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.
| Table of contents |
|
2 List of states 3 History 4 Various facts about the states 5 Grouping of the states in regions 6 See also 7 External links |
The states, with their US postal abbreviations (Associated Press abbreviations), and capitals, are:
Map
List of states
For a complete list of non-state dependent areas and other territory under control of the U.S., see United States dependent areas.
At the time of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, the 13 colonies became 13 independently sovereign states. 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."
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.
History
Various facts about the states
Grouping of the states in regions
See also
External links
| [ Edit { | Political divisions of the United States | |||||||
| ||||||||