Simone: Tina, I'm studying American geography at school right now, but I am a little confused about the terminology they are using. Can you explain the basic divisions to me?

Tina: Well, the U.S. is made up of fifty . Some of them are quite small such as Rhode Island or Hawaii; others are very large such as Alaska or Texas.

Simone: My teacher mentioned that the capital of the United States is special. Do you know what he was talking about?

Tina: The capital is Washington D.C. - the "D.C." stands for of Columbia. Washington D.C. is not in a state; it is a separate political division. The United States also includes many such as Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. And, of course, Puerto Rico as a commonwealth.

Simone: What exactly is a commonwealth?

Tina: That means that Puerto Rico to the United States, but it is largely .

Simone: What about the cultural divisions?

Tina: Americans divide the United States into many different cultural : the Northwest, the West Coast, the West, the Southwest, the Deep South, the Midwest, the East Coast and, last but not least, .

Simone: Where's that?

Tina: It is a cultural region in the Northeast that from Connecticut to Maine.