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The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, a federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major territories, and various minor islands. Both the states and the United States as a whole are each sovereign jurisdictions. 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 elects two senators, while representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census. 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. 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.

The United States has control over fourteen territories. Five of them (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States 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 665,384 square miles (1,723,340 km), while the smallest is Rhode Island, encompassing 1,545 square miles (4,000 km). 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 5,325 square miles (13,790 km); the smallest territory, Kingman Reef, encompasses only 0.005 square miles (0.013 km), or a little larger than 3 acres.

States

States of the United States of America

Flag, name and postal abbreviation		Cities		Ratification or admission	Population (2020)	Total area		Reps.
		Capital	Largest			mi	km
Alabama	AL	Montgomery	Huntsville	Dec 14, 1819	5,024,279	52,420	135,767	7
Alaska	AK	Juneau	Anchorage	Jan 3, 1959	733,391	665,384	1,723,337	1
Arizona	AZ	Phoenix		Feb 14, 1912	7,151,502	113,990	295,234	9
Arkansas	AR	Little Rock		Jun 15, 1836	3,011,524	53,179	137,732	4
California	CA	Sacramento	Los Angeles	Sep 9, 1850	39,538,223	163,695	423,967	52
Colorado	CO	Denver		Aug 1, 1876	5,773,714	104,094	269,601	8
Connecticut	CT	Hartford	Bridgeport	Jan 9, 1788	3,605,944	5,543	14,357	5
Delaware	DE	Dover	Wilmington	Dec 7, 1787	989,948	2,489	6,446	1
Florida	FL	Tallahassee	Jacksonville	Mar 3, 1845	21,538,187	65,758	170,312	28
Georgia	GA	Atlanta		Jan 2, 1788	10,711,908	59,425	153,910	14
Hawaii	HI	Honolulu		Aug 21, 1959	1,455,271	10,932	28,313	2
Idaho	ID	Boise		Jul 3, 1890	1,839,106	83,569	216,443	2
Illinois	IL	Springfield	Chicago	Dec 3, 1818	12,812,508	57,914	149,995	17
Indiana	IN	Indianapolis		Dec 11, 1816	6,785,528	36,420	94,326	9
Iowa	IA	Des Moines		Dec 28, 1846	3,190,369	56,273	145,746	4
Kansas	KS	Topeka	Wichita	Jan 29, 1861	2,937,880	82,278	213,100	4
Kentucky	KY	Frankfort	Louisville	Jun 1, 1792	4,505,836	40,408	104,656	6
Louisiana	LA	Baton Rouge	New Orleans	Apr 30, 1812	4,657,757	52,378	135,659	6
Maine	ME	Augusta	Portland	Mar 15, 1820	1,362,359	35,380	91,633	2
Maryland	MD	Annapolis	Baltimore	Apr 28, 1788	6,177,224	12,406	32,131	8
Massachusetts	MA	Boston		Feb 6, 1788	7,029,917	10,554	27,336	9
Michigan	MI	Lansing	Detroit	Jan 26, 1837	10,077,331	96,714	250,487	13
Minnesota	MN	Saint Paul	Minneapolis	May 11, 1858	5,706,494	86,936	225,163	8
Mississippi	MS	Jackson		Dec 10, 1817	2,961,279	48,432	125,438	4
Missouri	MO	Jefferson City	Kansas City	Aug 10, 1821	6,154,913	69,707	180,540	8
Montana	MT	Helena	Billings	Nov 8, 1889	1,084,225	147,040	380,831	2
Nebraska	NE	Lincoln	Omaha	Mar 1, 1867	1,961,504	77,348	200,330	3
Nevada	NV	Carson City	Las Vegas	Oct 31, 1864	3,104,614	110,572	286,380	4
New Hampshire	NH	Concord	Manchester	Jun 21, 1788	1,377,529	9,349	24,214	2
New Jersey	NJ	Trenton	Newark	Dec 18, 1787	9,288,994	8,723	22,591	12
New Mexico	NM	Santa Fe	Albuquerque	Jan 6, 1912	2,117,522	121,590	314,917	3
New York	NY	Albany	New York City	Jul 26, 1788	20,201,249	54,555	141,297	26
North Carolina	NC	Raleigh	Charlotte	Nov 21, 1789	10,439,388	53,819	139,391	14
North Dakota	ND	Bismarck	Fargo	Nov 2, 1889	779,094	70,698	183,108	1
Ohio	OH	Columbus		Mar 1, 1803	11,799,448	44,826	116,098	15
Oklahoma	OK	Oklahoma City		Nov 16, 1907	3,959,353	69,899	181,037	5
Oregon	OR	Salem	Portland	Feb 14, 1859	4,237,256	98,379	254,799	6
Pennsylvania	PA	Harrisburg	Philadelphia	Dec 12, 1787	13,002,700	46,054	119,280	17
Rhode Island	RI	Providence		May 29, 1790	1,097,379	1,545	4,001	2
South Carolina	SC	Columbia	Charleston	May 23, 1788	5,118,425	32,020	82,933	7
South Dakota	SD	Pierre	Sioux Falls	Nov 2, 1889	886,667	77,116	199,729	1
Tennessee	TN	Nashville		Jun 1, 1796	6,910,840	42,144	109,153	9
Texas	TX	Austin	Houston	Dec 29, 1845	29,145,505	268,596	695,662	38
Utah	UT	Salt Lake City		Jan 4, 1896	3,271,616	84,897	219,882	4
Vermont	VT	Montpelier	Burlington	Mar 4, 1791	643,077	9,616	24,906	1
Virginia	VA	Richmond	Virginia Beach	Jun 25, 1788	8,631,393	42,775	110,787	11
Washington	WA	Olympia	Seattle	Nov 11, 1889	7,705,281	71,298	184,661	10
West Virginia	WV	Charleston		Jun 20, 1863	1,793,716	24,230	62,756	2
Wisconsin	WI	Madison	Milwaukee	May 29, 1848	5,893,718	65,496	169,635	8
Wyoming	WY	Cheyenne		Jul 10, 1890	576,851	97,813	253,335	1

