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U.S. Panhandles

According to National Geographic, there are 9 states that have a "panhandle". Can you name them all?
To make it easier, we give you the most populous city in each state's panhandle
One state has two panhandles!
Quiz by Gassu
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Last updated: October 6, 2019
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First submittedJune 5, 2017
Times taken23,902
Average score66.7%
Rating4.14
1:30
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City
State
Amarillo
Texas
Coeur d'Alene
Idaho
Guymon
Oklahoma
Hagerstown
Maryland
Juneau
Alaska
City
State
Scottsbluff
Nebraska
Stamford
Connecticut
Tallahassee
Florida
Martinsburg
West Virginia
Wheeling
+21
Level 86
Jun 7, 2017
Finally: a category in which West Virginia comes out on top. Go, Mountaineers!
+68
Level 66
Oct 6, 2019
I can think of plenty of categories where West Virginia comes out on top, For example: lowest GDP, least educated, most coal dependent to name a few.
+42
Level 84
Oct 6, 2019
Don't forget population decline...
+35
Level 87
Oct 6, 2019
Biggest Trump victory margin...
+64
Level 74
Oct 7, 2019
Most western Virginia.
+48
Level 66
Nov 19, 2019
Actually virginia is the most western virginia. It extends further west than west virginia.
+25
Level 70
Dec 30, 2019
Most northern Virginia.
+6
Level 65
Nov 15, 2021
State that has gotten the most likes on a thread about it...
+5
Level 58
Nov 15, 2021
Most Western Virginia by title only...
+10
Level 59
Nov 15, 2021
Most featured state in the song 'Country Roads'
+3
Level 66
Nov 16, 2021
Most featured state in the Canadian national anthem (equal with 49 others)
+6
Level 66
Oct 7, 2019
Utah?
+2
Level 77
Jun 25, 2021
I don't understand why that's not on there. It was the first state I tried.
+3
Level 55
Nov 15, 2021
I live in Utah & I can assure we do NOT have one
+2
Level 66
Nov 15, 2021
but nebraska does?
+1
Level 56
Nov 15, 2021
I wouldn't really say that they have one, I don't think the "panhandle" is thin or long enough.
+16
Level 80
Oct 7, 2019
OK's the only one that I'd call a panhandle, on the grounds that the state does more or less look like a pan with a handle.
+21
Level 73
Oct 9, 2019
If I got a pan shaped like Connecticut, I'd be like, how do I hold this thing?
+2
Level 76
Nov 16, 2021
the One True Panhandle
+1
Level 70
Nov 20, 2021
Panhandle is such a weird concept. Also, doesn't even seem like a concept. I agree with you. I'd be open only to consider northwest Florida as a panhandle as well.
+5
Level 73
Oct 18, 2019
Gotta be the first quiz I've ever taken that had Guymon on it. :-)
+6
Level 74
Oct 20, 2019
As a non-native English speaker, I randomly typed states wondering what the hell a panhandle was referring to a state haha
+8
Level 71
Oct 23, 2019
The panhandles of Nebraska, Connecticut and Texas aren't really panhandles. Especially Nebraska's one
+1
Level 28
Dec 30, 2019
The definition of a panhandle is "a narrow strip of territory projecting from the main territory of one state into another state."

which makes them all panhandles. if any thing Massachusetts or Virginia should be one instead of Connecticut.

