United States Encyclopedia

Nevada, the westernmost intermountain state, is best known for its desert climate and legalized gambling. It was first explored in the 1820s, was first settled in 1849, and became the 36th state in 1864. Bounded by California on the south and west, Oregon and Idaho on the north, and Arizona and Utah on the east, it is the seventh largest …

New Jersey, a Middle Atlantic state located between New York on the north and east and Pennsylvania and Delaware on the west, occupies a peninsula bounded by the Delaware and Hudson rivers. The state’s northern border is its only artificial limit. The Atlantic Ocean to the southeast provides an attractive and popular resort area. The “waistline” of the state is …

New Mexico, located in the southwestern United States at the southern end of the Rocky Mountains, borders Mexico on the south, Arizona on the west, Colorado on the north, Oklahoma on the east, and Texas on the east and southeast. With an area of 314,938 sq km (121,598 sq mi), it ranks fifth among the states in size. New Mexico’s …

Arkansas, one of the Southern states of the United States, is bordered by Missouri on the north and northeast, by Tennessee and Mississippi on the east, by Louisiana on the south, and by Texas and Oklahoma on the west. The region of Arkansas was first visited by Europeans in 1541-42, when Hernando DE SOTO, a Spanish explorer, led a party …

South Dakota State is located in the center of the North American continent, bounded on the north by North Dakota, on the east by Minnesota and Iowa, on the south by Nebraska, and on the west by Wyoming and Montana. Its area of 199,743 sq km (77,121 sq mi) ranks 17th in size among the U.S. states. The population is …

New Hampshire lies between Maine on the east and Vermont on the west in northern New England. Its southern boundary, except for the southeast corner that provides New Hampshire’s 29 km (18 mi) of Atlantic coastline, borders Massachusetts. New Hampshire’s northern tip touches the Canadian province of Quebec. Of New Hampshire’s 24,219 sq km (9,351 sq mi), about 85% is …

Georgia, is the largest state east of the Mississippi River. Its territory extends from the Sea Islands on the Atlantic shore to the forested mountains of the southern Appalachians. Georgia shares borders with five states, bounded on the east by South Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Alabama, on the north by Tennessee and North Carolina, and …

Rhode Island State, one of the 13 original colonies and the smallest of the 50 states, is bounded on the north and east by Massachusetts, on the south by Rhode Island Sound, and on the west by Connecticut. The state is almost cut in two parts by NARRAGANSETT BAY, which reaches 45 km (28 mi) to the state capital of …

Washington State, named in honor of the nation’s first president and popularly known as the Evergreen State because of its extensive forests, is located in the extreme northwestern corner of the continental United States. The Canadian province of British Columbia lies to the north, and the states of Idaho and Oregon form Washington’s eastern and southern borders. Puget Sound and …

Vermont State is the northwestern most and second-largest in land area of the New England states. Its name is derived from the French phrase monts verts, “green mountains”, just as its capital, MONTPELIER, is named for the French city of Montpellier. Samuel de Champlain in 1609 was the first European to explore the region, and Lake Champlain in the northwestern …