List of states and territories of the United States explained

The United States of America is a federal republic^[1] consisting of 50 states, a federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major territories, and various minor islands.^{[2] [3]} Both the states and the United States as a whole are each sovereign jurisdictions.^[4] The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution allows states to exercise all powers of government not delegated to the federal government. Each state has its own constitution and government, and 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.^[5] 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.^[6] The federal district does not have representatives in the Senate, but has a non-voting delegate in the House, and it is also entitled to electors in the Electoral College. Congress can admit more states, but it cannot create a new state from territory of an existing state or merge two or more states into one without the consent of all states involved, and each new state is admitted on an equal footing with the existing states.^[7]

The United States has control over fourteen 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 an organic act 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, although all are represented by non-voting delegates in the House.

The largest state by population is California, with a population of 39,538,223 people, while the smallest is Wyoming, with a population of 576,851 people; the federal district has a larger population (689,545) than both Wyoming and Vermont. The largest state by area is Alaska, encompassing, while the smallest is Rhode Island, encompassing . The most recent states to be admitted, Alaska and Hawaii, were admitted in 1959. The largest territory by population is Puerto Rico, with a population of 3,285,874 people (larger than 21 states), while the smallest is the Northern Mariana Islands, with a population of 47,329 people. Puerto Rico is the largest territory by area, encompassing ; the smallest territory, Kingman Reef, encompasses only .

States

States of the United States of America

Flag, name and postal abbreviation^[8]	Cities	Ratification or admission	Population (2020)^[9]	Total area^[10]
Capital	Largest^[11]	mi^2	km^2
	AL
	AK
	AZ
	AR
	CA
	CO
	CT
	DE
	FL
	GA
	HI
	ID
	IL
	IN
	IA
	KS
	KY
	LA
	ME
	MD
	MA
	MI
	MN
	MS
	MO
	MT
	NE
	NV
	NH
	NJ
	NM
	NY
	NC
	ND
	OH
	OK
	OR
	PA
	RI
	SC
	SD
	TN
	TX
	UT
	VT
	VA
	WA
	WV
	WI
	WY

Territories

Inhabited territories

Inhabited territories of the United States

	Capital	Acquired ^[13]	Territorial status^[14]	Population ^[15]	Total area
mi^2	km^2
	AS	Pago Pago^[16]	1900
	GU	Hagåtña^[17]	1899
	MP	Saipan^[18]	1986
	PR	San Juan^[19]	1899
	VI	Charlotte Amalie^[20]	1917

Uninhabited territories

Territories of the United States with no permanent population

Name	Acquired	Territorial status	Land area
mi^2	km^2
Baker Island^[21]	1856
Howland Island	1858
Jarvis Island^[22]	1856
Johnston Atoll^[23]	1859
Kingman Reef^[24]	1860
Midway Atoll^[25]	1867
Navassa Island^[26]	1858
Palmyra Atoll^[27]	1898
Wake Island	1899

Disputed territories

Territories claimed but not administered by the United States

Name	Claimed	Territorial status^[28]	Area	Administered by	Also claimed by
mi^2	km^2
Bajo Nuevo Bank (Petrel Island)	1869		^[29]		Jamaica Nicaragua
Serranilla Bank	1880		^[30]		Honduras Nicaragua

See also

• Aboriginal title in the United States
• Historic regions of the United States
• List of Indian reservations in the United States
• List of regions of the United States
• Lists of U.S. state topics
• Local government in the United States
• Organized incorporated territories of the United States
• Proposals for a 51st state
• Territorial evolution of the United States
• U.S. territorial sovereignty
• Compact of Free Association

References

• Book: Radan, Peter . Creating New States: Theory and Practice of Secession . 2007 . Ashgate Publishing, Ltd . Radan. 9780754671633 .

External links

• State Resource Guides, from the Library of Congress
• State and Territorial Governments on USA.gov

