U.S. state Profile

A state of the United States of America is one of the 50 constituent

political entities that shares its sovereignty with the United States

federal government. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state

and the federal government, Americans are citizens of both the federal

republic and of the state in which they reside.[3] State citizenship

and residency are flexible and no government approval is required to

move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of

court orders (e.g., paroled convicts and children of divorced spouses

who are sharing custody).

States range in population from just under 600,000 (Wyoming) to over

38 million (California), and in area from 1,214 square miles (3,140

km2) (Rhode Island) to 663,268 square miles (1,717,860 km2) (Alaska).

Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full

official names.

States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be

assigned some local governmental authority but are not sovereign.

County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state. State

governments are allocated power by the people (of each respective

state) through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in

republican principles, and each provides for a government, consisting

of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.[4]

States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States

Constitution; among them ratifying constitutional amendments.

Historically, the tasks of local law enforcement, public education,

public health, regulating intrastate commerce, and local

transportation and infrastructure have generally been considered

primarily state responsibilities, although all of these now have

significant federal funding and regulation as well. Over time, the

U.S. Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and

application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has

been toward centralization and incorporation, with the federal

government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a

continuing debate over states' rights, which concerns the extent and

nature of the states' powers and sovereignty in relation to the

federal government and the rights of individuals.

States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a

bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the House of

Representatives. Each state is represented by two Senators, and at

least one Representative, while additional representatives are

distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent

constitutionally mandated decennial census.[5] Each state is also

entitled to select a number of electors to vote in the Electoral

College, the body that elects the President of the United States,

equal to the total of Representatives and Senators from that state.[6]

The Constitution grants to Congress[7] the authority to admit new

states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in

1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50.

Alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959.

The Constitution is silent on the question of whether states have the

power to secede (withdraw from) from the Union. Shortly after the

Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, held that a

state cannot unilaterally do so