U.S. States Trivia

Fifty states, one union, and a surprising amount of trivia hiding in the borders — from a state you could practically walk across in an afternoon to the four-way meeting point out in the desert Southwest. This quiz covers the basics every U.S. geography buff should know.

Extremes on the Map

Alaska is so large it could swallow Rhode Island, the smallest state, well over four hundred times over. Population tells a different story: California holds the title of most populous state by a wide margin, while Delaware gets a permanent footnote in history as the first state to ratify the Constitution, back in December 1787. Alaska and Hawaii closed out the map more than a century and a half later, both joining in 1959.

Where Borders Meet

• Four Corners — the only spot in the country where four states meet at a single point: Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico
• Missouri and Tennessee — tied for the most neighboring states, with eight apiece
• Maine — the only state that borders just one other state, New Hampshire

Commonwealths and Categories

Four states — Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — officially style themselves "Commonwealths" in their state constitutions, a historical quirk with no real legal difference from being a "state." Hawaii holds its own distinction too, as the only state made up entirely of islands.