List of states and territories of the United States

A map of the United States with all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 48 states and the District of Columbia are contiguous, located north of Mexico and south of Canada. Alaska is located in the extreme northwest of North America, bordering the Canadian territory of Yukon and province of British Columbia, and Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean.

The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, one federal district (Washington, D.C.), and one incorporated territory (Palmyra Atoll).[1] States are the primary subdivisions of the United States, and possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, such as regulating intrastate commerce, running elections, creating local governments, and ratifying Constitutional amendments. Under the tenth amendment to the Constitution, the states can exercise all powers that are not delegated to the federal government.[2] Each state has its own government, consisting of an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch.[3] They are all represented in the federal Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate (the upper house) and the House of Representatives (the lower house). Each state is represented by two Senators, while Representatives are awarded to each state in proportion to their total population.[4] The federal district does not have representatives in the Senate, but has a non-voting delegate in the House. Each state, as well as the federal district, is entitled to electors in the Electoral College, the body that elects the President of the United States, equal to the combined number of senators and representatives that state has in Congress.[5] Congress can admit more states, but it cannot create a new state from territory of an existing state or merge two or more states into one without the consent of all states involved.[6]

In addition to the 50 states and federal district, the United States has control over 14 territories. Five of them (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) have a permanent, nonmilitary population, while nine of them (the United States Minor Outlying Islands) do not. With the exception of Navassa Island, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which are located in the Caribbean, all territories are located in the Pacific Ocean. One territory, Palmyra Atoll, is considered to be incorporated, meaning the full body of the Constitution has been applied to it; the other territories are unincorporated, meaning the Constitution does not fully apply to them. Ten territories (the Minor Outlying Islands and American Samoa) are considered to be unorganized, meaning they have not had an Organic Act enacted by Congress; the four other territories are organized, meaning they have had an Organic Act that has been enacted by Congress. The five inhabited territories each have limited autonomy in addition to having territorial legislatures and governors, but residents cannot vote in federal elections.

Out of the 50 states, California is the most populous, with an estimated 38,332,521 residents as of 2013; Wyoming is the least populous, with an estimated 582,658 residents. The District of Columbia, with an estimated 646,449 residents as of 2012, has a higher population than the two least populous states (Wyoming and Vermont). The largest state by area is Alaska, encompassing 665,384 square miles (1,723,337 square kilometers), while the smallest is Rhode Island, encompassing 1,545 square miles (4,002 square kilometers). The first state to ratify the current Constitution was Delaware, which it did on December 7, 1787, while the newest state is Hawaii, which was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959. The largest territory in terms of both population and size is Puerto Rico, with 3,725,789 residents as of the 2010 Census and a total area of 5,325 square miles (13,792 square kilometers).

