Mi which state abbreviation

Traditional abbreviations were used before the two-letter postal codes became standard. The abbreviations are sometimes still used in note taking and text writing.

States with five or fewer letters, plus Alaska and Hawaii, are never abbreviated. Below is a list of state abbreviations, both two-letter and traditional for all of the 50 US states and other territories outside the Union.

Note that with the traditional state abbreviations, the first letter is capitalized, subsequent letters are lowercase unless they're abbreviating a new word and each abbreviation where the name is not written out in full ends in a period. Browse the list of all 50 U. A printable list is provided below. Did you know?

For the most part, these state abbreviations have stayed the same since If you want to keep a handy resource available for future use, you can download and print this list of USPS state abbreviations.

If you'd like a quick visual guide to remembering the state abbreviations, check out the map below. Download the map and you can write in the abbreviation on each state and then click on the checkmark to see if you're correct. Print the map for a handy reference sheet. The United States has several territories outside of the 50 states in the union.

These territories may not be official states, but they still adhere to the same formula of two capital letters for their official abbreviations.

These USPS postal abbreviations haven't been around forever. In fact, they've only existed since , just four years after the 50th state Hawaii was added to the union. However, on July 1, , the Post Office Department began using five-digit zip codes. The addressing equipment at most post offices only allowed 23 characters, so they needed to shorten the state abbreviations in order to fit the zip codes.

That's where the two-digit USPS state abbreviations began. If you're writing a letter or sending anything else through the mail, you should use the USPS state abbreviation. If the situation isn't listed here, you should use the entire capitalized state name.

One example is when you're writing about a state in running text, such as "I went to Wyoming over the summer. Why is the abbreviation for Missouri MO when the word starts with "Mi? Most state abbreviations follow a pattern for shortening state names. However, there are a few states that break the rules or are especially confusing. Some of these states of confusion include:. When all else fails, come up with a memorable mnemonic to help you think of the correct codes. For example, Hawaiians are so friendly that they always say "HI!

The United States is a fascinating and diverse country, with each state very different from the next. Take a tour around the different regions of the U. Learning more about the United States of America can bring a new appreciation for the great democratic experiment.

Expand your knowledge with these famous American symbols and their histories. Finally, if you're writing about the U. All rights reserved. US map of state abbreviations. Arkansas AR Ark. When the war called away huge numbers of the country's young men, the post was seriously understaffed. The people who were left also weren't as familiar with the parts of town they didn't work in prior.

The post offices began breaking down cities into broad numbered regions like Birmingham 7, etc. This system proved effective, and became de facto practice up until the release of the Postal Bulletin for June, The bulletin introduced the ZIP Code as a fast and easy way of organizing mail. They also released new shorter state abbreviations to make room for ZIP codes on letters.

But what about the postal codes? That same year, in October, came Publication With it came the codes we have today. They were originally intended as optional tags for businesses, but became standard for everyone over time.

Since there has been only one change to the postal codes; in , at the request of the Canadian government, the code for Nebraska was changed from NB to NE, to avoid confusion between Nebraska and New Brunswick. In addition to the fifty states and D. The populated ones have their own postal codes, but only the two most populous Puerto Rico and Guam have abbreviations. Some former territories still maintain postal codes, as they are considered free associates of the United States.

The Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau are all free associates. These are included on a second table below. Updated January 21, Logan Chamberlain. See also:. Members of the United Nations.