1. 18
   16
2. 19
   14

The state of Florida borders the Atlantic Ocean and has the longest coastline of the other thirteen states that rim the Atlantic. Florida's coastline stretches for 8,436 miles along both the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

1. Iowa
   Connecticut
2. Rhode Island
   West Virginia

Rhode Island maintained a staunch manufacturing foundation that secured its economic stability throughout and after the American Civil War. By the year 1893, the state's capital city of Providence possessed the country's largest cotton processing plant, among other prosperous manufacturing ventures.

1. 795 miles
   1,950 miles
2. 4,500 miles
   3,000 miles

The U.S. states that border Mexico's northern edge are Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, from east to west. Baja, California, is a state in northwest Mexico that borders California and Arizona to the south.

1. Pennsylvania
   Kentucky
2. Illinois
   West Virginia

Pennsylvania borders Ohio's eastern edge; West Virginia lies southeast of Ohio; and Kentucky rims Ohio's southwest fringe. Illinois lies immediately west of Indiana, which shares a border with Ohio's western extremity.

1. Nebraska
   Wisconsin
2. Virginia
   New York

The state of Virginia turned historical Great Valley Road into a turnpike in 1838. Native Americans used the road, once known as Philadelphia Wagon Road, for centuries before the arrival of early settlers in the region.

1. Pennsylvania
   Virginia
2. Arkansas
   West Virginia

The "Alleghenies" cross West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, as well as other U.S. states. The Omni Homestead Resort, formerly known as "The Homestead," is a historic landmark nestled in Virginia's Alleghenies. Since 1766, the resort has hosted U.S. presidents, including Thomas Jefferson.

1. Bozeman
   Corvallis
2. Edina
   Taos

The city of Edina is located in the state of Minnesota, which borders Lake Superior to the west. With a massive surface area measuring 31,700 square miles, Lake Superior is one of the largest lakes in the world.

1. Montana
   Missouri
2. North Dakota
   Washington

Thirteen U.S. states, including Minnesota, Washington, North Dakota and Montana, border Canada to the south. Minnesota and Iowa buffer Missouri's northern proximity to the Canadian border that rims Canada's Manitoba province.

1. Massachusetts
   Vermont
2. Rhode Island
   Connecticut

Phoenix, Arizona is the most populous state capital in the United States. As of July 2017, the total population in Phoenix surpassed a little more than 1.6 million.

1. Conasauga River
   Alapaha River
2. Blood Mountain Creek
   Suwannee River

Blood Mountain Creek River in Lumpkin County, Georgia, spans three miles and merges with Dick's Creek, also in Lumpkin County, which stretches seven miles in length. The watershed for Blood Mountain Creek and Dick's Creek is the Upper Chattahoochee.

1. North Dakota
   Kentucky
2. Montana
   Nevada

"Appalachia" includes the entire state of West Virginia and segments of twelve other states, such as Kentucky, South Carolina and Mississippi. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines Appalachia primarily as a conglomeration of over 400 U.S. counties, including several in upstate New York.

1. Alaska
   Arizona
2. Kentucky
   Michigan

Nerinx, Kentucky was one of many pioneer towns founded by religious missionaries. Reverend Father Stephen Theodore Badin founded Nerinx in the early 1900s. Badin was the first Catholic priest ordained in the U.S.

1. Alabama
   Florida
2. Texas
   Georgia

The five states that border the Gulf of Mexico are known as "Gulf States" and include Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas. The Gulf of Mexico merges with the Straits of Florida, which connects to the Atlantic Ocean.

1. Virginia
   Tennessee
2. Kentucky
   North Carolina

Cumberland Gap was a vital route for nearly 300,000 early pioneers who traveled through the region from 1780 to 1810. Beginning in the 1830s, the gap was traveled less frequently, as waterways through the Appalachian mountains were made accessible and the Mississippi River opened for navigation.

1. Indiana
   Tennessee
2. Vermont
   South Dakota

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 abolished slavery in the territory northwest of the Ohio River, which is present-day Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Several years prior, Britain surrendered ownership of the territory to the United States through the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

1. Wisconsin
   Michigan
2. Minnesota
   Ohio

Lake Erie is the only Great Lake that frames Ohio's coastline, at the northern edge. Cleveland and Toledo are considered Ohio's major Great Lake cities. Marquette, Michigan, Ashland in Wisconsin, and the Minnesota city of Duluth all dot the shores of Lake Superior.

1. Death Valley
   Grand Canyon
2. Great Plains
   Key West

Death Valley Desert Basin in California is the lowest elevation point of North America. It sits 282 feet below sea level and the region is approximately 140 miles long. Death Valley experienced a brief silver-mining boom in the 1870s.

1. Yukon River
   Columbia River
2. Little Blue River
   Coosa River

The Alabama River lies at the confluence of Tallapoosa and Coosa Rivers in Alabama. Incorporated in 1834, Wetkumpa, Alabama is a destination spot for kayakers and rafters who flock to the city to take on the wild rapids of Coosa River.

