In the sentence 'The United States has 50 states,' the underlined word 'states' refers to:

STATES in the USCIS reading vocabulary refers to the political divisions that make up the United States. The U.S. has 50 STATES, each with its own state government, governor, state legislature, and state constitution. The number 50 is on the USCIS reading vocabulary numbers list. Common reading test sentences: 'The United States has 50 states.' 'The United States is in North America.' 'America is the land of the free.' 'Washington is the capital of the United States.' PLACES VOCABULARY includes: America, United States, Washington, Washington, D.C. ADDITIONAL CIVICS-PLACE OVERLAP includes: state names, capital, country. The 50 states joined the Union at different times: original 13 colonies (1776, statehood beginning 1787 with Delaware), with the most recent additions being Alaska and Hawaii (both 1959). Each state has 2 U.S. Senators and a number of U.S. Representatives based on its population. States have powers reserved under the 10th Amendment that are not delegated to the federal government, including education, police, driver's licenses, and zoning.