State most commonly refers to: *

State (polity) A state is a politics, political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various a ...

, a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **

Sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **

Nation state A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the State (polity), state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly ...

, a state where the majority identify with a single nation (with shared culture or ethnic group) ** Constituent state, a political subdivision of a state **

Federated state A federated state (also State (polity), state, province, region, Canton (administrative division), canton, Länder, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation ...

, constituent states part of a federation *** U.S. state * State of nature, a concept within philosophy that describes the way humans acted before forming societies or civilizations State may also refer to:

Arts, entertainment, and media

Literature

* '' State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our State'', a monthly magazine published in North Carolina and formerly called ''The State'' * The State (Larry Niven), a fictional future government in three novels by Larry Niven

Music

Groups and labels

* States Records, an American record label * The State (band), Australian band previously known as the Cutters

Albums

* ''State'' (album), a 2013 album by Todd Rundgren * ''States'' (album), a 2013 album by the Paper Kites * ''States'', a 1991 album by Klinik * ''The State'' (album), a 1999 album by Nickelback

Songs

* "The State", a 2011 song by Porter Robinson from ''

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

Television

* ''The State'' (American TV series), 1993 * ''The State'' (British TV series), 2017 * State (Friday Night Lights), an episode of the TV series Friday Night Lights

Other

* State Theatre (disambiguation), several theatres *

The State (comedy troupe) The State is an American comedy troupe. The troupe was founded by a group of New York University students in 1988, as an offshoot of the NYU improv comedy group The Sterile Yak; it was briefly named The New Group before landing on the name The St ...

, an American comedy troupe

Law and politics

* ''

Rechtsstaat ''Rechtsstaat'' (; lit. "state of law"; "legal state") is a doctrine in continental European legal thinking, originating in Germany, German jurisprudence. It can be translated into English as "rule of law", alternatively "legal state", state of l ...

'', the legal state (constitutional state, state subordinated to law) in the philosophy of law and as a principle of many national constitutions *

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

, a division of the executive branch of the United States federal government, dealing with foreign affairs; sometimes referred to as "State", for short, in American political jargon. Federated states: *

States of Australia The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereign, administrative divisions that are self-governing polities, having ceded some sovereign rights to the f ...

States of Austria Austria is a federal republic consisting of nine federal states. The European Commission calls them provinces. Austrian federal states can pass laws that stay within the limits of the constitution, and each federal state has representatives in ...

States of Brazil The federative units of Brazil () are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation, and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which together form the Brazil, Federat ...

States of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...

States of India State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country ** Nation state, ...

States of Malaysia Malaysia is a federation of thirteen federated state, states and three federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territories, which form the primary administrative division, administrative divisions of the country. Eleven states and two territ ...

States of Mexico A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent Federated state, federative Polity, entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, State g ...

* States of Micronesia *

States of Nigeria Nigeria is a federation of 36 states, each of which is a semi-autonomous political unit that shares power with the federal government as enumerated under the Constitution of Nigeria, Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In additi ...

* States of Somalia *

States of South Sudan The States of South Sudan were created out of the three historic former provinces (and contemporary regions) of Bahr el Ghazal (region of South Sudan), Bahr el Ghazal (northwest), Equatoria (southern), and Greater Upper Nile (northeast). The s ...

States of Sudan Below is a list of the 18 states of the Sudan (Arabic names are in parentheses). Prior to 9 July 2011, the Republic of the Sudan was composed of 25 states. The ten southern states now form part of the independent country of South Sudan. Two ad ...

* States of the United States *

States of Venezuela The Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a federation made up of twenty-three states ('), a Capital District (Venezuela), Capital District (') and the Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, Federal Dependencies ('), which consist of many ...

Constituent states: * States of Myanmar *

States of Palau Palau is divided into sixteen administrative regions, called states. Palau has a high ratio of government offices to citizens, with 16 states and both a tribal chiefdom and elected legislature in each state, for 20,000 people.''Patterson, Caroly ...

The Estates The Estates, also known as the States (, , , Hungarian: Rendek), was the assembly of the representatives of the estates of the realm, the divisions of society in feudal times, called together for purposes of deliberation, legislation or taxatio ...

or the States, a national assembly of the estates of the realm, an early form of legislature that was common throughout feudal Europe: * States of Alderney, the government and parliament of Alderney * States of Deliberation, the government and parliament of Guernsey * States of Jersey, including the States Assembly parliament and the Government of Jersey executive * States-General (disambiguation), a name for several historic and current national assemblies

Locations

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough and Home rule municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park, Pennsylvania, University Park ...

, a city in the United States, often referred to informally as "State" ** State College Area High School, or "State High" * State station, subway station in Boston * State station (CTA), in Chicago

Mathematics

State (controls) In control engineering and system identification, a state-space representation is a mathematical model of a physical system that uses state variables to track how inputs shape system behavior over time through first-order differential equations o ...

, a term related to control theory * State (functional analysis), a positive linear functional on an operator algebra * State, in

dynamical systems In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a Function (mathematics), function describes the time dependence of a Point (geometry), point in an ambient space, such as in a parametric curve. Examples include the mathematical models ...

, is a fixed rule describing the time dependence of a point in a geometrical space

Science and technology

Computing

State (computer science) In information technology and computer science, a system is described as stateful if it is designed to remember preceding events or user interactions; the remembered information is called the state of the system. The set of states a system can oc ...

, a unique configuration of information in a program or machine ** Program state, in computer science, a snapshot of the measure of various conditions in the system * State (website), semantic web platform created by London, UK-based Equal Media Ltd *

State pattern The state pattern is a Behavioral pattern, behavioral software design pattern that allows an object to alter its behavior when its internal state changes. This pattern is close to the concept of finite-state machines. The state pattern can be inter ...

, in computer science, a behavioral design pattern

Healthcare

* Medical state, one's current state of health, usually within a hospital *

Mental state A mental state, or a mental property, is a state of mind of a person. Mental states comprise a diverse class, including perception, pain/pleasure experience, belief, desire, intention, emotion, and memory. There is controversy concerning the exact ...

Physics and chemistry

* State, a complete description of a system in

classical mechanics Classical mechanics is a Theoretical physics, physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of Machine (mechanical), machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics inv ...

* Chemical state, the electronic, chemical and physical nature of an element *

Quantum state In quantum physics, a quantum state is a mathematical entity that embodies the knowledge of a quantum system. Quantum mechanics specifies the construction, evolution, and measurement of a quantum state. The result is a prediction for the system ...

, the state of a quantum mechanical system given by a vector in the underlying Hilbert space * Stationary state, an eigenvector of a Hamiltonian *

State of matter In physics, a state of matter is one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist. Four states of matter are observable in everyday life: solid, liquid, gas, and Plasma (physics), plasma. Different states are distinguished by the ways the ...

, solid, liquid or gaseous phases of matter; describing the organization of matter in a phase * Thermodynamic state, a set of physical quantities describing variable properties of a given thermodynamic system

Printing

* State (printmaking), distinct revisions of a work by a deliberate change to the print master

Universities

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

, in Muncie, United States *

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

, in Atlanta, United States *

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, in East Lansing, United States ** Michigan State Spartans, the athletic teams, commonly referred to as "State"

Other uses

State (theology) Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

, a degree or stage of perfection in the Christian religion * States (automobile), cyclecar manufactured by the States Cyclecar Co of Detroit, Michigan in 1915