States

States of the United States
State Abbr. Capital Largest city[upper-alpha 1][7] Statehood Population
(2013 est)[8]		 Total area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 2][9] Land area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 2][9] Water area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 2][9] House seat(s)
 Alabama AL Montgomery Birmingham December 14, 1819 4,833,722 52,420 (135,767) 50,645 (131,170) 1,775 (4,597) 7
 Alaska AK Juneau Anchorage January 3, 1959 735,132 665,384 (1,723,337) 570,641 (1,477,950) 94,743 (245,383) 1
 Arizona AZ Phoenix Phoenix February 14, 1912 6,626,624 113,990 (295,233) 113,594 (294,207) 396 (1,026) 9
 Arkansas AR Little Rock Little Rock June 15, 1836 2,959,373 53,179 (137,733) 52,035 (134,770) 1,143 (2,960) 4
 California CA Sacramento Los Angeles September 9, 1850 38,332,521 163,695 (423,968) 155,779 (403,466) 7,916 (20,502) 53
 Colorado CO Denver Denver August 1, 1876 5,268,367 104,094 (269,602) 103,642 (268,432) 452 (1,171) 7
 Connecticut CT Hartford Bridgeport January 9, 1788 3,596,080 5,543 (14,356) 4,842 (12,541) 701 (1,816) 5
 Delaware DE Dover Wilmington December 7, 1787 925,749 2,489 (6,446) 1,949 (5,048) 540 (1,399) 1
 Florida FL Tallahassee Jacksonville March 3, 1845 19,552,860 65,758 (170,312) 53,625 (138,888) 12,133 (31,424) 27
 Georgia GA Atlanta Atlanta January 2, 1788 9,992,167 59,425 (153,910) 57,513 (148,958) 1,912 (4,950) 14
 Hawaii HI Honolulu Honolulu August 21, 1959 1,404,054 10,932 (28,314) 6,423 (16,635) 4,509 (11,678) 2
 Idaho ID Boise Boise July 3, 1890 1,612,136 83,569 (216,443) 82,643 (214,044) 926 (2,398) 2
 Illinois IL Springfield Chicago December 3, 1818 12,882,135 57,914 (149,997) 55,519 (143,794) 2,395 (6,203) 18
 Indiana IN Indianapolis Indianapolis December 11, 1816 6,570,902 36,420 (94,327) 35,826 (92,789) 593 (1,536) 9
 Iowa IA Des Moines Des Moines December 28, 1846 3,090,416 56,273 (145,746) 55,857 (144,669) 416 (1,077) 4
 Kansas KS Topeka Wichita January 29, 1861 2,893,957 82,278 (213,099) 81,759 (211,755) 520 (1,347) 4
 Kentucky[upper-alpha 3] KY Frankfort Louisville June 1, 1792 4,395,295 40,408 (104,656) 39,486 (102,268) 921 (2,385) 6
 Louisiana LA Baton Rouge New Orleans April 30, 1812 4,625,470 52,378 (135,658) 43,204 (111,898) 9,174 (23,761) 6
 Maine ME Augusta Portland March 15, 1820 1,328,302 35,380 (91,634) 30,843 (79,883) 4,537 (11,751) 2
 Maryland MD Annapolis Baltimore April 28, 1788 5,928,814 12,406 (32,131) 9,707 (25,141) 2,699 (6,990) 8
 Massachusetts[upper-alpha 4] MA Boston Boston February 6, 1788 6,692,824 10,554 (27,335) 7,800 (20,202) 2,754 (7,133) 9
 Michigan MI Lansing Detroit January 26, 1837 9,895,622 96,714 (250,488) 56,539 (146,435) 40,175 (104,053) 14
 Minnesota MN St. Paul Minneapolis May 11, 1858 5,420,380 86,936 (225,163) 79,627 (206,233) 7,309 (18,930) 8
 Mississippi MS Jackson Jackson December 10, 1817 2,991,207 48,432 (125,438) 46,923 (121,530) 1,509 (3,908) 4
 Missouri MO Jefferson City Kansas City August 10, 1821 6,021,988 69,707 (180,540) 68,742 (178,041) 965 (2,499) 8
 Montana MT Helena Billings November 8, 1889 1,015,165 147,040 (380,832) 145,546 (376,962) 1,494 (3,869) 1
 Nebraska NE Lincoln Omaha March 1, 1867 1,868,516 77,348 (200,330) 76,824 (198,973) 524 (1,357) 3
 Nevada NV Carson City Las Vegas October 31, 1864 2,790,136 110,572 (286,380) 109,781 (284,331) 791 (2,049) 4
 New Hampshire NH Concord Manchester June 21, 1788 1,323,459 9,349 (24,214) 8,953 (23,188) 397 (1,028) 2
 New Jersey NJ Trenton Newark December 18, 1787 8,899,339 8,723 (22,592) 7,354 (19,047) 1,368 (3,543) 12
 New Mexico NM Santa Fe Albuquerque January 6, 1912 2,085,287 121,590 (314,917) 121,298 (314,160) 292 (756) 3
 New York NY Albany New York July 26, 1788 19,651,127 54,555 (141,297) 47,126 (122,056) 7,429 (19,241) 27
 North Carolina NC Raleigh Charlotte November 21, 1789 9,848,060 53,819 (139,391) 48,618 (125,920) 5,201 (13,471) 13
  North Dakota ND Bismarck Fargo November 2, 1889 723,393 70,698 (183,107) 69,001 (178,712) 1,698 (4,398) 1
 Ohio OH Columbus Columbus March 1, 1803 11,570,808 44,826 (116,099) 40,861 (105,830) 3,965 (10,269) 16
 Oklahoma OK Oklahoma City Oklahoma City November 16, 1907 3,850,568 69,899 (181,038) 68,595 (177,660) 1,304 (3,377) 5
 Oregon OR Salem Portland February 14, 1859 3,930,065 98,379 (254,800) 95,988 (248,608) 2,391 (6,193) 5
 Pennsylvania[upper-alpha 5] PA Harrisburg Philadelphia December 12, 1787 12,773,801 46,054 (119,279) 44,743 (115,884) 1,312 (3,398) 18
 Rhode Island[upper-alpha 6] RI Providence Providence May 29, 1790 1,051,511 1,545 (4,002) 1,034 (2,678) 511 (1,320) 2
 South Carolina SC Columbia Columbia May 23, 1788 4,774,839 32,020 (82,931) 30,061 (77,858) 1,960 (5,076) 7
 South Dakota SD Pierre Sioux Falls November 2, 1889 844,877 77,116 (199,730) 75,811 (196,350) 1,305 (3,380) 1
 Tennessee TN Nashville Memphis June 1, 1796 6,495,978 42,144 (109,152) 41,235 (106,798) 909 (2,354) 9
 Texas TX Austin Houston December 29, 1845 26,448,193 268,596 (695,660) 261,232 (676,588) 7,365 (19,075) 36
 Utah UT Salt Lake City Salt Lake City January 4, 1896 2,900,872 84,897 (219,882) 82,170 (212,819) 2,727 (7,063) 4
 Vermont VT Montpelier Burlington March 4, 1791 626,630 9,616 (24,905) 9,217 (23,872) 400 (1,036) 1
 Virginia[upper-alpha 7] VA Richmond Virginia Beach June 25, 1788 8,260,405 42,775 (110,787) 39,490 (102,279) 3,285 (8,508) 11
 Washington WA Olympia Seattle November 11, 1889 6,971,406 71,298 (184,661) 66,456 (172,120) 4,842 (12,541) 10
 West Virginia WV Charleston Charleston June 20, 1863 1,854,304 24,230 (62,755) 24,038 (62,258) 192 (497) 3
 Wisconsin WI Madison Milwaukee May 29, 1848 5,742,713 65,496 (169,634) 54,158 (140,269) 11,339 (29,368) 8
 Wyoming WY Cheyenne Cheyenne July 10, 1890 582,658 97,813 (253,335) 97,093 (251,470) 720 (1,865) 1