Federal district

Federal district of the United States

Flag, name and postal abbreviation		Established	Population (2020)	Total area		Reps.
				mi	km
District of Columbia	DC	Jul 16, 1790	689,545	68	176	1

Territories

Inhabited territories

Inhabited territories of the United States

Name and postal abbreviation		Capital	Acquired	Territorial status	Population (2020)	Total area		Reps.
						mi	km
American Samoa	AS	Pago Pago	1900	Unincorporated, unorganized	49,710	581	1,505	1
Guam	GU	Hagåtña	1899	Unincorporated, organized	153,836	571	1,478	1
Northern Mariana Islands	MP	Saipan	1986	Unincorporated, organized	47,329	1,976	5,117	1
Puerto Rico	PR	San Juan	1899	Unincorporated, organized	3,285,874	5,325	13,791	1
U.S. Virgin Islands	VI	Charlotte Amalie	1917	Unincorporated, organized	87,146	733	1,898	1

Uninhabited territories

Disputed territories

Territories claimed but not administered by the United States

Name	Claimed	Territorial status	Area		Administered by	Also claimed by
			mi	km
Bajo Nuevo Bank (Petrel Island)	1869	Unincorporated, unorganized (disputed sovereignty)	56	145	Colombia	Jamaica  Nicaragua
Serranilla Bank	1880	Unincorporated, unorganized (disputed sovereignty)	463	1,200	Colombia	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
• List of U.S. states and territories by population
• 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

