NGS Style Manual - S -

Capitalize when following New York or Washington. Otherwise lowercase, except for the States, meaning the United States.

New York State, state of New York, the state; upstate New York; Elmira, New York, is . . . Washington State, state of Washington, the state Virginia state control 13 original states the 48 contiguous (or conterminous) statesexcludes Alaska and Hawaii lower forty-eight; lower 48; lower 48 states (contiguous 48 states) the 49th state the 50 states state park, state government stateside, statewide the continental United States (includes Alaska) mountain states, western states, etc. middle Atlantic states

Lowercase state for other nations: Chihuahua state, Mato Grosso state, Kerala state.

Capitalize nicknames of states: Texas, the Lone Star State.

Generally do not abbreviate the name of a state in text. In certain cases, such as maps and map notes, atlases, and fact boxes, abbreviations may be used. Below is an accepted list of traditional abbreviations with two-letter postal abbreviations included in bold. Postal abbreviations should be used in addresses and may also be used on maps and on the spine of the magazine:

	Ala.	AL	Ill.	IL	Mont.	MT	R.I.	RI
	Alas.	AK	Ind.	IN	Nebr.	NE	S.C.	SC
	Ariz.	AZ	Iowa	IA	Nev.	NV	S. Dak.	SD
	Ark.	AR	Kans.	KS	N.H.	NH	Tenn.	TN
	Calif.	CA	Ky.	KY	N.J.	NJ	Tex.	TX
	Colo.	CO	La.	LA	N. Mex.	NM	Utah	UT
	Conn.	CT	Me.	ME	N.Y.	NY	Vt.	VT
	Del.	DE	Md.	MD	N.C.	NC	Va.	VA
	D.C.	DC	Mass.	MA	N. Dak.	ND	Wash.	WA
	Fla.	FL	Mich.	MI	Ohio	OH	W. Va.	WV
	Ga.	GA	Minn.	MN	Okla.	OK	Wis.	WI
	Hawaii	HI	Miss.	MS	Oreg.	OR	Wyo.	WY
	Idaho	ID	Mo.	MO	Pa.	PA