FloridaSouth Atlantic. The capital is Tallahassee. Admitted as the 27th state on March 3, 1845. It is the only state that borders both the Gulf and the Atlantic, and its coastline, about 1,350 miles, is the longest in the contiguous United States.
GeorgiaSouth Atlantic. The capital is Atlanta, also its most populous city. Fourth state: it ratified the Constitution on January 2, 1788. It has the largest land area of any state east of the Mississippi River.
North CarolinaSouth Atlantic. The capital is Raleigh; Charlotte is the most populous city. Twelfth state: it ratified the Constitution on November 21, 1789. Mount Mitchell, 6,684 feet, is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.
South CarolinaSouth Atlantic. The capital is Columbia, founded in the state's center. Charleston is the most populous city. Eighth state: it ratified the Constitution on May 23, 1788.
VirginiaSouth Atlantic. The capital is Richmond. Virginia Beach is the most populous city. Tenth state: it ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788. Kentucky and West Virginia were both once part of it.
West VirginiaSouth Atlantic. The capital is Charleston, also its most populous city. It separated from Virginia during the Civil War and was admitted as the 35th state on June 20, 1863.
East South Central 4
AlabamaEast South Central. The capital is Montgomery. Huntsville is the most populous city. Admitted as the 22nd state on December 14, 1819. The Tennessee River cuts a valley across its north.
KentuckyEast South Central. The capital is Frankfort. Louisville is the most populous city. It was part of Virginia until it was admitted as the 15th state on June 1, 1792. Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world.
MississippiEast South Central. The capital is Jackson, also its most populous city. Admitted as the 20th state: December 10, 1817. Its highest point, Woodall Mountain, is only about 800 feet above sea level.
TennesseeEast South Central. The capital is Nashville, also its most populous city. Admitted as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. It touches eight states, a count only Missouri matches.
West South Central 2
ArkansasWest South Central. The capital and most populous city is Little Rock. Admitted as the 25th state on June 15, 1836. Six states touch it. At Crater of Diamonds State Park, visitors search a plowed field for diamonds and keep what they find.
LouisianaWest South Central. The capital is Baton Rouge. New Orleans is the most populous city. Admitted as the 18th state on April 30, 1812. It is the only state divided into parishes instead of counties.
How this list was compiled: State list and the three divisions: U.S. Census Bureau, Census Regions and Divisions of the United States, https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf, checked 2026-09-19 (Region 3 South: Division 5 South Atlantic, Division 6 East South Central, Division 7 West South Central; the Bureau has no Southeast region, and the District of Columbia, listed under the South Atlantic, is drawn but is not a state and is never asked). Order and dates of ratification or admission, and the notes on Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union, checked 2026-09-19. Capitals and most populous cities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_capitals_in_the_United_States, checked 2026-09-19. Borders, coasts, rivers and the last fact in each detail line: the Wikipedia articles on each of the sixteen states, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mitchell, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_panhandle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri (the eight-neighbor count shared with Tennessee) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area, checked 2026-09-19. School lists of the Southeast, checked 2026-09-19: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeastern_United_States (no official list; the Census Bureau has no Southeast, and the three divisions of its South are not a definition of one); https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/united-states-regions/ (a Southeast of 14 states, these 16 without Texas and Oklahoma, which it places in a Southwest: the group southeast-14); https://www.ducksters.com/geography/us_states/us_geographical_regions.php (a Southeast of 12 states, the same list without Maryland and Delaware, which it places in the Northeast: the group southeast-12). Woodall Mountain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi gives 807 feet and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodall_Mountain gives 806 feet from a National Geodetic Survey data sheet, so the detail line says about 800; both checked 2026-09-19. Crater of Diamonds State Park (visitors search a 37-acre plowed field and keep what they find): https://www.arkansas.com/state-parks/parks/crater-diamonds-state-park, checked 2026-09-19. The Mason-Dixon line named in the page copy (the Pennsylvania and Maryland border, later used informally as the line between North and South): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason%E2%80%93Dixon_line, checked 2026-09-19. Hints and detail lines written for this site. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_state_5m (scale 1:5,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/shp/cb_2023_us_state_5m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Albers equal-area conic projection, central meridian 86.1°W, standard parallels 27.2°N and 38°N. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf; public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
How it works
This Southeast region blank map numbers the 12 states most school maps call the Southeast, from Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky down to Florida, and west to Arkansas and Louisiana.
Read the full guide
Blank, numbered or named
The sheet opens blank. Choose Numbered to put a number on each of the 12 states of the Southeast, or Named for their names, then press Print this map; the answer key prints on its own sheet.
Southeast region map blank: which list it follows
The Census Bureau has no Southeast region; its South has 16 states and the District of Columbia. This sheet uses the common 12-state school list, which leaves out Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland and Delaware.
For a southern states blank map of all 16, use the Southeast states quiz on the same map, which can ask the whole Census South.
Questions and answers
Which states are in the Southeast?
On this sheet, twelve: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Is Texas in the Southeast?
Not on most school maps, which put it in the Southwest. The Census Bureau counts it in the South.
Which Southeast state is farthest south?
Florida, whose Keys reach down into the Gulf of Mexico. Key West is the southernmost city of the mainland USA.