This is a simple question, right? 50 states, 1 district - and the CIA concurs.
Yet until a few years ago, I was convinced there are 52 states. A few Americans I’ve asked also seem to believe firmly that there are 52 states. Why is this misconception so widespread? The people I’ve corrected usually mumble something about “Hawaii and Alaska” (though those two are included in the 50 count on the CIA website). Others have alluded to Puerto Rico and Costa Rica “sort of” being considered a bit like states.
So, what’s the Straight Dope? Was there some really popular geography text book that got it wrong and caused this error to perpetuate? Or perhaps a famous speech in which a politician referred to “52 states” that has lodged in the popular subconscious?
There are only 50 states. Alaska was number 49, Hawaii number 50. Both joined in 1959.
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S., but it’s not a state.
Costa Rica doesn’t belong to the U.S. at all.
To my knowledge, I’ve never heard anyone say there were 52 states (except for during the first season of ST:TNG, when Riker deduced from a flag that a space probe was sent out during the mid 21st century when the U.S. had 52 states).
Zev Steinhardt
Every now and then, you’ll find people who claim there are FEWER than 50, oddly enough, because a few states claim that their actual status is that of “commonwealth.” But in practice, that’s a meaningless distinction. Massachusetts and Kentucky are states, no matter what they choose to call themselves.
Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are not states. However, their people are U.S. citizens. They have their own postal codes, so if you’re, say, placing an order on a web site, and you click on the box under “state,” you’ll see a comprehensive list of “state” postal codes, and it’s a safe bet that “PR” and “DC” will be among your choices (perhaps VI, as well, for the Virgin Islands). Perhaps this has led some people to conclude erroneously that they’re states. They’re not- the Post Office simply finds it convenient to give territories “state” codes and treat them like states.
Costa Rica, btw, is an independent country, and has been for a loooong time. They’d resent the suggestion that they belong to the U.S.
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia actually designate themselves as commonwealths. Puerto Rico is also designated as a “freely associated” commonwealth of the United States. I don’t know if there is any legal differentiation between Puerto Rico and the other four commonwealths, but I assume there is.
A few years ago, Insane Clown Posse had a song out that was quite popular around my geeky web-development workplace. I think it was in “F*** the World,” and the line that continually cracked all of us up was, “F*** all 52 states!” Comedy gold. Such anger and stupidity, summed up in a single song line.
I have a feeling it comes from that old memory trap that often happens(to me at least). When a lock turns non-standard direction you get in the habit of remembering “ok, this lock goes in the opposite way”. After years of doing that you instinctively know which is the right way so if the reminder absently springs to mind you flip it again in your mind and do it the wrong way.
Similarly with the # of states, people got so used to adding 2 to the usual number of states(the old non-freak 48 states) they now automatically add 2 to the 50 they know to be right. I know they’ve been states for awhile but maybe old textbooks die hard.
Kentucky, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania are states, not commonwealths. Their official names include the word “commonwealth,” but they are still states. Under the U.S. Constitution, either you’re a state or you’re not. “Commonwealth” has no meaning as a political jurisdiction in the United States.
As for the non-state jurisdictions of the United States, there are five –
the District of Columbia
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
the U.S. Virgin Islands
Guam
American Samoa
Except for the District of Columbia, all these jurisdictions are correctly termed “territories” of the United States. Yes, Puerto Rico is a territory, even though it has “commonwealth” in its name.
Actually, according to the State Department there dependencies of the U.S. are as follows:
American Somoa
Baker Island
Guam
Howland Island
Jarvis Island
Johnston Atoll
Kingman Reef
Midway Islands
Navassa Island
Northern Marianna Islands
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islands
Wake Island
Zev Steinhardt
Hmmm, that’s odd. The quoted text appeared outside the reply box…
Anyway, deck of card confusion is the reason that I sometimes get the states wrong. I have to consciously think…“well it’s either 50 or 52, now a deck of cards has 4x13 which is 52, so it must be 50”.
The four I moved to the top are distinctive for being the main populated territories – but not unique. Northern Mariana Islands are also inhabited (in fact, they’re a “Commonwealth”).
The others are uninhabited except for the odd military posting. Indeed, Baker, Howland & Jarvis Islands were claimed by the U.S. in 1936 under the Guano Act of 1856. Which shows you what they’re all about.
And Navassa Island is also claimed by Haiti. Wow! The U.S. has an honest-to-goodness disputed zone!
You must’ve missed all the posts above yours. Regardless of what each state decides to call itself (commonwealth, etc.), constitutionally it’s a state in the Union. More specifically, that state, again regardless of what it deigns to call itself, is a state with a republican form of government.
My source for this info is the Constitution of the United States of America.
The territories question was asked a lot while I was in the military in preparation for promotion boards. The list I was taught was:
Guam
US Virgin Islands
American Samoa
Puerto Rico
Northern Mariana Islands
District of Columbia
The rest of the territories that Zev listed have no indigenous population and for the most part are former or current military bases closed to the public. Two other territories that used to be under US jurisdiction were the Canal Zone and Micronesia.
I think CarnalK nailed it as most people think of “the 48 contiguous states + Alaska and Hawaii” and then confuse that with a total of 50 states and add two more for AK and HI.
Or, if you’d like to look at it another way, by representation and degree of internal autonomy, there are:
[ul]
[li]Fifty sovereign States, each with two Senators and at least one Representative.[/li]
[li]One Federal District (Washington, DC) which has one non-voting Delegate in the House of Representatives and three electors in Presidential elections. Oh yeah, and one “Shadow Senator” who ain’t worth a damn.[/li]
[li]Three Dependencies with non-voting Delegates (AS, GU, VI) in the House of Representatives. Delegates may introduce bills and vote in Committees, but cannot cast a vote on the floor of the House. [/li]
[li]One associated commonwealth, Puerto Rico, with a non-voting Resident Commissioner in Congress. The RC is the only Member of Congress elected to a four-year term.[/li]
[li]Over 550 Federally recognized Indian tribes, which enjoy a government-to-government relationship with the United States–in other words, they deal directly with Congress and the Executive Branch, rather than go through the states in which the tribes are located.[/li]
[li]One Commonwealth (Northern Marianas) which is a dependency of the U.S. but which has limited internal sovereignty and exempt status from some parts of federal law.[/li]
[li]Three Freely Associated States which have internal sovereignty and limited freedom to deal independently with foreign nations.[/li]
[li]A handful of other dependencies which are administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the Department of the Interior, generally not populated enough to govern themselves. [/ul][/li]
I think that covers most of them.
The people I’ve corrected usually mumble something about “Hawaii and Alaska” (though those two are included in the 50 count on the CIA website). Others have alluded to Puerto Rico and Costa Rica “sort of” being considered a bit like states.
