16 questions · Delaware to Texas · score tracked
South states map quiz
The sixteen Census South states — the largest region by both states and people — are asked in random order. Click each on the map.
How the quiz works
The pool is the Census Bureau's South region: eight South Atlantic states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida), four East South Central states (Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi) and four West South Central states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas). Sixteen questions, one per state, random order. A miss is counted for each wrong click and the answer is revealed after three. The District of Columbia is not a state and is not asked.
Delaware is the trap: at 2,489 square miles it is the second-smallest state and sits on the east side of Chesapeake Bay, so zoom in before it comes up.
Study list: the 16 states
| State | Code | Capital | Census division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | AL | Montgomery | East South Central |
| Arkansas | AR | Little Rock | West South Central |
| Delaware | DE | Dover | South Atlantic |
| Florida | FL | Tallahassee | South Atlantic |
| Georgia | GA | Atlanta | South Atlantic |
| Kentucky | KY | Frankfort | East South Central |
| Louisiana | LA | Baton Rouge | West South Central |
| Maryland | MD | Annapolis | South Atlantic |
| Mississippi | MS | Jackson | East South Central |
| North Carolina | NC | Raleigh | South Atlantic |
| Oklahoma | OK | Oklahoma City | West South Central |
| South Carolina | SC | Columbia | South Atlantic |
| Tennessee | TN | Nashville | East South Central |
| Texas | TX | Austin | West South Central |
| Virginia | VA | Richmond | South Atlantic |
| West Virginia | WV | Charleston | South Atlantic |
Tips for telling them apart
- The Atlantic coast, north to south: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida. Florida is the peninsula; Georgia sits on top of it; the Carolinas are two wedges above Georgia with North Carolina having the long Outer Banks coast.
- Virginia and West Virginia. Virginia has the coast and the flat southern edge. West Virginia is the ragged state to its north-west with two panhandles, one pointing north between Ohio and Pennsylvania and one pointing east.
- Kentucky and Tennessee are the two long states running east–west below the Ohio River. Kentucky is on top with the irregular river border; Tennessee is the parallelogram underneath with the Mississippi on its west edge.
- Mississippi and Alabama are the twin tall states above the Gulf. Mississippi is west, with the river as its western edge; Alabama is east and has a slightly larger coast around Mobile Bay.
- Louisiana is the boot at the mouth of the Mississippi; Arkansas is the state above it, roughly square; Oklahoma is the pan with the handle pointing west; Texas is the big one.
- Learn the three divisions as blocks and the sixteen names sort themselves.
Related pages
- Southern states map — the region with populations and capitals.
- South Atlantic, East South Central and West South Central maps.
- Blank US map to practise on paper, with the labeled map as the key.