US States

Notes:

The postal abbreviations are used when mailing letters or packages and often in reference books when listing cities with their State. This form of postal code replaced another form of abbreviation which requires more letters (Illinois = Ill. vs IL, Massachusettes = Mass. vs MA). The use of the abbreviations is not required by the Post Office, it is for convenience.

In English, the city or town precedes the state or territory. In Chinese, the province or region precedes the city or town. This applies to normal usage and to the method for addressing envelopes.

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States. It is a self-governing city which reports directly to the central government rather than to a state government, much like Beijing. Columbia is a symbolic name for the United States. The District of Columbia (D.C.) belongs to all of the states.

The State of Washington is often called "Washington State" to distinguish it from the capital. People living either in the state or in the city think of themselves as coming from Washington. When the reference is unclear, we add "D.C." or "State" to the name.

The capitals of the states are most often not in large cities. Historically people chose to establish capitals in more central locations and in locations where there would be a better balance of city vs. rural influence. The capitals are often not well known to people outside the state.

The list of famous cities is not based on population, but on name recognition. A city might be famous because it has a sports team, holds a famous event, or it is a vacation spot.

The eastern states were based on land grants made by the King of England. Some were fairly large such as Pennsylvania, and some were very small such as Rhode Island. Later, governors were sent from England to administer the areas. Boundaries were detemined by natural barriers, such as rivers. Modern survery techniques were used to survey the western states and used longitude and latitude lines to set boundaries. Thus, the borders are quite straight.

http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Chinese/searchinst.html
Last update: January 2002
©  Marilyn Shea, 2002