 | Political divisions of the United States: Encyclopedia II - Political divisions of the United States - States of the United States
Political divisions of the United States - States of the United States
At the Declaration of Independence, the United States consisted of 13 states. In the following years, this number has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the American government, and division of existing states to the current number of 50 U.S. states:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
The contiguous part of the U.S. (i.e. without Hawaii and Alaska) is called the continental United States.
The relationship between the state and national governments is rather complex, because of the country's federal system. Under United States law, states are considered sovereign entities, meaning that the power of the states is considered to come directly from the people within the states rather than from the federal government. Federal law overrides state law in the areas in which the federal government is empowered to act, but the powers of the federal government are subject to limits in the Constitution of the United States. (All powers not granted to the federal government in the Constitution are duly appropriated to the states and the people, with the people explicitly retaining unenumerated Constitutional rights, and the Federal government retaining the exclusive right to determine the unstated rights of the people when these enter into conflict with the states.)
The American Civil War and Texas v. White established that states do not have the right to secede, and under the Constitution of the United States, they are not allowed to conduct foreign policy.
Political divisions of the United States - Divisions of U.S. states
The states are divided into smaller administrative regions, called counties in most states — exceptions being Alaska (boroughs) and Louisiana (parishes). Counties can include a number of cities and towns, or sometimes just a part of a city. Counties have varying degrees of political and legal significance, but they are always administrative divisions of the state. For further detail, visit counties and county statistics of the United States. Counties in many states are further subdivided into townships - which, by definition, are administrative divisions of a county. In some states, such as Michigan, a township can file a charter with the state government, making itself into a "charter township," which is a type of mixed municipal and township status (giving the township some of the rights of a city without all of the responsibilities), much in the way a metropolitan muncipality is a mixed municipality and county.
There are approximately 30,000 incorporated cities in the United States. For more information, visit cities of the United States.
Township is an intermediate civic designation between city and county; cities sometimes cross county boundaries, townships never do. Some townships have governments and political power, others are simply geographic designations. Townships in the United States are generally the product of the Public Land Survey System. For more information, see township, survey township and civil township. Townships are subdivided into sections, which never have separate governments.
The terms townships and towns are closely related (in many historical documents the terms are used interchangeably). However, the powers granted to towns or townships varies considerably from state to state. In New England states, towns are a principal form of local government, providing many of the functions of counties in other states. In California, by contrast, the pertinent statutes of the Government Code clarify that "town" is simply another word for "city," especially a general law city as distinct from a charter city.
Other related archives13 states, 1849, 1883, 1947, 1959, 1994, Alabama, Alaska, American Civil War, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Bajo Nuevo Bank, Baker Island, Bureau of Indian Affairs, California, Caribbean Sea, Colorado, Compact of Free Association, Congressional districts, Connecticut, Constitution of the United States, Cuba, Dawes Act, Declaration of Independence, Delaware, District of Columbia, District of Columbia Home Rule Act, Federated States of Micronesia, Florida, Geography of the United States, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Historic regions of the United States, History of United States imperialism, Howland Island, Idaho, Illinois, Indian Reservations, Indian reservations, Indiana, Iowa, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, July 18, Kansas, Kentucky, Kingman Reef, List of regions of the United States, Louisiana, Machias Seal Island, Maine, March 3, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Midway Islands, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, National Wildlife Refuge, Navassa Island, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, October 1, Office of Insular Affairs, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Organized territory, Pacific Ocean, Palmyra Atoll, Pennsylvania, Philippines, Political subdivisions of New York State, Public Land Survey System, Puerto Rico, Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Rhode Island, Serranilla Bank, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Texas v. White, The Nature Conservancy, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, U.S. Congress, U.S. Constitution, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. states, Unceded territory, United States, United States Congress, United States Minor Outlying Islands, United States territorial acquisitions, United States territory, Unorganized territory, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wake Island, Washington, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, boroughs, capital, cities, cities of the United States, civil township, commonwealths, conservation, conservation districts, consulates, continental United States, counties, county statistics of the United States, districts, embassies, federal district, federal system, foreign policy, freely-associated states, incorporated territory, insular areas, military installations, parishes, possessions, public authorities, school districts, sections, sovereign nations, state, survey township, territories, the several states, towns, township, townships, treaties, tribal sovereignty, unincorporated territories, villages
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "States of the United States", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
