:Flag of Montana.svg 45px
|-
| NE || Neb. ||
Nebraska .html">Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln ||
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ||
Image:Flag of Nebraska.svg 45px
|-
| NV || Nev. ||
Nevada .html">Carson City, Nevada
Carson City ||
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas ||
Image:Flag of Nevada.svg 45px
|-
| NH || N.H. ||
New Hampshire .html">Concord, New Hampshire
Concord ||
Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester ||
Image:Flag of New Hampshire.svg 45px
|-
| NJ || N.J. ||
New Jersey .html">Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton ||
Newark, New Jersey Newark ||
Image:Flag of New Jersey.svg 45px
|-
| NM || N.M. ||
New Mexico .html">Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe ||
Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ||
Image:Flag of New Mexico.svg 45px
|-
| NY || N.Y. ||
New York .html">Albany, New York
Albany ||
New York City .html">Image:Flag of New York.svg
45px
|-
| NC || N.C. ||
North Carolina .html">Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh ||
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ||
Image:Flag of North Carolina.svg 45px
|-
| ND || N.D. or N.Dak. ||
North Dakota .html">Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck ||
Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ||
Image:Flag of North Dakota.svg 45px
|-
| OH || O. ||
Ohio .html">Columbus, Ohio
Columbus ||
Columbus, Ohio Columbus ||
Image:Flag of Ohio.svg 45px
|-
| OK || Okla. ||
Oklahoma .html">Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City ||
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City ||
Image:Flag of Oklahoma.svg 45px
|-
| OR || Ore. or Oreg. ||
Oregon .html">Salem, Oregon
Salem ||
Portland, Oregon Portland ||
Image:Flag of Oregon.svg 45px
|-
| PA || Penn. or Penna. ||
Pennsylvania .html">Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg ||
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ||
Image:Flag of Pennsylvania.svg 45px
|-
| RI || R.I. ||
Rhode Island .html">Providence, Rhode Island
Providence ||
Providence, Rhode Island Providence ||
Image:Flag of Rhode Island.svg 45px
|-
| SC || S.C. ||
South Carolina .html">Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia ||
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia ||
Image:Flag of South Carolina.svg 45px
|-
| SD || S.D. or S.Dak. ||
South Dakota .html">Pierre, South Dakota
Pierre ||
Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ||
Image:Flag of South Dakota.svg 45px
|-
| TN || Tenn. ||
Tennessee .html">Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville ||
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis ||
Image:Flag of Tennessee.svg 45px
|-
| TX || Tex. or Texas ||
Texas .html">Austin, Texas
Austin ||
Houston, Texas Houston ||
Image:Flag of Texas.svg 45px
|-
| UT || Utah ||
Utah .html">Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City ||
Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City ||
Image:Flag of Utah.svg 45px
|-
| VT || Vt. ||
Vermont .html">Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier ||
Burlington, Vermont Burlington ||
Image:Flag of Vermont.svg 45px
|-
| VA || Va. ||
Virginia .html">Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ||
Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach ||
Image:Flag of Virginia.svg 45px
|-
| WA || Wash. ||
Washington .html">Olympia, Washington
Olympia ||
Seattle, Washington Seattle ||
Image:Flag of Washington.svg 45px
|-
| WV || W.Va. ||
West Virginia .html">Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston ||
Charleston, West Virginia Charleston ||
Image:Flag of West Virginia.svg 45px
|-
| WI || Wis. or Wisc. ||
Wisconsin .html">Madison, Wisconsin
Madison ||
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ||
Image:Flag of Wisconsin.svg 45px
|-
| WY || Wyo. ||
Wyoming .html">Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne ||
Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ||
Image:Flag of Wyoming.svg 45px
|}
* Prior to
Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was the most populous city in Louisiana. Since Katrina the population of
Baton Rouge has increased substantially. Figures based on the latest
U.S. Census in 2000 will show New Orleans as the largest.
Trivia
Names
* "Georgia" can refer to either a
Georgia (U.S. state) U.S. state or to an independent
Georgia (country) country in the
Caucasus.
* The name "New York" can refer to any one of three geographical levels: a
New York state, a
New York, New York city in that state, or a
New York County, New York county (coterminous with the
borough of
Manhattan) in that city.
