1. List of State Abbreviations and Capitals
The United States comprises fifty constituent states and one district. Located in the North American
continent, the country gained independence from the rule of Great Britain in 1776. At that time, it
had only 13 states. Between the 19th and 20th century, the United States expanded across the North
American continent by including 37 new states and acquiring a number of overseas territories.
Washington, D.C. is the capital, and New York is the largest city.
The Postal Service of United States mainly uses the abbreviations of American states. They help to
process the mail quickly with the help of automated equipment, such as OCR (Optical Character
Recognition). These two-letter, no-period, state abbreviations -- recommended by the U.S. Postal
Service -- should always be used where a ZIP code follows. They can also be used in any context
where abbreviations are appropriate. Take a look at the states, their postal abbreviations, their
capitals, and the largest city in each state.
State and State Abbreviation
Capital City of State
Largest City in State
Alabama - AL
Montgomery
Birmingham
Alaska - AK
Juneau
Anchorage
Arizona - AZ
Phoenix
Phoenix
Arkansas - AR
Little Rock
Little Rock
California - CA
2. Sacramento
Los Angeles
Colorado - CO
Denver
Denver
Connecticut - CT
Hartford
Bridgeport
Delaware - DE
Dover
Wilmington
Florida - FL
Tallahassee
Jacksonville
Georgia - GA
Atlanta
Atlanta
Hawaii - HI
Honolulu
3. Honolulu
Idaho - ID
Boise
Boise
Illinois - IL
Springfield
Chicago
Indiana - IN
Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Iowa - IA
Des Moines
Des Moines
Kansas - KS
Topeka
Wichita
Kentucky - KY
Frankfort
Louisville
Louisiana - LA
Baton Rouge
New Orleans
Maine - ME
Augusta
4. Portland
Maryland - MD
Annapolis
Baltimore
Massachusetts - MA
Boston
Boston
Michigan - MI
Lansing
Detroit
Minnesota - MN
St. Paul
Minneapolis
Mississippi - MS
Jackson
Jackson
Missouri - MO
Jefferson City
Kansas City
Montana - MT
Helena
Billings
Nebraska - NE
Lincoln
Omaha
Nevada - NV
5. Carson City
Las Vegas
New Hampshire - NH
Concord
Manchester
New Jersey - NJ
Trenton
Newark
New Mexico - NM
Santa Fe
Albuquerque
New York - NY
Albany
New York City
North Carolina - NC
Raleigh
Charlotte
North Dakota - ND
Bismarck
Fargo
Ohio - OH
6. Columbus
Columbus
Oklahoma - OK
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City
Oregon - OR
Salem
Portland
Pennsylvania - PA
Harrisburg
Philadelphia
Rhode Island - RI
Providence
Providence
South Carolina - SC
Columbia
Columbia
South Dakota - SD
Pierre
7. Sioux Falls
Tennessee - TN
Nashville
Memphis
Texas - TX
Austin
Houston
Utah - UT
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City
Vermont - VT
Montpelier
Burlington
Virginia - VA
Richmond
Virginia Beach
Washington - WA
Olympia
Seattle
West Virginia - WV
Charleston
Charleston
Wisconsin - WI
Madison
Milwaukee
8. Wyoming - WY
Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Unincorporated territory is a legal term used in the United States law. It connotes an area controlled
by the government of the United States. However, this area is not a part of the United States proper.
These territories were created to govern newly acquired land while the borders were still evolving.
Currently, American Samoa, Guam, United States Virgin Islands, and ten other territories are under
the US possession. However, the other ten are uninhabited.
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the
Republic of Palau are the associated states of the United States. These states are sovereign in
nature, but have entered into a Compact of Free Association (COFA). This Compact was renewed in
2004 for a period of 20 years.
Commonwealth, in the context of insular areas, is an organized but unincorporated dependent
territory of the United States. Currently, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico are the two
United States insular areas classified with the status of commonwealth.
The District of Columbia is the only federal district of USA. Washington was a separate municipality
within this district until 1871. Later, an Act of Congress was passed to merge the district and the
city into an entity. That is how the city of Washington came to be known as Washington, D.C., where
DC stands for District of Columbia.
Commonwealth/Territory and Abbreviation
Capital City of State
Largest City in State
American Samoa - AS
Pago Pago
Tafuna
District of Columbia - DC
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Federated States of Micronesia - FM
Palikir
Weno
Guam - GU
9. Hagåtña
Dededo
Marshall Islands - MH
Majuro
Majuro
Northern Mariana Islands - MP
Saipan
Saipan
Palau - PW
Ngerulmud
Koror
Puerto Rico - PR
San Juan
San Juan
Virgin Islands - VI
Charlotte Amalie
Charlotte Amalie
When one state invades the territory of another state with the intention of holding the territory at
least temporarily, it is called military occupation. This invasion occurs without the volition of the
actual sovereignty of the occupied country. Here is a list of postal abbreviations of Military States of
the United States of America.Military States of the United States
Abbreviations
Armed Forces Africa
AE
Armed Forces Americas
AA
Armed Forces Canada
10. AE
Armed Forces Europe
AE
Armed Forces Middle East
AE
Armed Forces Pacific
AP
Usage of the State Abbreviations
? Abbreviations should not be used when the names of the states of US stand alone in written
matter.
? There should always be a comma between the name of the city and the abbreviation of the state.
? There should also be another comma after the abbreviation if the sentence does not end at that
point.
? Use the two-letter Postal Service abbreviations only with full addresses, which include a ZIP code.
? Do not use any periods after, or in-between the abbreviations, unless it is a full stop.
? Use them only in uppercase letters, with no space between the letters.
? Postal abbreviations for states should be used only in lists and tabular material, address blocks,
and forms.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/united-states-list-of-state-abbreviations-and-capitals.html
