DelawareSouth Atlantic. The capital is Dover. First state: it ratified the Constitution on December 7, 1787, before any other. It has three counties, the fewest of any state.
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.
MarylandSouth Atlantic. The capital is Annapolis; Baltimore is the most populous city. Seventh state: it ratified the Constitution on April 28, 1788. Near the town of Hancock the state is less than 2 miles across.
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 4
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.
OklahomaWest South Central. The capital and most populous city is Oklahoma City. Formed from Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory, it was admitted as the 46th state on November 16, 1907. Six states touch it.
TexasWest South Central. The capital is Austin. Houston is the most populous city. It was the independent Republic of Texas before it was admitted as the 28th state on December 29, 1845. Only Alaska is larger.
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 states quiz puts 16 states on one large map, from Delaware to Florida and west to Texas. Schools draw the Southeast in more than one way, so a set picked under Start from cuts the whole Census Bureau South to a 14 or 12 state list.
Read the full guide
Whose list: 16, 14 or 12 states
The U.S. Census Bureau has no Southeast. Its South is 16 states in three divisions. South Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida. East South Central: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama. West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas. National Geographic's Southeast is 14 of these, with Texas and Oklahoma in a Southwest. Some school lists also send Maryland and Delaware to the Northeast, which leaves 12. Washington, D.C. is drawn but never asked.
Set your list, then play
All 16 is a southern states quiz. The two Southeast sets beside it, under Start from, cut the round to the 14 or 12 state list, and the other three are the Census divisions. In Find it, this southeast map quiz names a state and you tap it. A miss shows the right state. Miss five, and Practise the 5 you missed asks them again. Name it lights a shape for you to name. Study writes every name on the map.
Two tall blocks stand side by side in the middle. Mississippi is the west one, against its river. Alabama is the east one, against Georgia.
Kentucky and Tennessee are two long stacked strips. Kentucky is on top, with the wavy Ohio River edge. Tennessee lies underneath.
Maryland and Delaware are small, so pick South Atlantic under Start from to zoom in. Maryland wraps around Chesapeake Bay. Delaware is the sliver on the ocean side.
Questions and answers
My list has fewer than 16 states. Which button do I press?
Southeast, 14 states leaves out Texas and Oklahoma. Southeast, 12 states also leaves out Maryland and Delaware. Print blank always numbers all 16, so a 14 state class skips numbers 11 and 14, and a 12 state class also skips 3 and 8.
Is the South the same as the Southeast?
Not quite. The South is a Census Bureau region of 16 states. The Southeast has no official list, so a southeastern states quiz in one class may ask for fewer states than in another.
Why is West Virginia in the South?
West Virginia broke away from Virginia during the Civil War, and the Census Bureau keeps both in its South Atlantic division. Pennsylvania, on the other side of the Mason-Dixon line, is in the Bureau's Northeast and is asked on the Northeast page.