* "Hawaii" can refer to the name of either the
Hawaii State of Hawaii, or the
Hawaii (island) Island of Hawaii.
* "Washington" is a
Washington state, a
Washington, DC city corresponding to the
District of Columbia (and thus not part of any state), and a number of cities and
Washington County counties in various states. See the
list of places named for George Washington.
* The state of Washington is the only state named after a
President of the United States U.S. President.
* The official name of
Rhode Island is "the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations."
* In many jurisdictions outside of the United States, the capital city shares part or all of its name with the larger political unit of which it is the capital. However, only two U.S. states have
state capitals named for the state:
Oklahoma, with its capital
Oklahoma City, and
Indiana, with capital its
Indianapolis (''polis'' meaning "city" in
Greek language Greek).
Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City was the first state capital of
Iowa, but the capital was later moved to
Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines.
*
Maine is the only state with a
syllable monosyllabic name.
* ''Q'' is the only letter not to appear in the name of a state. ''J'' and ''Z'' each appear in the name of exactly one state (respectively, New Jersey and Arizona).
*Two state names can be typed with one hand on a
QWERTY keyboard Texas (left) and Ohio (right).
Geography
*
Kentucky is the only state to have a portion of its land completely surrounded by other states (Tennessee and Missouri) due to a bend in the Mississippi River. See
Kentucky Bend.
*
Colorado and
Wyoming are bounded by two
circles of latitude and two
meridian (geography) meridians each, i.e. they appear to be rectangles in a
Map projection#Cylindrical cylindrical map projection.
*
Colorado,
Utah, and
Wyoming are the only states whose borders are made up of only straight lines (taking meridians and circles of latitude as straight lines) and, thus, the only states whose borders completely ignore natural features.
* Every state—except Hawaii, which has no land boundaries—has straight lines as at least part of its boundaries. These are usually combined with rivers (see
river borders of U.S. states),
ridge lines, and other natural boundaries.
Pennsylvania and
Delaware are unique in that their common border is an arc of a
circle, see
The Twelve-Mile Circle.
* The
Lower Peninsula of Michigan lower peninsula of Michigan is shaped like a
mitten;
Louisiana is shaped like a
boot.
*
Alaska,
Florida,
Idaho,
Maryland,
Nebraska,
Oklahoma,
Texas, and
West Virginia have
panhandles.
*
Alabama,
Missouri,
New Mexico, and
Mississippi have
bootheels.
*
Alaska and
Hawaii are the only states that are not physically connected to other states;
Maine is the only state that borders only one other state.
Missouri and
Tennessee each border eight other states, the most for any state.
*
Arizona,
New Mexico,
Colorado, and
Utah are the only four states to share a common border, known as the "
Four Corners (United States) Four Corners."
* Contrary to appearances given by the
stereographic projection,
Minnesota is the northernmost of the forty-eight contiguous United States. A northern spur of the state, the
Northwest Angle, contains a portion of
Lake of the Woods. At one time, it was thought that Lake of the Woods contained the headwaters of the
Mississippi River (which are now known to be at
Lake Itasca).
*
Alaska is the northernmost state and the westernmost state. Some would argue that it is also the easternmost state, as the Aleutian island chain crosses the 180º line of longitude.
* The southernmost point is
Ka Lae,
Hawaii, at {{coor dms.html">Ballast Key,
Florida, is the southernmost point in the
continental United States contiguous 48 states.html" title="Meaning of 54|40|N|155|40|52|W|}}. contiguous 48 states">contiguous 48 states at {{coor dms|24|31|15|N|81|57|49|W|}}.
Subdivision of Texas to form new states
The joint resolution which admitted the
Republic of Texas to the Union as a state guaranteed
Texas the right to divide itself up into up to 5 states. This clause is something of an anomaly -- conventional wisdom in Texas has it that this is a right that the state may still exercize at any time. However, constitutionally, a state may only be divided into more states with the approval both of Congress and of the state's legislature, as was the case when
Maine was split off from
Massachusetts. The idea that a Congressional joint resolution from 1845 might serve as a sort of advanced Congressional approval for a move to divide Texas today seems unlikely to pass muster. In fact, the clause in question was almost certainly intended to give Texas the option of ''entering'' the union as more one than state. Once it chose to enter the union as a single state, it became subject to the usual rules regarding its subdivision into multiple states. As there is no organized movement today to divide Texas into multiple states, the point is largely academic.