+11
Level 67
Dec 30, 2019
The fact that this list includes Nebraska but excludes Virginia and North Carolina is baffling. I read the source article and there is no true standard for identifying a panhandle. It seems like it's just one authority's opinion, and I don't think that authority spent a ton of time thinking it out. New Hampshire also has an eastern panhandle similar to Connecticut's western one, and Massachusetts has the southeast panhandle, which leads to the capes. This whole exercise is suspect, but it's not really a question of consequence, so who cares, I suppose. If nothing else, the quiz got me to look at these states more closely.
+1
Level 66
Nov 15, 2021
Agree, I only missed Nebraska, and I tried every state you mention plus a handful of others that I thought qualified more than Nebraska.
+2
Level 66
Nov 15, 2021
The Nebraska "Panhandle" is ~125 miles N-S. The State's maximum N-S is ~205 miles. Doesn't exactly smack of "narrow" or "strip".
+1
Level 65
Nov 17, 2021
Jmellior13 North Carolina? As a native North Carolinian I can assure you we do not have a panhandle, it is just an elongated state. Virginia I can agree with it certainly has one.
+6
Level 65
Dec 30, 2019
I feel like the El Paso part of Texas is more of a panhandle than the Amarillo part.
+1
Level 67
Dec 30, 2019
Oh, wow. I didn't even notice that it listed the northern part. I agree. I always think of the Texas panhandle as the western part.
+1
Level 65
May 30, 2023
The Panhandle just seems so much farther north than the rest of the state, though, and here, everyone refers to that area as the Panhandle probably as much as Idahoans do for their state. It's also talked about a lot more since it's less isolated than El Paso and is easier to get to if you're in the Texas Triangle.
+3
Level 75
Dec 30, 2019
Just personal opinion, but I think this would have been better without the clues. Fun quiz, though.
+1
Level 70
Dec 30, 2019
Virginia, definitely.
+4
Level 51
Jan 2, 2020
How about Missouri? If Connecticut's "panhandle" counts, Missouri's does to
+4
Level 85
Sep 14, 2021
Missouri doesn't have a panhandle; it has a "bootheel".
+1
Level 65
Nov 17, 2021
Connecticut is smaller so the panhandle is a larger percent of the area
+3
Level 67
Jan 7, 2020
7/9 happy with that considering five were guesses
+1
Level 45
Apr 2, 2020
i wouldnt consider nebraska as having a panhandle. And if connecticut counts, so does Iowa.
+3
Level 56
Nov 8, 2021
I used to live in Coeur d'Alene!
+5
Level 90
Nov 15, 2021
This definition of panhandle is ridiculous: "a narrow strip of territory projecting from the main territory of one state into another state."

Exactly zero states have territory that projects into another state. No state's territory goes beyond its own border.

And by this 'definition' It could be argued that Florida's 'panhandle" is entirely south of Georgia and Alabama (and therefore not a panhandle), and it is Alabama that has the panhandle that projects into Florida.

If Idaho has a panhandle, so does Utah.

+5
Level 67
Nov 15, 2021
This guy is level 91 and the first comment I've ever seen him make is one trashing pan handles. I love it. More of this.
+2
Level 62
Nov 15, 2021
How has Texas got a panhandle??
+1
Level 62
Nov 15, 2021
Hey, out of everyone commenting here, I have the lowest level! Everyone else is level 60 +
+2
Level 67
Nov 15, 2021
Not anymore!
+1
Level 65
May 30, 2023
The index finger of the hand. It's the northern part of the Great Plains region and is usually used to refer to the Amarillo and Lubbock areas, since they are relatively isolated.
+2
Level 65
Nov 15, 2021
lol Scottsbluff is in Scotts Bluff County

btw Kennett for Missouri?

+1
Level 85
Jan 1, 2022
Again, any Missourian will tell you the state has a "bootheel", not a panhandle.
+2
Level 63
Nov 15, 2021
How did national geographic decide Connecticut has a panhandle but not Massachusetts?
+1
Level 60
Nov 15, 2021
You forgor Pansylvania
+2
Level 67
Nov 15, 2021
What is the exact definition of a panhandle? Why does Nebraska have a panhandle and Utah does not?
+1
Level 59
Nov 15, 2021
Maybe it has to do with whether residents of the state consider it a panhandle. Nebraskans definitely do. Connecticut surprised me--do Connecticans consider the SW jut a panhandle?
+2
Level 62
Nov 15, 2021
Canadian here...Had heard the term referred to before on TV, but legitimately never clued in that panhandle was a part of a state that looks like a pan handle....wow.
+1
Level 77
Nov 15, 2021
Another Canadian here. Got wrecked by this quiz because I got frustrated that seemingly obvious panhandles weren't counted. But most of us know what a panhandle is.
+3
Level 66
Nov 15, 2021
Why do some US states have panhandles? Surely it would have been easier to draw boundaries along geographical lines such as rivers and canyons, or in neat shapes such as squares.
+1
Level 65
Nov 17, 2021
I believe that it partially has to do with arbitrary decisions and other times because of natural /historical/cultural borders.
+2
Level 71
Nov 16, 2021
Bro, r u ok with panhandles? Idk what pans you have at you home that are half the width of the actual pan, but ok.

Look at Texas and Nebraska my dude.

+1
Level 65
May 30, 2023
IDK about Nebraska's (although old Nebraska would definitely count) but the Texas Panhandle is kinda significant geographically and culturally. I mean, sure, it's a bit stubby, but containing the Great Plains and the cities of Amarillo and Lubbock mean it's important enough to be called a panhandle, at least.
+1
Level 76
Apr 14, 2022
What constitutes a panhandle? I feel as if Wisconsin and West Virginia have similar-looking "handles" in a way.