Federal district

Federal district of the United States
Name Abbr. Date established Population
(2013 est)[8]		 Total area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 2][9] Land area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 2][9] Water area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 2][9] House seat
 District of Columbia DC July 16, 1790 646,449 68 (176) 61 (158) 7 (18) 1[upper-alpha 8]

Territories

A map showing the location of each territory controlled by the United States. The United States is marked in blue, inhabited territories are marked in green, and uninhabited territories are marked in orange.

Inhabited territories

Inhabited territories of the United States
Territory Abbr. Capital Acquired[10] Territorial status Population (2010) Total area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 2][11] Land area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 2][11] Water area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 2][11] House seat
 American Samoa AS Pago Pago[12] 1900 Unincorporated, unorganized 55,519 581 (1,505) 76 (197) 505 (1,308) 1[upper-alpha 8]
 Guam GU Hagåtña[13] 1899 Unincorporated, organized 159,358 571 (1,479) 210 (544) 361 (935) 1[upper-alpha 8]
 Northern Mariana Islands[upper-alpha 9] MP Saipan[14] 1986 Unincorporated, organized 53,883 1,976 (5,118) 182 (471) 1,793 (4,644) 1[upper-alpha 8]
 Puerto Rico[upper-alpha 10] PR San Juan[15] 1899 Unincorporated, organized 3,725,789 5,325 (13,792) 3,424 (8,868) 1,901 (4,924) 1[upper-alpha 11]
 U.S. Virgin Islands VI Charlotte Amalie[16] 1917 Unincorporated, organized 106,405 733 (1,898) 134 (347) 599 (1,551) 1[upper-alpha 8]

