Abbreviations of States, Provinces, and Countries

The names of states, provinces, and countries should usually be spelled out in text. In lists, footnotes, indexes, bibliographies, or charts, state, province, and country names may be abbreviated with standard abbreviations. Two-letter postal abbreviations for states and provinces should be used only when actual mailing addresses are given. The following list shows state and province abbreviations in both standard and postal style.⁶⁰

Alabama Ala. AL

Alaska Alaska AK

Arizona Ariz. AZ

Arkansas Ark. AR

California Calif. CA

Colorado Colo. CO

Connecticut Conn. CT

Delaware Del. DE

Florida Fla. FL

Georgia Ga. GA

Hawaii Hawaii HI

Idaho Ida. ID

Illinois Ill. IL

Indiana Ind. IN

Iowa Ia. IA

Kansas Kans. KS

Kentucky Ky. KY

Louisiana La. LA

Maine Me. ME

Maryland Md. MD

Massachusetts Mass. MA

Michigan Mich. MI

Minnesota Minn. MN

Mississippi Miss. MS

Missouri Mo. MO

Montana Mont. MT

Nebraska Neb. NE

Nevada Nev. NV

New Hampshire N. H. NH

New Jersey N. J. NJ

New Mexico N. Mex. NM

New York N. Y. NY

North Carolina N. C. NC

North Dakota N. Dak. ND

Ohio Ohio OH

Oklahoma Okla. OK

Oregon Ore. OR

Pennsylvania Pa. or Penn. PA

Rhode Island R. I. RI

South Carolina S. C. SC

South Dakota S. Dak. SD

Tennessee Tenn. TN

Texas Tex. TX

Utah Utah UT

Vermont Vt. VT

Virginia Va. VA

Washington Wash. WA

West Virginia W. Va. WV

Wisconsin Wis. WI

Wyoming Wyo. WY

Alberta Alta. AB

British Columbia B. C. BC

Manitoba Man. MB

New Brunswick N. B. NB

Newfoundland Nfld. NF

Northwest Territories N. W. T. NT

Nova Scotia N. S. NS

Ontario Ont. ON

Prince Edward

Island P. E. I. PE

Quebec Que. or P. Q. QC

Saskatchewan Sask. SK

Yukon Territory Y. T. YT

Although most country names should be spelled out in text, the following common abbreviations are exceptions. Note that no space is used between the letters of these abbreviations.

Soviet Union—U.S.S.R., USSR

United Kingdom—U.K., UK

United States—U.S., US, USA