52 States in the USA

[Abacus]

you guys are funny.

[ztephen]

I know the US officially has 50 states, but from an outsider looking at the US it would make a lot of sense to say that it 51 states at least. I've always called Puerto Rico the 51st state.

[austin]

52 states... Effectively.Puerto Rico and Mexico make 51 and 52

[GuyInTaiwan]

Mexico isn't a state of the U.S. It's the other way around.

[korat]

I was about leave some lines for the OP but after I read all replies, it's actually not necessary anymore since you guys spoke all my thoughts.... ... and this is probably the only one post that the owner never reply which I'm kind like expecting...

[archylgp]

Is there any reason why a school in Taiwan needs to teach anything at all about the number of states in America? I certainly didn't learn anything whatsoever about the make up of the US at any level of schooling in Australia, and don't really see why anyone other than Americans should learn it in school.

The Taiwanese education system prides itself in teaching pointless things. When I was teaching, I asked hundreds of middle school students where Africa is located (with a map). The majority could not answer. Why? They were too busy studying the geography of China (mountains, rivers, lakes, cities,...) and hadn't started on world geography yet! I'm not kidding... It's a real shame; so many students work really hard, but at the end of the day, haven't really learned anything...(I think that's why so many college students don't take their studies seriously here; in their experience, learning is meaningless.)

[PapaAzucar]

Mexico isn't a state of the U.S. It's the other way around.

Actually, Texas and New Mexico are practically part of Mexico now since more Mexicans are living there than US citizens.
Mexico was about to annex Arizona until Arizona passed the anti-immigration act.
The Japanese have owned Hawaii for half a century already.

So there are 47 states in the US.

[Confuzius]

Isn't Canada just America's hat? Maybe thats the 52nd state, after Puerto Rico they were thinking of.

[steelersman]

I teach at an adult cram school where the majority of students are high schoolers and college students. In my class yesterday, I had a question "How many states are there in the USA?". Pretty much EVERYONE said either 52 or 51. I was like wtf?! So I asked them where they learned that and they all said their high school teachers. I know the Taiwanese education is bad but is it really this bad?

Does anyone have similar experiences? Or explanations as to why high schools teach the wrong amount of states? I'm really curious.

That is funny. A foreigner that I met last Sunday also seemed to believe that the US had 52 states. It must not only be Taiwan.

[Confuzius]

Did you know that North Carolina is actually a southern state? Weird, isn't it?

Not if you know what the Mason-Dixon Line is, then it's not weird at all, as it falls below that. Grief man, you're just digging your hole deeper.

Wow, they needed 4 years to draw a straight line on a map?

Washington DC is below the Mason Dixon line, though I do not consider it a "Southern City", don't think the Yanks nor Confeds did neither.