States and territories of the United States

An American state is one of the states of the United States of America.

They have some powers and sovereignty which they share with the United States federal government.

Four states (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky) use the term commonwealth rather than State because they called themselves that when the United States was first formed, but this is only tradition and they are still states.

The states, with their U.S. postal abbreviations and capitals, are:

Phoenix, Arizona, the largest state capital

Montpelier, Vermont, the smallest state capital

In addition to the states, several other areas belong to the United States:

• AS American Samoa
• DC District of Columbia, which is the seat of the Federal government
• GU Guam
• MP Northern Mariana Islands, Commonwealth
• PR Puerto Rico, Commonwealth
• VI the United States Virgin Islands

Map of states

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