Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The following table is a list of all 50 states and their respective dates of statehood. The first 13 became states 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, its first constitution. [6]
The name "United States Minor Outlying Islands" started to be used in 1986. [124] Previously, some of the islands were included in a group called " United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands ". Baker Island was named for Michael Baker in 1832.
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 earliest known use of the name "America" dates to 1505, when German poet Matthias Ringmann used it in a poem about the New World. [2] The word is a Latinized form of the first name of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who first proposed that the West Indies discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 were part of a previously unknown landmass, rather than the eastern limit of Asia.
Eleven states are named after individual people, including seven named for royalty and one named after a President of the United States. The origins of six state names are unknown or disputed. The origins of six state names are unknown or disputed.
Massachusetts is officially named The Commonwealth of Massachusetts by its constitution. The name State of Massachusetts Bay was used in all acts and resolves up to 1780 and in the first draft of the constitution. The current name can be traced to the second draft of the state constitution, which was written by John Adams and ratified in 1780. [14]
[2] [3] In the event of a vacancy, the governor is succeeded by the second-highest-ranking state official; in 45 states and 4 territories, the lieutenant governor is the first in the line of succession. [4] [5] As of January 8, 2024, there are 27 states with Republican governors and 23 states with Democratic governors.
Map of the United States showing the state nicknames as hogs. Lithograph by Mackwitz, St. Louis, 1884. The following is a table of U.S. state, federal district and territory nicknames, including officially adopted nicknames and other traditional nicknames for the 50 U.S. states, the U.S. federal district, as well as five U.S. territories.