Northeast States and Capitals: Map and Quiz for All 9

The 9 Northeast states and capitals

On a full US map, the Northeast is a crowded corner. This map zooms in on just these nine states, so Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey are large enough to tap. Neighboring states are shaded gray.

New England and the Mid-Atlantic

The Northeast has two parts, and learning them separately makes the region easy:

New England (6 states). Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. A rhyme helps with the order from north to south: "My New Van Makes Really Cool sounds" (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut).

The Mid-Atlantic (3 states). New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. These are bigger and fit together like puzzle pieces: New York on top, Pennsylvania below it, and New Jersey tucked against Pennsylvania's eastern side, along the Atlantic.

The US Census Bureau uses the same two groups, calling them the New England and Middle Atlantic divisions of its Northeast region.

How to tell Vermont and New Hampshire apart

These two neighbors are the most-swapped pair in the Northeast. They're almost the same size and look like mirror images:

• Vermont is on the left (west). It's wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, and it borders New York.
• New Hampshire is on the right (east). It's narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and it touches the Atlantic Ocean with a short stretch of coast.

A memory trick: Vermont is a V, wider at the top like the letter, if you squint. The Connecticut River forms the border between them.

Northeast capitals memory tricks

• Maine, Augusta: A gust of wind (a gust-a) blowing pine trees.
• New Hampshire, Concord: A conch shell tied with a cord on a granite rock.
• Vermont, Montpelier: A green mountain with a pelican on top.
• Massachusetts, Boston: The Boston Tea Party, tossed into the bay.
• Rhode Island, Providence: A tiny island providing a dance floor.
• Connecticut, Hartford: A heart driving a Ford.
• New York, Albany: All the bunnies taking the train up the Hudson River.
• New Jersey, Trenton: A train in a ton of tomatoes from the Garden State.
• Pennsylvania, Harrisburg: A hairy burger sitting on a keystone.

Capitals vs. biggest cities

Only two Northeast capitals, Boston and Providence, are also their state's largest city. The other seven are smaller than at least one other city in their state, which is why they're easy to forget:

City sizes follow the Census Bureau's 2024 estimates. A quick test: cover the capital column and see how many your child can fill in.

Northeast geography

The Northeast is small, but it packs in mountains, rivers and a long, rocky coastline:

Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains run through the region. The White Mountains in New Hampshire include Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast at 6,288 feet according to the USGS. The Green Mountains run down the middle of Vermont, and the Adirondacks fill northern New York.

The Appalachian Trail. The famous hiking trail runs about 2,200 miles from Georgia to its northern end at Mount Katahdin in Maine, passing through every New England state except Rhode Island.

Rivers. The Hudson River flows south through New York past Albany to New York City. The Connecticut River separates Vermont and New Hampshire, then crosses Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Delaware River forms the border between Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The coast. From Maine's rocky shore to the beaches of New Jersey, the Atlantic coast shaped the region's history: fishing, shipbuilding and big port cities like Boston and New York.

Great Lakes. New York and Pennsylvania both touch Lake Erie, and New York also touches Lake Ontario.

The Northeast and the 13 colonies

Seven of the nine Northeast states were among the original 13 colonies: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. That's why so many Northeast statehood years are 1787 and 1788, when states ratified the Constitution.

The other two joined later. Vermont became the 14th state in 1791, the first state added after the original 13. Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820, when it became a separate state as part of the Missouri Compromise.

Which regions include the Northeast states?

Most textbooks and this map use National Geographic's five regions, where the Northeast has these nine states. The US Census Bureau's four-region system has the same nine Northeast states. Where you'll see disagreement is with Delaware and Maryland: the five-region map puts them in the Southeast, the Census Bureau in the South, and many people casually call them northeastern. If your child's textbook includes them in the Northeast, add them to your study list.

Make it part of a bigger lesson

The Northeast is where much of early American history happened: the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the Boston Tea Party, the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. History programs like Story of the World and Beautiful Feet Books tell those stories, and many families pay for programs like these with a state scholarship or education savings account. See what your state offers, then try the Southeast states and capitals next.