system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are the states in the east coast of the USA smaller than the west coast?
gpt
Most of those states began as colonies of Great Britain, and colonies tend to be smaller political units than provinces or states.  Additionally, the East Coast states were incorporated as they were settled, while the boundaries of the West Coast states were drawn at a time when the land in question was already both owned by the United States and settled by Americans (or, in the case of California, existed as the Mexican province of Alta California prior to being conquered).