U.S State

 In the United States, a state is the constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Each state that is united in a political union has governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic area where it shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and the state in which they reside.[3] Citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for those restricted by certain types of court orders (such as parolees and children of divorced spouses who share custody). Category

A federated state

Location

United States

Number

50

Population

Smallest: Wyoming, 576,851

Largest: California, 39,538,223[1]

Areas

Smallest: Rhode Island, 1,545 square miles (4,000 km2)

Largest: Alaska, 665,384 square miles (1,723,340 km2)[2]

Government

State Govt

Subdivision

District (or equivalent)

State governments in the US are granted power by the people (of each respective state) through their individual state constitutions. All are based on republican principles (required by the federal constitution) and each provides for a government consisting of three branches, each with separate and independent powers: executive, legislative, and judicial.[4] States are divided into counties or county equivalents, which may be assigned some local government, but are not sovereign. A county or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, and states also create other local governments.

States, unlike US territories, have many powers and rights under the United States Constitution. The states and their citizens are represented in the United States Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state is also entitled to select a number of electors (equal to the total number of representatives and senators from that state) to vote in the Electoral College, the body that directly elects the President of the United States. In addition, each state has the ability to ratify amendments to the Constitution, and with the consent of Congress, two or more states can enter into interstate compacts with each other. The police power of each state is also recognized.

Historically, the tasks of local law enforcement, public education, public health, regulation of interstate commerce, and local transportation and infrastructure, in addition to local, state, and federal elections, have generally been considered primarily state responsibilities, although all of these now also have significant federal funding and regulation . Over time, the constitution was amended and the interpretation and application of its provisions changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the federal government playing a much larger role than it once did. The states' rights debate, which concerns the extent and nature of states' powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government and the rights of individuals, continues.

The Constitution grants Congress the power to admit new states into the Union. Since the founding of the United States in 1776 by the thirteen colonies, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Each new state was admitted on the same footing as the existing states.[5] While the Constitution does not explicitly address the question of whether states have the power to secede from the Union, shortly after the Civil War the US Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White that a state could not do so unilaterally.[6] [7]