US state - Term Explanation on IndexSuche.Com

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 the states.

Map

List of states

The states, with their US_postal_abbreviations (Associated Press abbreviations), and capitals, are:

AL (Ala.) Alabama - Montgomery

AK (Alaska) Alaska - Juneau

AZ (Ariz.) Arizona - Phoenix

AR (Ark.) Arkansas - Little Rock

CA (Calif.) California - Sacramento

CO (Colo.) Colorado - Denver

CT (Conn.) Connecticut - Hartford

DE (Del.) Delaware - Dover

FL (Fla.) Florida - Tallahassee

GA (Ga.) Georgia - Atlanta

HI (Hawaii) Hawaii - Honolulu

ID (Idaho) Idaho - Boise

IL (Ill.) Illinois - Springfield

IN (Ind.) Indiana - Indianapolis

IA (Iowa) Iowa - Des Moines

KS (Kan.) Kansas - Topeka

KY (Ky.) Kentucky - Frankfort

LA (La.) Louisiana - Baton Rouge

ME (Maine) Maine - Augusta

MD (Md.) Maryland - Annapolis

MA (Mass.) Massachusetts - Boston

MI (Mich.) Michigan - Lansing

MN (Minn.) Minnesota - Saint Paul

MS (Miss.) Mississippi - Jackson

MO (Mo.) Missouri - Jefferson City

MT (Mont.) Montana - Helena

NE (Neb.) Nebraska - Lincoln

NV (Nev.) Nevada - Carson City

NH (N.H.) New_Hampshire - Concord

NJ (N.J.) New_Jersey - Trenton

NM (N.M.) New_Mexico - Santa Fe

NY (N.Y.) New_York - Albany

NC (N.C.) North_Carolina - Raleigh

ND (N.D.) North_Dakota - Bismarck

OH (Ohio) Ohio - Columbus

OK (Okla.) Oklahoma - Oklahoma City

OR (Ore.) Oregon - Salem

PA (Pa.) Pennsylvania - Harrisburg

RI (R.I.) Rhode_Island - Providence

SC (S.C.) South_Carolina - Columbia

SD (S.D.) South_Dakota - Pierre

TN (Tenn.) Tennessee - Nashville

TX (Texas) Texas - Austin

UT (Utah) Utah - Salt Lake City

VT (Vt.) Vermont - Montpelier

VA (Va.) Virginia - Richmond

WA (Wash.) Washington - Olympia

WV (W.Va.) West_Virginia - Charleston

WI (Wis.) Wisconsin - Madison

WY (Wyo.) Wyoming - Cheyenne In addition to the states, several other areas belong to or have associations with the United States:

AS American_Samoa

DC (D.C.) District_of_Columbia, which is the seat of the Federal government

GU Guam

MP Northern_Mariana_Islands, Commonwealth

PR Puerto_Rico, Commonwealth

VI the U.S._Virgin_Islands

Midway_Atoll

Guantanamo_Bay (the US has "complete jurisdiction and control" under a lease from Cuba, which retains ultimate sovereignty) For a complete list of dependent areas and other territory under control of the U.S., see United States Dependent areas. Unlike states, the authority to rule dependent 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

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

Four of the states bear the formal title of , Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In these cases, this is merely a name and has no legal impact. However, the United States has non-state areas called commonwealths (Puerto_Rico and the Northern_Marianas) which do have a legal status different from the states.

"Georgia" can refer to either a U.S. state or to an independent country in the Caucasus.

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 , with capital Oklahoma_City, and Indiana, with capital Indianapolis (which means Indiana City).

State names speak to the circumstances of their creation.

Southern states on the , the , 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 , Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Texas, and perhaps Arizona, as well as, of course, New_Mexico.

Grouping of the states in regions

''U.S. Census Bureau regions:The West, The Midwest, The South and The Northeast. 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.

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