I'm working on a project where 50 new states are created and what I am trying to do is make all states have approximately the same population.
The new states will include not only the 50 already existing ones, but also DC and the territories. The idea behind the project is simple. In order to trim down the number of states/territories from 56 to 50, I merge the smallest state/territory with the smallest state/territory it neighbors with. If the state/territory doesn't neighbor any other state/territory, then I merge it with the one it is closest to both in distance and culturally.
So far I have done the following:
-Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa have been annexed by Hawai'i.
- U.S. Virgin Islands have been annexed by Puerto Rico.
- D.C. has returned to Maryland.
- Wyoming has been annexed by South Dakota.
- Vermont has been annexed by New Hampshire.
This leaves us with 49 states (the 50 existing ones, plus Puerto Rico, minus Wyoming and Vermont) and the next step is to split the largest state into two states of approximately the same population.
That state is of course California and the reason I am starting this discussion is to ask you, how would you divide California into two states (the two states must have approximately the same population) and what would you call them?
Thanks in advance for your help 
First, let's annex the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada and Yuma, Arizona. (The rest of Nevada can be split between Idaho and Utah).
I would divide California into three states. "NoCal" from I-80 to the Oregon State Line including San Francisco, Reno, and Sacramento as the Capitol City. "Silicon Valley" from the I-80 Corridor to the I-15 Corridor and from Nevada to the Pacific including Los Angeles and Oxnard and with the Capitol City of Fresno. "Mojave" from the I-15 corridor south to the Mexican Border including Las Vegas and San Diego and Yuma with the Capitol City being San Diego.
