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A U.S. state is any one of the fifty states which have membership of the federation known as the United States of America (USA or
US). The individual state
governments and the U.S. federal government share
sovereignty. Under the United States Constitution, the federal government can legislate only on matters explicitly
delegated to it by the Constitution, with the remaining governmental powers belonging to each individual state.
Map
List of states
The states, with their US postal abbreviations
(Associated Press abbreviations), and capitals, are:
For a complete list of non-state dependent areas and other territory under control of the U.S., see United States dependent areas.
History
At the time of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, the 13 colonies became 13
states. The United States Congress has the right/power
to admit states to the Union.
The Constitution is silent on the issue of the secession of a state from the
United States. The Civil War was fought to prevent states from leaving the Union.
Some people claim that it is still not established whether any state can secede legally. Prior to the adoption of the
Constitution, the Articles of Confederation
stated that "the union shall be perpetual."
Various facts about the states
- The name "New York" can refer to any one of three geographical levels: a state,
a city in that state, or a county (coterminous with the borough of Manhattan) in that city.
- "Washington" is a state, a city corresponding to the District of
Columbia (and thus not part of any state), and a number of cities and counties in various states. The state Washington is the only one named after a U.S. President (or after a person born within
the area now comprising the U.S., for that matter).
- One state at the time of joining the United States had the right to
divide itself into up to five separate states. The treaty of annexation by which the Republic of Texas joined the United States in 1845 included this provision; the state of Texas arguably retains that right by
virtue of the treaty.
- Only two states have state capitals named for the state (however,
such name-sharing occurs commonly with states and provinces in some other countries, where the state or province actually often
takes its name from a capital city): Oklahoma, with capital Oklahoma City, and Indiana, with
capital Indianapolis (which means Indiana City).
- State names speak to the circumstances of their creation. (See also Etymological list of U.S. states.)
- Southern states on the Atlantic coast originated as British
colonies named after British monarchs: Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland. Some northeastern states, also former British colonies, take their names from places in Great Britain: New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York.
- Many later states reflect the names of indigenous Indian tribes: Missouri,
Iowa, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Mississippi, and more; half the
state-names have such origins, not counting Hawaii.
- Many states in the southeast and southwest have Spanish names
since Spain or Mexico controlled these
territories at some stage: California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada,
Texas, and perhaps Arizona, as well as, of
course, New Mexico.
Grouping of the states in regions
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.
See also
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