Grouping of the states in regions
Image:Map of USA showing regions.png U.S. West thumb|250px|right|U.S. Census Bureau regions:
[[U.S. West|The West,
Midwest The Midwest,
U.S. Southern States The South and
U.S. Northeast The Northeast. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the
Aleutian Islands and the
uninhabited island uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map..html" title="Meaning of The West.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|right|U.S. Census Bureau regions:
[[U.S. West|The West">thumb|250px|right|U.S. Census Bureau regions:
[[U.S. West|The West,
Midwest The Midwest,
U.S. Southern States The South and
U.S. Northeast The Northeast. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the
Aleutian Islands and the
uninhabited island uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.">The West.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|right|U.S. Census Bureau regions:
[[U.S. West|The West">thumb|250px|right|U.S. Census Bureau regions:
[[U.S. West|The West,
Midwest The Midwest,
U.S. Southern States The South and
U.S. Northeast The Northeast. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the
Aleutian Islands and the
uninhabited island uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.
States may be grouped in regions; there are endless variations and possible groupings, as most states are not defined by obvious geographic or cultural borders. For further discussion of regions of the U.S., see the
list of regions of the United States.
State lists
*
List of U.S. state capitals
*
List of current and former capital cities within U.S. states
*
List of U.S. states' largest cities
*
List of U.S. states by date of statehood
*
List of U.S. states that were never territories
*
List of U.S. state name etymologies
*
List of state legislatures in the United States
*
List of U.S. states by area
*
List of U.S. states by elevation
*
List of U.S. states by GDP (nominal)
*
List of U.S. states by GDP per capita (nominal)
*
List of U.S. states by population
*
List of U.S. states by population density
*
List of U.S. states by time zone
*
List of U.S. states by unemployment rate
*
Traditional U.S. state abbreviations
*
U.S. postal abbreviations
*
U.S. state temperature extremes
*Codes:
FIPS state code,
ISO 3166-2:US
*
Lists of U.S. state insignia
**
List of U.S. state amphibians
**
List of U.S. state beverages
**
List of U.S. state birds
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List of U.S. state butterflies
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List of U.S. state colors
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List of U.S. state dances
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List of U.S. state dinosaurs
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List of U.S. state fish
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List of U.S. state flags
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List of U.S. state flowers
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List of U.S. state foods
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List of U.S. state fossils
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List of U.S. state grasses
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List of U.S. state insects
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List of U.S. state license plates
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List of U.S. state mammals
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List of U.S. state minerals, rocks, stones and gemstones
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List of U.S. state mottos
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List of U.S. state nicknames
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List of U.S. state reptiles
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List of U.S. state seals
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List of U.S. state slogans
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List of U.S. state soils
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List of U.S. state songs
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List of U.S. state sports
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List of U.S. state trees
See also
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Extreme points of the United States
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Geography of the United States
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List of regions of the United States
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Political divisions of the United States
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United States territory
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United States territorial acquisitions
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List of U.S. counties that share names with U.S. states
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States' rights
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State Quarters
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51st state
References
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wikisource:United_States_Declaration_of_Independence United States Declaration of Independence (text)
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Declaration of Independence (United States)
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United States Constitution
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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
External links
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Tables with areas, populations, densities and more (in order of population)
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Tables with areas, populations, densities and more (alphabetical)
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U.S. Newspapers by State
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Origin of State Names
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Rick's Search Assistant - Web links and addresses for many state agencies, e.g., Motor Vehicles, Corporate Records, Insurance, Attorneys General
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United States Postal Service
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State and Territorial Governments on FirstGov.gov
{{USPoliticalDivisions}}
Category:Lists of subnational entities United States, States of the
Category:Subdivisions of the United States
Category:States of the United States
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U.S. state
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