Geography: Practice Questions & Explanations

The Atlantic Ocean is on the East Coast of the United States. It borders states from Maine in the north through Florida in the south. The Pacific Ocean is on the West Coast, bordering California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska (and Hawaii sits in the Pacific). The Gulf of Mexico, an arm of the Atlantic, borders the southern coast of states like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The United States is the only country with significant coastline on three oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic, via Alaska). The Indian Ocean does not border the United States. This question is on the citizenship test in part because geographic knowledge is part of basic civic literacy.

The USCIS Civics Question 88 asks to name one of the two longest rivers in the United States. The accepted answers are the MISSOURI RIVER and the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. The Missouri River (approximately 2,341 miles) is technically the longest river in the US by most measurements, though historically it is the Mississippi that receives greater recognition as America's great river. The Mississippi River (approximately 2,340 miles) drains the third-largest river basin in the world, covering about 40% of the contiguous United States. Together, the Missouri-Mississippi river system is one of the largest in the world. The Mississippi River has been central to American history and culture: Native Americans used it extensively; European explorers including Hernando de Soto (1541) traveled it; the river was crucial for transportation and commerce in the 18th and 19th centuries; Mark Twain immortalized it in 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' and 'Life on the Mississippi.' The river system flows south from Minnesota and drains into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans, Louisiana. For the USCIS test, either 'Missouri River' or 'Mississippi River' is an acceptable answer.

US TERRITORIES are areas under US sovereignty that are not states. Residents of territories are US nationals (and most are US citizens by birth) but territories do not have full Congressional voting representation and their residents cannot vote in presidential elections while residing in the territory. THE FIVE INHABITED US TERRITORIES: Puerto Rico (Caribbean, most populous territory); Guam (Pacific); US Virgin Islands (Caribbean); American Samoa (Pacific — residents are nationals, not automatically citizens); Northern Mariana Islands (Pacific). USCIS Question 92: 'Name one US territory' — any of the five above is a correct answer.