Facts about the 50 states

How the states joined

The 50 states joined the Union over 172 years. The first 13 were the original colonies, which became states by ratifying the US Constitution between December 1787, when Delaware went first, and May 1790, when Rhode Island finally agreed. Vermont, which had governed itself as an independent state since 1777, became the 14th in 1791, followed by Kentucky in 1792 and Tennessee in 1796.

The 19th century added 29 more as the country spread west, from Ohio in 1803 to Utah in 1896. Some came in clusters: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington were all admitted in November 1889, and Idaho and Wyoming the following July. West Virginia was born in the middle of the Civil War, splitting from Virginia in 1863. The last five came in the 20th century: Oklahoma in 1907, New Mexico and Arizona in 1912, and Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.

Capitals with a story

Most state capitals are not their state’s biggest city. Only 17 are, including Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, Boston and Nashville. Many were chosen for being near the middle of the state, and some, like Raleigh, Columbia, Jackson and Jefferson City, were laid out from scratch for the purpose. Santa Fe has been a capital since 1610, longer than any other, while several states moved their capitals again and again before settling down; Vermont’s legislature met in 14 different towns before choosing Montpelier, now the smallest state capital, with fewer than 8,000 people. Each state’s capital page tells how its capital was chosen.

Flags, seals and symbols

Every state has a flag, a seal and a list of official symbols set out in law or by resolution. Together the 50 states have about 1,800 official designations. Tennessee has the most, 88, including 16 state songs; Iowa has the fewest, just 9. Birds, flowers and trees are nearly universal, but the lists also include state dinosaurs, rocks and soils, dances, foods, tartans and even, in Utah, an official word for a resident. Many were proposed by schoolchildren.

Some symbols are shared widely. The northern cardinal is the state bird of seven states and the western meadowlark of six, while violets, roses and goldenrods turn up on several states’ flower lists. Each symbol on this site comes with the year it was adopted and the law behind it.

Names from many languages

State names come from many sources. Many come from Native American words, among them Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Utah and Dakota. Others honor English royalty, like Virginia, Maryland, Georgia and the Carolinas; some are Spanish, like Florida, Nevada, Colorado and Montana; and one, Washington, is named for a president. Each state’s page explains where its name comes from.

Size and people

The 50 states had about 341 million residents in 2025. California is the most populous, with about 39.4 million, and Wyoming the least, with about 589,000, fewer than many cities. Alaska is by far the largest state, at 665,384 square miles, more than twice the size of Texas, and Rhode Island the smallest, at 1,545. New Jersey is the most densely settled and Alaska the least.