U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 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 independently sovereign states, in a confederation. After the failure of the union under the Articles of Confederation, the 13 states joined the modern union via ratification of the Constitution, beginning in 1789.
The United States Congress has the power to admit new 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.
- The state of Washington is the only state 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.
- In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and city level, special-purpose entities such as conservation districts also exist.
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