Notes and References

1. Book: Onuf, Peter S. . The Origins of the Federal Republic: Jurisdictional Controversies in the United States, 1775–1787 . 1983 . University of Pennsylvania Press . Philadelphia . 978-0-8122-1167-2. subscription .
2. Web site: Common Core Document of the United States of America: Submitted With the Fourth Periodic Report of the United States of America to the United Nations Committee on Human Rights concerning the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. U.S. Department of State, via The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs. July 9, 2017. mdy-all.
3. Web site: U.S. Insular Areas: application of the U.S. Constitution . . November 1997 . July 10, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131103093032/http://www.gao.gov/archive/1998/og98005.pdf . November 3, 2013 . live . mdy-all .
4. [#Radan|Radan, 2007]
5. Web site: Kristin D. . Burnett . Congressional Apportionment (2010 Census Briefs C2010BR-08) . https://web.archive.org/web/20111119155913/http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-08.pdf . dead . 2011-11-19 . .
6. Web site: Elhauge. Einer R.. Essays on Article II: Presidential Electors. The Heritage Foundation. December 29, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20170724095029/http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/79/presidential-electors. July 24, 2017. live. mdy-all.
7. Web site: Doctrine of the Equality of States. Justia Law. June 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20121019004026/http://law.justia.com/constitution/us/article-4/22-doctrine-of-equality-of-states.html. October 19, 2012. live. mdy-all.
8. Web site: Appendix B: Two–Letter State and possession Abbreviations. Postal Addressing Standards. United States Postal Service. Washington, D.C.. May 2015. March 3, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180305202445/https://pe.usps.com/text/pub28/28apb.htm. March 5, 2018. live. mdy-all.
9. Web site: Resident Population for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census. U.S. Census Bureau . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231207051107/https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/apportionment/apportionment-2020-table02.pdf . Dec 7, 2023 .
10. Web site: State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates. U.S. Census Bureau. Washington, D.C.. ... provides land, water and total area measurements for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. The area measurements were derived from the Census Bureau's Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER®) database. The boundaries of the states and equivalent areas are as of January 1, 2010. The land and water areas, ... reflect base feature updates made in the MAF/TIGER® database through August, 2010. . March 3, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180316004512/https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/state-area.html. March 16, 2018. dead . mdy-all.
11. Web site: State and Local Government Finances and Employment. https://web.archive.org/web/20111017142616/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0448.pdf. dead. October 17, 2011. 2012. United States Census Bureau. 284. July 8, 2013.
12. Web site: The History of Washington, DC. Destination DC. March 3, 2018. 2016-03-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20180306083424/https://washington.org/DC-information/washington-dc-history. March 6, 2018. live. mdy-all.
13. Web site: Acquisition Process of Insular Areas . . July 9, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120414172502/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/acquisition_process.htm . April 14, 2012 .
14. Web site: Definitions of Insular Area Political Organizations. U.S. Department of the Interior. Washington, D.C.. March 1, 2018. 2015-06-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20180713013603/https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/politicatypes. July 13, 2018. live. mdy-all.
15. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/10/first-2020-census-united-states-island-areas-data-released-today.html 2020 Population of U.S. Island Areas Just Under 339,000
16. Web site: American Samoa. Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook. July 9, 2013. mdy-all.
17. Web site: Guam. Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook. July 9, 2013. mdy-all.
18. Web site: Northern Mariana Islands. Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook. July 9, 2013. mdy-all.
19. Web site: Puerto Rico. Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook. July 9, 2013. mdy-all.
20. Web site: Virgin Islands. The World Factbook. July 9, 2013. mdy-all.
21. Web site: Baker Island. Office of Insular Affairs. https://web.archive.org/web/20120419040523/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/bhpage.htm. April 19, 2012. July 9, 2013.
22. Web site: Jarvis Island. Office of Insular Affairs. https://web.archive.org/web/20120207205021/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/jarvispage.htm. February 7, 2012. July 9, 2013.
23. Web site: Johnston Island. Office of Insular Affairs. https://web.archive.org/web/20120314031716/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/johnstonpage.htm. March 14, 2012. July 9, 2013.
24. Web site: Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge. United States Fish and Wildlife Service. July 9, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130516175056/http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=12534. May 16, 2013. live. mdy-all.
25. Web site: Midway Atoll. Office of Insular Affairs. https://web.archive.org/web/20120204035600/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/midwaypage.htm. February 4, 2012. July 9, 2013.
26. Web site: Navassa Island. U.S. Department of the Interior. Washington, D.C.. March 3, 2018. 2015-06-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20160815201647/https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/navassa. August 15, 2016. live. mdy-all.
27. Web site: Palmyra Atoll. Office of Insular Affairs. https://web.archive.org/web/20120111123148/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/palmyrapage.htm. January 11, 2012. July 9, 2013.
28. Web site: Lewis. Martin W.. When Is an Island Not An Island? Caribbean Maritime Disputes. GeoCurrents. March 21, 2011. June 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170422200136/http://www.geocurrents.info/geopolitics/when-is-an-island-not-an-island-caribbean-maritime-disputes. April 22, 2017. live. mdy-all.
29. Web site: US Minor Outlying Islands – Bajo Nuevo Bank. Geocaching. June 6, 2017. July 10, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150711093130/http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2757B_us-minor-outlying-islands-bajo-nuevo-bank?guid=4a263fd5-14aa-491b-bc21-f866034aa85a. July 11, 2015. live. mdy-all.
30. Web site: Cayo Serranilla. es. Eco Fiwi. June 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170731234016/http://sanandresislas.es.tl/SERRANILLA.htm. July 31, 2017. live. mdy-all.