america = [
    'Alabama', 'Alaska', 'Arizona', 'Arkansas', 'California', 'Colorado',
    'Connecticut', 'Delaware', 'Florida', 'Georgia', 'Hawaii', 'Idaho',
    'Illinois', 'Indiana', 'Iowa', 'Kansas', 'Kentucky', 'Louisiana',
    'Maine', 'Maryland', 'Massachusetts', 'Michigan', 'Minnesota',
    'Mississippi', 'Missouri', 'Montana', 'Nebraska', 'Nevada',
    'New Hampshire', 'New Jersey', 'New Mexico', 'New York', 'North Carolina',
    'North Dakota', 'Ohio', 'Oklahoma', 'Oregon', 'Pennsylvania',
    'Rhode Island', 'South Carolina', 'South Dakota', 'Tennessee', 'Texas',
    'Utah', 'Vermont', 'Virginia', 'Washington', 'West Virginia',
    'Wisconsin', 'Wyoming',
    ]

##########################################################################


# print all states that start with 'Co'
print
print "The following states start with the letter 'Co':"
for state in america:
    if state.startswith('Co'):
        print state

##########################################################################

# create a list of states that start with 'Co'
print
print "List of States starting with Co:",
results = []
for state in america:
    if state.startswith('Co'):
        results.append(state)
print results

##########################################################################

print
print 'A state with the longest name is',
bestScore = 0    # biggest length we've seen so far...
winner = None    # the state with that length
for state in america:
    realLength = len(state.replace(' ',''))  # don't count spaces
    if realLength >= bestScore:
        bestScore = realLength
        winner = state
print winner
print '(with length of ' + str(bestScore) + ')'

##########################################################################

print
print 'The states with the longest name are',
bestScore = 0            # biggest length we've seen so far...
results = []
for state in america:
    realLength = len(state.replace(' ',''))  # don't count spaces
    if realLength >= bestScore:
        if realLength == bestScore:   # ties for the longest so far
            results.append(state)
        else:                         # surpasses the longest so far
            bestScore = realLength    #   record new best score
            results = [ state ]       #   and restart with new list

print results

##########################################################################

print
print 'A state with the shortest name is',
bestScore = len(america[0])    # an upper bound on the smallest length
winner = america[0]            # the state with that length
for state in america:
    realLength = len(state.replace(' ',''))  # don't count spaces
    if realLength < bestScore:
        bestScore = realLength
        winner = state
print winner

##########################################################################

print
print 'States that have more than one word names: ',

##########################################################################

print
print 'The letter of the alphabet starting the most states is',

##########################################################################

print
print 'Our attempt at making two-letter abbreviations:'

##########################################################################