Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index

U.S. state

A U.S. State is any one of the fifty states which is a member of the federation known as the United States of America. Sovereignty is divided between the individual states and the federal government. 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 the states.

Table of contents
1 Map
2 List of states
3 History
4 Various facts about the states
5 Grouping of the states in regions
6 See also

Map

List of states

The states, with their US postal abbreviations and capitals, are:

In addition to the states, several other areas belong to the United States:

For a complete list of dependent areas and other territory under current or former control of the US, see United States Dependent areas.

Unlike states the authority to rule those areas comes not from the people of those areas but from the Federal government, however in most cases Congress has granted a large amount of self-rule.

History

Upon the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, there were 13 states. States can be admitted to the Union by Congress.

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.

Various facts about the states

Grouping of the states in regions

The US Census Bureau Regions

States may be grouped in regions. There is much debate over which states are included into regions. The only regions that are clearly defined are those used by the US Census Bureau. There are many possible groupings. Here are some of them:

US Census Bureau Regions

Other US Regions See also Geography of the United States.

See also