Most people can place California, Texas and Florida without thinking. The states that cost points are the ones that sit in clusters: the six small New England states, the square-ish block of the Mountain West, and the stack of states between the Mississippi River and the Rockies. Those are the parts of the map worth practicing.
Alaska and Hawaii appear as insets in the lower left, as they do on most US maps. Their size and position there are not to scale: Alaska is the largest state by area, and Hawaii lies about 2,400 miles southwest of California.
How to learn all 50 states
- Learn the four corners first: Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico meet at a single point, the only place in the US where four states touch.
- Use the long straight borders. The Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas stack almost perfectly above Oklahoma and Texas.
- Pairs help: North Dakota sits above South Dakota, North Carolina above South Carolina, and West Virginia is northwest of Virginia.
- For New England, go north to south along the coast: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, with Vermont inland beside New Hampshire.
- Play the four region quizzes first if 50 at once feels like too many, then come back to the full map.
The 50 states in this quiz
| State | Capital | Region |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Montgomery | South |
| Alaska | Juneau | West |
| Arizona | Phoenix | West |
| Arkansas | Little Rock | South |
| California | Sacramento | West |
| Colorado | Denver | West |
| Connecticut | Hartford | Northeast |
| Delaware | Dover | South |
| Florida | Tallahassee | South |
| Georgia | Atlanta | South |
| Hawaii | Honolulu | West |
| Idaho | Boise | West |
| Illinois | Springfield | Midwest |
| Indiana | Indianapolis | Midwest |
| Iowa | Des Moines | Midwest |
| Kansas | Topeka | Midwest |
| Kentucky | Frankfort | South |
| Louisiana | Baton Rouge | South |
| Maine | Augusta | Northeast |
| Maryland | Annapolis | South |
| Massachusetts | Boston | Northeast |
| Michigan | Lansing | Midwest |
| Minnesota | Saint Paul | Midwest |
| Mississippi | Jackson | South |
| Missouri | Jefferson City | Midwest |
| Montana | Helena | West |
| Nebraska | Lincoln | Midwest |
| Nevada | Carson City | West |
| New Hampshire | Concord | Northeast |
| New Jersey | Trenton | Northeast |
| New Mexico | Santa Fe | West |
| New York | Albany | Northeast |
| North Carolina | Raleigh | South |
| North Dakota | Bismarck | Midwest |
| Ohio | Columbus | Midwest |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma City | South |
| Oregon | Salem | West |
| Pennsylvania | Harrisburg | Northeast |
| Rhode Island | Providence | Northeast |
| South Carolina | Columbia | South |
| South Dakota | Pierre | Midwest |
| Tennessee | Nashville | South |
| Texas | Austin | South |
| Utah | Salt Lake City | West |
| Vermont | Montpelier | Northeast |
| Virginia | Richmond | South |
| Washington | Olympia | West |
| West Virginia | Charleston | South |
| Wisconsin | Madison | Midwest |
| Wyoming | Cheyenne | West |
Questions people ask
How many states border Canada?
Thirteen: Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Ohio's and Pennsylvania's borders with Canada run through Lake Erie.
Which states border the most other states?
Tennessee and Missouri, with eight neighbors each.
Is Washington, DC on the quiz?
No. Washington, DC is a federal district, not a state, so the quiz covers the 50 states only.
What is a good score?
Getting all 50 on the first try is the goal. A first round in the 30s is normal; most players reach the 40s within a few rounds by learning the regions they miss.