Uninhabited territories

Territories of the United States with no permanent population
Territory Acquired[10] Territorial status[17] Land area in mi2 (km2)[upper-alpha 12]
Baker Island 1856 Unincorporated, unorganized 0.9 (2.3)[18]
Howland Island 1858 Unincorporated, unorganized 0.6 (1.6)[18]
Jarvis Island 1856 Unincorporated, unorganized 2.2 (5.7)[19]
Johnston Atoll 1859 Unincorporated, unorganized 1 (2.6)[20]
Kingman Reef 1860 Unincorporated, unorganized 0.01 (0.03)[21]
Midway Atoll[upper-alpha 13] 1867 Unincorporated, unorganized 3 (7.8)[23]
Navassa Island 1858 Unincorporated, unorganized 3 (7.8)[24]
Palmyra Atoll[upper-alpha 14] 1898 Incorporated, unorganized 1.5 (3.9)[25]
Wake Island[upper-alpha 15] 1899 Unincorporated, unorganized 2.5 (6.5)[26]

See also

Notes

Notes

  1. ↑ The largest city is the city in a state with the largest population in the city proper; metropolitan areas are not considered in this number.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Area figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.
  3. ↑ The state of Kentucky is known officially as the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
  4. ↑ The state of Massachusetts is known officially as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
  5. ↑ The state of Pennsylvania is known officially as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
  6. ↑ The state of Rhode Island is known officially as the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
  7. ↑ The state of Virginia is known officially as the Commonwealth of Virginia.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Represented by a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives.
  9. ↑ The Northern Mariana Islands are officially known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
  10. ↑ Puerto Rico is officially known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
  11. ↑ Represented by a non-voting resident commissioner in the House of Representatives.
  12. ↑ The uninhabited territories contain no water area.
  13. ↑ Although Midway Atoll lacks a permanent, indigenous population, around 40 United States Fish and Wildlife Service staff and service contractors live on the island at any given time.[22]
  14. ↑ Although Palmyra Atoll lacks a permanent, indigenous population, between four and 20 nature conservatory employees, United States Fish and Wildlife Service staff and researchers live on the island at any given time.[22]
  15. ↑ Although Wake Island lacks a permanent, indigenous population, the island is populated by around 150 military and civilian contractors, who staff the Wake Island Airfield as well as communications facilities.[26]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "United States". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Map Layer Info". National Atlas of the United States. nationalatlas.gov. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions About the Minnesota Legislature". Minnesota State Legislature. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
  4. ↑ Article I, Section 2, Constitution of the United States (June 21, 1788). Retrieved on July 10, 2013.
  5. ↑ Article II, Section 1, Constitution of the United States (June 21, 1788). Retrieved on July 10, 2013.
  6. ↑ Article IV, Section 3, Constitution of the United States (June 21, 1788). Retrieved on July 10, 2013.
  7. ↑ "State and Local Government Finances and Employment" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2012. p. 284. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Table 1. Annual Estimates of the Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013" (MICROSOFT EXCEL). 2013 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. December 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 "2010 Census of Population and Housing" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. September 2012. p. 41. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Acquisition Process of Insular Areas". Office of Insular Affairs. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "2010 Census of Population and Housing" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. September 2012. p. 1. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  12. ↑ "American Samoa". The World Factbook. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Guam". The World Factbook. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Northern Mariana Islands". The World Factbook. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Puerto Rico". The World Factbook. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Virgin Islands". The World Factbook. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  17. ↑ "11025: Nationality". Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Baker Island". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Jarvis Island". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Johnston Island". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge". United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "United States Pacific Islands Wildlife Refuges". The World Factbook. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Midway Atoll". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Navassa Island". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Palmyra Atoll". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Wake Island". The World Factbook. Retrieved October 10, 2014.

References

External links

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