PENNSVALLEY
28
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Lesson 19:
Geographical Regions of the United States
The first country in the North American continent that we will study in detail is our own United
States of America. The United States is made up of 50 states. Forty-eight states are
contiguous
.
Oh no, another vocabulary word.
Contiguous
means connected. In other words, 48 of the 50 states
are connected, or
contiguous.
Two states, Alaska andHawaii, are separated from the 48 contiguous
states.Alaska is separated from the “lower 48” byCanada. Hawaii is separated from the “mainland” by
nearly 2,000miles of ocean.
Beforewe read on, go back to the activitymap onNorthAmerica that you have just labeled.Use
a red pencil to trace the land area that makes up the 48 contiguous states of the United States. Find
Alaska and the islands of Hawaii and trace them in red.
In addition to the 50 states, the United States owns other land area throughout the world.These
land areas are not states, but they do fall under the
jurisdiction
, or authority, of the United States
government. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not states, but are
under the jurisdiction of the United States.We will learn more about these areas when we study
Central America.
We cannot forget about our nation’s capital.
The District of Columbia
, better known as
Washington,D.C.
, was carvedout of landsonceownedby the statesofMarylandandVirginia. In fact,
GeorgeWashington actually did the original survey that established the boundaries of the District of
Columbia on both sides of the Potomac River. In 1846, Virginia reclaimed its portion and today
the land area covered by the District of Columbia is within the borders of Maryland. As the nation’s
capital, Washington is a city that is independent of the 50 states. It is the headquarters of the
federal government.
A helpful way to study the United States is to divide it into seven geographical regions. These
regions are:
A. NewEngland
E. Southwest
B. MiddleAtlantic
F. RockyMountain
C. Southeast
G. Pacific
D. Midwest
ACTIVITY:
On themap on the following page, each of the geographical regions listed above has a letter beside it.
1. Find the letter for each region on the activitymap on the next page.Write the name of the region
in the blank space on themap.
2. Trace each geographical region in a different colored pencil.
3.Have you tracedAlaska andHawaii?Towhat region do they belong?
4.On themap, draw a star to represent our nation’s capital andwrite in its name.
The United States