1. Kentucky
   Iowa
2. New York
   Massachusetts

The Saint Lawrence River flows along the central-east region of North America in a northeast direction from the rim of Canada's provincial borders with the United States to the Atlantic Ocean. The river, with its seaway, connects the Great Lakes to the ocean.

1. New Hampshire
   Missouri
2. North Dakota
   Oregon

North Dakota and South Dakota include the Missouri Plateau, a vast stretch of land east of the Missouri River. The region extends into Canada's Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces, where it is referred to as "Missouri Coteau" or "Coteau du Missouri."

1. Mississippi River and Great Lakes
   Atlantic Coastal Plains
2. Rocky Mountains and Plateaus
   Great Plains

The Black Hills of northeast Wyoming and western South Dakota are rock formations east of the Rocky Mountains that hold granites and pegmatites aged between 1.75 and 2.5 billion years. The Black Hills are an isolated geographical island that stretch approximately 50 to 70 miles.

1. Tennessee
   Mississippi
2. Georgia
   Minnesota

An 1851 treaty between the U.S. and the native Santee Dakota people confined the tribe to land along the Minnesota River in exchange for annual U.S. payments. As was typical, the U.S. didn't uphold their end of the bargain, and a rebellion followed. Four tribes continue to survive and thrive in spite of attempted extermination attempts, demands for assimilation and lack of access to resources.

1. Tennessee
   Mississippi
2. Oklahoma
   Arkansas

The Mississippi River sculpts the borders of Arkansas to the east, and Mississippi and Tennessee to the west. The North Canadian River lies inland of Oklahoma about 75 miles west of the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. The Arkansas River intersects Oklahoma's northeast region.

1. Oklahoma
   Colorado
2. Missouri
   Florida

The Continental Divide separates bodies of water that flow toward the continent's opposite ends. Waters to the west of the Continental Divide flow toward the Pacific Ocean, and waters to the east flow toward the Atlantic Ocean.

1. California
   Kansas
2. New Mexico
   Arkansas

Oregon Trail, also called the Oregon-California Trail, is a historical trail that runs from Independence, Missouri to its official end at Oregon City, Oregon. The trail, which spans approximately 2,000 miles, was used as a land outlet for early settlers traveling the U.S. northwest-bound.

1. Cheyenne-Denver
   Helena-St. Paul
2. Austin-Lincoln
   Santa Fe-Phoenix

The distance between Cheyenne, Wyoming and Denver, Colorado is approximately 95 miles. Wyoming's capital lies closest to the Wyoming-Colorado border. Denver is located in the north-central region of its state.

1. Fourteen
   Thirteen
2. Ten
   Nineteen

The expansive crevice that is now the Mississippi River was flooded 18,000 years ago. At the end of the last Ice Age, warmed glaciers melted and sea levels rose to present-day levels.

1. California
   Texas
2. Oregon
   Minnesota

The Texas coastline on the Gulf of Mexico was important to the state's early development, the inception of Mexico, and U.S. progress in general. European interest in the Texas coastline peaked in the latter part of the eighteenth century, first among the Spaniards, then among French and British explorers.

1. Great Pacific Garbage Patch
   King Trash Float
2. Great Atlantic Garbage Grab
   United Polluted Heap

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or Pacific Trash Vortex, is twice the size of Texas. Greenpeace described the infamous mix of mostly plastic heat-inducing waste as a flotsam that can potentially cause tremendous harm to already oxygen-deprived environments.

1. Ohio River
   Missouri River
2. Mississippi River
   Northern Dvina River

The Missouri River comes second to the Mississippi River, the longest river in North American, by length. The Missouri River spans approximately 2,310 miles and lies nearly 4,000 feet above sea level.

1. Ohio River
   Klamath River
2. Arkansas River
   Kaskaskia River

The Klamath River flows southwest for a stretch of 250 miles through California's Klamath Mountains toward the towns of Klamath and Requa in California, then out to the Pacific Ocean. The river, town and mountain range were named for the Klamath Indians of northern California and southern Oregon.

1. Idaho
   Washington
2. California
   Oregon

According to recorded history, Juan Rodriques Cabrillo was the first Spanish explorer to touch California's Pacific coast in 1542. Cabrillo was responsible for mapping the Pacific coast's attributes as far north as the Rogue River in south Oregon.

1. Peoria
   St. Louis
2. Springfield
   Jefferson City

The St. Louis Archdiocese was known as "Rome of of the West" in its early days. Forty-five other dioceses, including Denver, Oklahoma City and Chicago were formed from the St. Louis "mother diocese." The Roman Catholic Church officially recognized the St. Louis Archdiocese in 1827.

1. Kansas
   Indiana
2. Kentucky
   Missouri

Every 10 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calculates the American Centroid, which is a point of balance with weight distributed equally in all directions. The point, which levels all weights as well as planes, is located in the middle of Mark Twain Forest as of 2013.

1. Hudson
   Polson
2. Oakland
   Cleveland

Polson, Montana sits at the southernmost tip of Flathead Lake within Flathead National Forest. Polson occupies the northwest region of the state and is approximately 150 miles northwest of the state's capital city of Helena.