List of states and territories of the United States

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 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. 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.

Each state is entitled to select a number of electors to vote in the Electoral College, the body that elects the nation's president and vice president, 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 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. Each new state is admitted on an equal footing with the existing states.

The United States possesses fourteen territories. Five of them (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands) have a permanent, non-military 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 and territorial legislatures and governors. 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. 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 mi2. The smallest is Rhode Island, encompassing 1,545 mi2. 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. 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 mi2. The smallest territory, Kingman Reef, encompasses 0.005 mi2, or a little larger than 3 acres.

Territories

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Inhabited territories

Name and
postal abbreviation	Capital	Acquired
Territorial status	Population (2020)
Total area	Reps.	mi2	km2	American Samoa	Guam	Northern Mariana Islands	Puerto Rico	U.S. Virgin Islands
AS	url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/american-samoa/	title=American Samoa	publisher=Central Intelligence Agency	work=The World Factbook	access-date=July 9, 2013	df=mdy-all}}	1900			581.05 mi2
GU	Hagåtña	1899			570.62 mi2
MP	url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/northern-mariana-islands/	title=Northern Mariana Islands	publisher=Central Intelligence Agency	work=The World Factbook	access-date=July 9, 2013	df=mdy-all}}	1986			1975.57 mi2
PR	San Juan	1899			5324.84 mi2
VI	Charlotte Amalie	1917			732.93 mi2

Uninhabited territories

Name	Acquired	Territorial status	Land area	mi2	km2	Baker Island	Howland Island	Jarvis Island	Johnston Atoll	Kingman Reef	Midway Atoll	Navassa Island	Palmyra Atoll	Wake Island
1856		0.85 mi2
1858		0.625 mi2
1856		2.2 mi2
1859		1 mi2
1860		0.0046875 mi2
1867		3 mi2
1858
3 mi2
1898		1.5 mi2
1899
6.5 km2

Disputed territories

Main article: List of territorial disputes#Central America and the Caribbean

Name	Claimed
Territorial status	Area	Administered by	Also claimed by	mi2	km2	Bajo Nuevo Bank (Petrel Island)	Serranilla Bank
1869		145.01 km2	Colombia	Jamaica
Nicaragua
1880		1200 km2	Colombia	Honduras
Nicaragua