List of states and territories of the United States

A map of the United States with all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 52 states, a federal district (where the nation's seat of government–Washington, D.C.–is located), five major territories, and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America (also bordering Canada) and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

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. Each state has its own constitution, grounded in republican principles, and government, consisting of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. All states and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state is represented by two Senators, while Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census. Additionally, each state is entitled to select a number of electors to vote in the Electoral College, the body that elects the President of the United States, equal to the total of Representatives and Senators in Congress from that state. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Each new state has been admitted on an equal footing with the existing states.

As provided by Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress exercises "exclusive jurisdiction" over the federal district, which is not part of any state. Prior to passage of the 1973 District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which devolved certain Congressional powers to an elected mayor and council, the district did not have an elected local government. Even so, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs. As it's not a state, the district does not have representation in the Senate. However, since 1971, its residents have been represented in the House of Representatives by a non-voting delegate. Additionally, since 1961, following ratification of the 23rd Amendment, the district has been entitled to select three electors to vote in the Electoral College.

In addition to the 50 states and federal district, the United States has sovereignty 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

See also: U.S. state

States of the United States In North America

State	Abbr.	Capital	Largest city	Statehood	Population (2013 est)	Total area in mi2 (km2)	Land area in mi2 (km2)	Water area in mi2 (km2)	House seat(s)
Alabama	AL	Montgomery	Birmingham	December 14, 1819	4,833,722				7
Alaska	AK	Juneau	Anchorage	January 3, 1959	735,132				1
Arizona	AZ	Phoenix	Phoenix	February 14, 1912	6,626,624				9
Arkansas	AR	Little Rock	Little Rock	June 15, 1836	2,959,373				4
California	CA	Sacramento	Los Angeles	September 9, 1850	38,332,521				53
Colorado	CO	Denver	Denver	August 1, 1876	5,268,367				7
Connecticut	CT	Hartford	Bridgeport	January 9, 1788	3,596,080				5
Delaware	DE	Dover	Wilmington	December 7, 1787	925,749				1
Florida	FL	Tallahassee	Jacksonville	March 3, 1845	19,552,860				27
Georgia	GA	Atlanta	Atlanta	January 2, 1788	9,992,167				14
Hawaii	HI	Honolulu	Honolulu	August 21, 1959	1,404,054				2
Idaho	ID	Boise	Boise	July 3, 1890	1,612,136				2
Illinois	IL	Springfield	Chicago	December 3, 1818	12,882,135				18
Indiana	IN	Indianapolis	Indianapolis	December 11, 1816	6,570,902				9
Iowa	IA	Des Moines	Des Moines	December 28, 1846	3,090,416				4
Kansas	KS	Topeka	Wichita	January 29, 1861	2,893,957				4
Kentucky	KY	Frankfort	Louisville	June 1, 1792	4,395,295				6
Louisiana	LA	Baton Rouge	New Orleans	April 30, 1812	4,625,470				6
Maine	ME	Augusta	Portland	March 15, 1820	1,328,302				2
Maryland	MD	Annapolis	Baltimore	April 28, 1788	5,928,814				8
Massachusetts	MA	Boston	Boston	February 6, 1788	6,692,824				9
Michigan	MI	Lansing	Detroit	January 26, 1837	9,895,622				14
Minnesota	MN	St. Paul	Minneapolis	May 11, 1858	5,420,380				8
Mississippi	MS	Jackson	Jackson	December 10, 1817	2,991,207				4
Missouri	MO	Jefferson City	Kansas City	August 10, 1821	6,021,988				8
Montana	MT	Helena	Billings	November 8, 1889	1,015,165				1
Nebraska	NE	Lincoln	Omaha	March 1, 1867	1,868,516				3
Nevada	NV	Carson City	Las Vegas	October 31, 1864	2,790,136				4
New Hampshire	NH	Concord	Manchester	June 21, 1788	1,323,459				2
New Jersey	NJ	Trenton	Newark	December 18, 1787	8,899,339				12
New Mexico	NM	Santa Fe	Albuquerque	January 6, 1912	2,085,287				3
New York	NY	Albany	New York	July 26, 1788	19,651,127				27
North Carolina	NC	Raleigh	Charlotte	November 21, 1789	9,848,060				13
North Dakota	ND	Bismarck	Fargo	November 2, 1889	723,393				1
Ohio	OH	Columbus	Columbus	March 1, 1803	11,570,808				16
Oklahoma	OK	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City	November 16, 1907	3,850,568				5
Oregon	OR	Salem	Portland	February 14, 1859	3,930,065				5
Pennsylvania	PA	Harrisburg	Philadelphia	December 12, 1787	12,773,801				18
Rhode Island	RI	Providence	Providence	May 29, 1790	1,051,511				2
South Carolina	SC	Columbia	Columbia	May 23, 1788	4,774,839				7
South Dakota	SD	Pierre	Sioux Falls	November 2, 1889	844,877				1
Tennessee	TN	Nashville	Memphis	June 1, 1796	6,495,978				9
Texas	TX	Austin	Houston	December 29, 1845	26,448,193				36
Utah	UT	Salt Lake City	Salt Lake City	January 4, 1896	2,900,872				4
Vermont	VT	Montpelier	Burlington	March 4, 1791	626,630				1
Virginia	VA	Richmond	Virginia Beach	June 25, 1788	8,260,405				11
Washington	WA	Olympia	Seattle	November 11, 1889	6,971,406				10
West Virginia	WV	Charleston	Charleston	June 20, 1863	1,854,304				3
Wisconsin	WI	Madison	Milwaukee	May 29, 1848	5,742,713				8
Wyoming	WY	Cheyenne	Cheyenne	July 10, 1890	582,658				1