Explanatory notes

1. The original 13 states became sovereign in July 1776 upon agreeing to the United States Declaration of Independence, and each joined the first Union of states between 1777 and 1781, upon ratifying the Articles of Confederation. These states are presented in the order in which each ratified the 1787 Constitution, thus joining the present federal Union of states. Subsequent states are listed in the order of their admission to the Union, and the date given is the official establishment date set by Act of Congress. For further details, see List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union
2. ^ Uses the term commonwealth rather than state in its full official name
3. ^ Represented by a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives.
4. Although not organized through a federal organic act or other explicit Congressional directive on governance, the people of American Samoa adopted a constitution in 1967, and then in 1977, elected territorial officials for the first time.
5. ^ Organized as a commonwealth.
6. Represented by a non-voting resident commissioner in the House of Representatives.
7. Excluding lagoon
8. Although there are no indigenous inhabitants, around 40 United States Fish and Wildlife Service staff and service contractors live on the island at any given time.
9. U.S. sovereignty is disputed by Haiti.
10. Although there are no indigenous inhabitants, between 4 and 20 Nature Conservancy, employees, United States Fish and Wildlife Service staff, and researchers live on the island at any given time.
11. Although there are no indigenous inhabitants, as of 2009, around 150 U.S. 150 U.S. military personnel and civilian contractors were living on the island, staffing the Wake Island Airfield and communications facilities.
12. U.S. sovereignty is disputed by the Republic of Marshall Islands.
13. This is the approximate figure for the land area of the bank, and does not include the surrounding territorial waters.
14. This figure includes the total land area of the Serranilla Bank and the water area of its lagoon, but not the surrounding territorial waters.

References

1. Onuf, Peter S. (1983). The Origins of the Federal Republic: Jurisdictional Controversies in the United States, 1775–1787. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1167-2.
2. "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. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
3. "U.S. Insular Areas: application of the U.S. Constitution" (PDF). Government Accountability Office. November 1997. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
4. Radan, 2007, p. 12
5. Burnett, Kristin D. "Congressional Apportionment (2010 Census Briefs C2010BR-08)" (PDF). U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 19, 2011.
6. Elhauge, Einer R. "Essays on Article II: Presidential Electors". The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
7. "Doctrine of the Equality of States". Justia Law. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
8. ^ "Appendix B: Two–Letter State and possession Abbreviations". Postal Addressing Standards. Washington, D.C.: United States Postal Service. May 2015. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
9. Jensen, Merrill (1959). The Articles of Confederation: An Interpretation of the Social-Constitutional History of the American Revolution, 1774–1781. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. xi, 184. ISBN 978-0-299-00204-6.
10. ^ "Resident Population for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 7, 2023.
11. ^ "State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018. ... 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.
12. Click on the spreadsheet link labeled "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 20,000 or More" "City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2023". census.gov. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
13. "The History of Washington, DC". Destination DC. March 15, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
14. ^ "Directory of Representatives". Washington, D.C.: U.S. House of Representatives. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
15. ^ "Acquisition Process of Insular Areas". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
16. ^ "Definitions of Insular Area Political Organizations". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior. June 12, 2015. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
17. 2020 Population of U.S. Island Areas Just Under 339,000, U.S. Census Bureau, October 28, 2021.
18. "American Samoa". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
19. "Islands We Serve: American Samoa". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior. June 11, 2015. Archived from the original on March 9, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
20. "Guam". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
21. "Northern Mariana Islands". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
22. "Puerto Rico". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
23. "Virgin Islands". The World Factbook. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
24. ^ "Baker Island". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
25. "Jarvis Island". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
26. "Johnston Island". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
27. "Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge". United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
28. ^ "United States Pacific Islands Wildlife Refuges". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
29. "Midway Atoll". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
30. "Navassa Island". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior. June 12, 2015. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
31. Colon, Yves (September 25, 1998). "U.S., Haiti Squabble Over Control of Tiny Island". Miami Herald. Webster University. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
32. "Palmyra Atoll". Office of Insular Affairs. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
33. ^ "Wake Island". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
34. Earnshaw, Karen (December 17, 2016). "Enen Kio (a.k.a. Wake Island): Island of the kio flower". Marshall Islands Guide. Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
35. ^ Lewis, Martin W. (March 21, 2011). "When Is an Island Not An Island? Caribbean Maritime Disputes". GeoCurrents. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
36. "US Minor Outlying Islands – Bajo Nuevo Bank". Geocaching. June 6, 2017. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
37. "Cayo Serranilla" (in Spanish). Eco Fiwi. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2017.

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

External links

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

• Administrative divisions of the United States by state and territory
• Political divisions of the United States
• Administrative divisions in North America
• Lists of administrative divisions
• States of the United States
• Lists of subdivisions of the United States
• United States geography-related lists
• Lists of states of the United States