How many states have there been in the US?

Answer 1

There are 50 states in USA: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, 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, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Answer 2

There were 13 original English colonies that formed the United States at the time of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The number of states increased over time as new regions and territories joined the Union. The US flag was regularly amended to reflect the new totals. (see related link)

• Vermont and Kentucky joined in 1791 and 1792 to make the total 15.
• Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi brought the total to 20 (by 1817).
• Illinois made the total 21 (1818), followed by Alabama, Maine, and Missouri (1819, 1820, 1821) to bring the total to 24.
• In the 1830s, Arkansas and Michigan were 25th and 26th (1836, 1837).
• In the 1840s, Florida, Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin were added, to make 30.
• In the 1850s, California, Minnesota, and Oregon were added, making 33.
• The admission of Kansas led to bloody factional conflict at the start of the Civil War (34, 1861).
• During the War, the Union split off West Virginia and added Nevada. (36)
• Nebraska (37) and Colorado (38) were admitted in the 1870s.
• Four states along the Canadian border in the West brought the total to 42 in 1889 : North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington. Two more came in 1890: Idaho and Wyoming.
• The total increased to 45 with Utah in 1896.
• This left the final three "contiguous states of the lower 48 to be formed from territories: Oklahoma (1907) and New Mexico and Arizona (1912).
• The total remained there until 1959 with the addition of Alaska and Hawaii, the 49th and 50th states.

Future states may include Puerto Rico or the District of Columbia, which now votes electors in Presidential elections (and has a larger population than Wyoming).