When did the abbreviations for states appear?
Back in 1831, the 
Table of Post Offices in the United States was created in order to help people send their mail to the right address and receive it if it wasn't delivered. People really enjoyed to use the 
 50 states abbreviations instead of writing the long names of the states, that is why the table of the 
50 states abbreviations was useful. 
Publication 59 introduced the new 
50 states abbreviations that became shorter. Only two of the overseas territories have their own abbreviations: 
Guam and 
Puerto Rico.
US state abbreviations
The 
United States Postal Service has standardized the 
50 states abbreviations in order for the parcels to arrive at the right destination. The 
abbreviations for states are also used to represent the 
states of the US in case of data processing and in other purposes. The 
50 states abbreviations contain only two capital letters. This 
50 states abbreviations lesson will be useful for those who send parcels or letters, who do business or for students. The 
state abbreviations list is complete and includes 
all 50 states. The list of 
50 states abbreviations will be easy to remember with the help of our flashcards. Here are some examples from the 
50 states abbreviations included in this lesson:
- 1. AZ - Arizona
- 2. CA - California
- 3. FL - Florida
- 4. HI- Hawaii
- 5. IN - Indiana
State abbreviations list
Learn all the 
50 states abbreviations with this lesson! If you were curious what is the 
Missouri abbreviation and how to differentiate it from the 
Minnesota abbreviation - you will learn them now! The lesson includes the 
Indiana abbreviation and the 
Michigan abbreviation. Want to send a letter to Massachusetts? Then you'll need to know the 
Massachusetts abbreviation. You can learn all that with the help of our flashcards! If you want to know other things besides the 
50 states abbreviations, we have many interesting lessons prepared for you! Just explore our site! If you are interested in the US history, test your knowledge with the 
Major dates in the history of the US lesson.