Learning US States, Canadian Provinces, Australian States and UK Nations

MapGuesser's [Draw the Region](/play/draw-the-region/) mode includes four subdivision pools: 51 US states (including the District of Columbia), 13 Canadian provinces and territories, 8 Australian states and territories, and 4 UK nations. They are a good next step after countries because the shapes are distinctive and the names are familiar — but "familiar" is not the same as "placeable".

US states: start with the coastlines

The interior states are a grid; the coastal states are the ones with character. Learn these first:

• Florida — the peninsula.
• California — the long, thin coast.
• Texas — the big shape with the panhandle.
• Louisiana — the boot.
• Maine — the northeastern point.
• Washington — the northwestern corner.

Then use the Mississippi as a spine: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Once the river is in your head, the states around it have a reference line.

Canadian provinces: west to east

Canada is easier learned as a strip:

• British Columbia — the western coast, above Washington.
• Alberta — the prairie next to the Rockies.
• Saskatchewan and Manitoba — the two rectangular prairie provinces.
• Ontario — the Great Lakes province; the southern tip reaches below Detroit.
• Quebec — the French-speaking province around the St. Lawrence.
• The Atlantic provinces — New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
• The territories — Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the enormous north.

Nunavut is the shape that surprises people: it includes the eastern Arctic islands and is larger than most countries.

Australian states: the mainland five plus the island

• Western Australia — the huge western third.
• Northern Territory — the top middle.
• South Australia — the middle south.
• Queensland — the northeast.
• New South Wales — the southeast coast.
• Victoria — the small southeastern state.
• Tasmania — the island.
• ACT — the tiny capital territory inside NSW.

The borders are mostly straight lines, so the game is really about relative position and size.

UK nations: four shapes, one island

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England is the large southeast; Scotland is the north with the jagged coast; Wales is the western bump; Northern Ireland is the northeastern part of the island of Ireland. The UK nations pool is small, so it is a good confidence builder.

How to practise

1. Pick one pool and learn the five largest subdivisions first. 2. Draw them in [Draw the Region](/play/draw-the-region/); the game skips micro-territories. 3. Add the neighbours and the oddly shaped ones. 4. Add the smaller or more awkward shapes once you are scoring comfortably.

The same method works for countries: big shapes first, then neighbours, then the awkward ones.