Like its official state bug, the ladybug, most people think positively of Delaware, if they think of it all, but nonresidents probably don't know much about "The First State." 

Nonetheless, Delaware has become a hotbed for business -- or at least for the paperwork involved in creating business. More than 60% of publicly traded companies are incorporated in the second-smallest state, according to The New York Times, so what it lacks in land mass it more than makes up for in influence.

The vast majority of these companies have headquarters elsewhere, making them Delawareans in name only, but the state has still built up a nice business as a place to incorporate businesses. An earlier Times article reported that "Delaware collected roughly $860 million in taxes and fees from its absentee corporate residents" in 2011, a quarter of the state's total budget for the year.

By being business-friendly, offering low taxes, and making it very easy to set up shell companies -- business entities that have no operations or assets, but can be used for legal tax avoidance -- Delaware has become the go-to place for legitimate (and less legitimate) companies to incorporate. That has given the state both revenue and power.