There are 130 national monuments in the United States, the oldest of which is Devils Tower in Wyoming, established under President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Arizona and California share the record for most national monuments, with 18 apiece, though New Mexico isn’t far behind with 13 monuments. Idaho only has two national monuments.

Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park features 400 miles of explored caves, with several hundred more miles of unexplored caves estimated to remain. That makes Mammoth Cave the world’s longest known cave system. The national park was established in 1941 and welcomes around 2 million annual visitors.

The Gulf Coast shoreline of Alabama is 53 miles long, and 607 miles when you count tidal areas. Mississippi’s total Gulf Coast shoreline is 44 miles long, which expands to 359 miles when you account for tidal pools. The other three states to border the Gulf of Mexico are Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

With an average annual precipitation of 9.56 inches, Nevada is the driest state in the county. Utah is the third-driest, with an average precipitation of 13.57 inches. On the flip side, Mississippi is the wettest state, with an average 66.84 inches of annual precipitation, followed by Louisiana at 66.23 inches.

Vermont and New Hampshire are neighboring states in New England. They rank 43rd and 44th respectively in terms of total square miles of area among the 50 states. Vermont comes in just ahead, with an area of 9,249 square miles, compared to New Hampshire’s 8,969 square miles.

Thirteen states share a border with America’s northern neighbor. Alaska, Michigan, and Maine hold the top three spots in terms of the longest shared Canada-U.S. border. Minnesota is fourth on the list, sharing a 547-mile-long border with Canada. Montana isn’t far behind, with a shared border of 545 miles.

The northern border of Maine is the sixth-northernmost border in the contiguous U.S., ranking after Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Maine’s northern border extends just past a latitude of 47 degrees north, while Washington’s northern border sits on the 49th parallel. Maine is, however, the easternmost state in the contiguous U.S.

Connecticut was settled by Europeans in 1634, four years before Delaware was first settled. Despite that, Delaware became the first state to ratify their statehood, officially entering the Union on December 7, 1787. Pennsylvania and New Jersey followed that same month, whereas Connecticut became the fifth state to join the Union on January 9, 1788.

Although official sources vary, many list South Dakota as the country’s windiest state, with average wind speeds reaching 21.32 mph. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado round out the top five. Minnesota’s average wind speeds reach 18.51 mph, good enough for 12th place.

The deepest lake in America is Oregon’s Crater Lake, descending to depths of 1,949 feet. That’s good enough for being the ninth-deepest lake on the planet. Next up in the U.S. after Crater Lake is Lake Tahoe (1,645 feet deep), which is shared between Nevada and California. The deepest lake in Michigan is Lake Superior, which reaches 1,333 feet deep.

Wyoming is the least populated state in the country, with an estimated population of 581,000 people. Vermont is the second-least populous state (with 647,000 residents), followed by Alaska (734,000), North Dakota (779,000), and South Dakota (910,000).

Eight of the 45 men to serve as President of the United States were born in Virginia, more than any other state. Four of them were among the first five Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. The other four are William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson. No Presidents have been born in Maryland.

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, with an estimated 1,259 people per square mile. Rhode Island is a close second with 1,055 people per square mile. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maryland round out the top five. On the flipside, the least densely populated states are Alaska, Wyoming, and Montana.

Alaska has the most shoreline of any state, with 33,904 miles in total. After Alaska and Florida, Louisiana is third on the list with 7,721 miles of shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico. North Carolina contains the sixth-longest shoreline, with 3,375 miles of coast along the Atlantic Ocean.

While California has the most national parks in the country (with nine), Alaska is next on the list with eight. This includes Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, which is the largest U.S. national park by area in the country — covering a whopping 13.2 million acres. Hawaii has two national parks: Haleakala National Park and Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

Death Valley, California, may be known for its record hot temperatures — averaging around 116.5 degrees Fahrenheit each July — but Florida has California beat statewide. California’s colder land up north means that the Golden State doesn’t even crack the top 10 hottest states. Florida averages statewide temperatures of around 72.4 degrees Fahrenheit annually, just a few degrees behind Hawaii.

There are 3,243 county and county-equivalents in the United States, with a record 254 of them located in Texas. Next up on the list is Georgia, with 159 counties. The largest county in Georgia is Fulton County. Illinois ranks seventh for number of counties, with 102.

Along with Tennessee, Missouri is one of only two states in the country that borders eight other states. Missouri shares its borders with Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Oklahoma, on the other hand, only borders six states: Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Arkansas.

Texas ranks as the second-most populous state in the country with an estimated population of 29.1 million people as of the 2020 census. That number grew 15.9% from the previous census conducted in 2010. New York is the fourth-most populous state, with an estimated 20.2 million residents. The country’s most populous state is California, home to 39.5 million people.

Covering 113,990 square miles, Arizona ranks as the sixth-largest state in the United States. That’s slightly ahead of Colorado, which ranks eighth on the list at 104,094 square miles. Both states share a border with New Mexico, which is even bigger — the Land of Enchantment is the fifth-largest state with an area of 121,590 square miles.