Mapped: Every State by the Year It Joined the U.S.

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The United States officially declared independence on July 4th, 1776, when 13 American colonies broke away from Great Britain.

This map, created by USAFacts and based on data from Britannica, shows the year each state joined the union.

The original 13 colonies are marked with an asterisk (*) to highlight the year they ratified the U.S. Constitution, as they were already part of the United States.

Ranked: America’s Oldest to Newest States

The First State (Delaware) was quite literally the first state to ratify the constitution on December 7th, 1787.

Within the month, four other states ratified as well, with Rhode Island being the last of the first 13 states to sign in 1790.

After the first 13, new states did not ratify the constitution, but were admitted to the union by an act of Congress. Many of them were already territories.

It took more than 150 years to get to the 50 states of modern America, with Hawaii and Alaska the last to join. And it may not be over, with the question around Puerto Rico still up in the air.

Here are some statehood fun facts. Arizona became the last of the contiguous states to join the Union in 1912, after a long 49-year journey as a territory.

Meanwhile, California was admitted as the 31st state in 1850 without ever having been a territory. It became a state directly after the Mexican-American War, driven by the Gold Rush and massive population growth.

Finally, Disneyland was founded in 1955, four years before Alaska and Hawaii became states.

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On a completely unrelated note, if you’ve ever wondered how state taxes compare, we’ve got that covered as well. Check out: Visualizing the Tax Burden of Every U.S. State for a quick overview.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.