Federal district

Federal district of the United States

Name	Abbr.	Date established	Population (2013 est)	Total area in mi2 (km2)	Land area in mi2 (km2)	Water area in mi2 (km2)	House seat
District of Columbia	DC	July 16, 1790	646,449				1

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	Territorial status	Population (2010)	Total area in mi2 (km2)	Land area in mi2 (km2)	Water area in mi2 (km2)	House seat
American Samoa	AS	Pago Pago	1900	Unincorporated, unorganized	55,519				1
Guam	GU	Hagåtña	1899	Unincorporated, organized	159,358				1
Northern Mariana Islands	MP	Saipan	1986	Unincorporated, organized	53,883				1
Puerto Rico	PR	San Juan	1899	Unincorporated, organized	3,725,789				1
U.S. Virgin Islands	VI	Charlotte Amalie	1917	Unincorporated, organized	106,405				1

Uninhabited territories

Territories of the United States with no permanent population

Territory	Acquired	Territorial status	Land area in mi2 (km2)
Baker Island	1856	Unincorporated, unorganized
Howland Island	1858	Unincorporated, unorganized
Jarvis Island	1856	Unincorporated, unorganized
Johnston Atoll	1859	Unincorporated, unorganized
Kingman Reef	1860	Unincorporated, unorganized
Midway Atoll	1867	Unincorporated, unorganized
Navassa Island	1858	Unincorporated, unorganized
Palmyra Atoll	1898	Incorporated, unorganized
Wake Island	1899	Unincorporated, unorganized

Disputed territories

Main article: List of territorial disputes § Central America and the Caribbean

Territories claimed but not administered by the United States

Territory	Acquired	Territorial status	Population	Area in mi2 (km2)	Administered by	Also claimed by
Bajo Nuevo Bank (Petrel Island)	1869	Unincorporated, unorganized (Disputed sovereignty)	0		Colombia	Jamaica Nicaragua
Serranilla Bank	1880	Unincorporated, unorganized (Disputed sovereignty)	0		Colombia	Honduras Nicaragua

See also

• Territories of the United States
• List of fictional U.S. states
• List of regions of the United States
• List of U.S. states and territories by population
• Lists of U.S. state topics
• List of U.S. state abbreviations

Notes

Notes

Footnotes

External links

• Information about All States from UCB Libraries GovPubs
• State Resource Guides, from the Library of Congress
• State and Territorial Governments on USA.gov
• BEA News Release (GDP by State) - Bureau of Economic Analysis