In July, 1982, letters were sent to the social studies coordinators in all 50 states requesting a list of high school geography texts approved for use in those states and information on the selection process used. The response rate was 100%. Information acquired from the 20 states that have statewide adoption policies constitute the basis of this paper. The most striking study result was the spatial pattern of states that have state adoption policies. They are almost all in the South or Mountain West. With the exception of Indiana, no state in the Midwest, plains, or Northeast has a statewide adoption policy. Reasons for having statewide adoption might include lack of confidence in local leadership or social and political conservatism. It was also found that large textbook adopting states, especially Texas, have little influence on the current adoption policies of geography texts in other states. The textbooks chosen by the adoption states consistently followed what can be considered the traditional world regional geography format. These texts are listed, along with the name of the publishing company, their publication date, and the number and the names of the states which have adopted them. (RM)