Most of the time, you as commander, will work with two screens. The city screen shows your city, all the buildings within the walls, and the resource plots and buildings just outside your walls.
At the bottom of the screen is an icon that will take you to the local area screen. This shows the area around your city, which includes geographic details. Zombies at all levels will be shown, as will any other cities nearby. Resource plots are there, with appropriate symbols for the type of plot. Each locus has a coordinate, consisting of the state number and an x and a y number. Clicking on any spot brings up an icon menu that includes the coordinates.
To the far right on the bottom is the icon that will take you to the state view. This shows the 1000 by 1000 square of the state that your city and alliance is in. Pins mark your location and that of any other alliance members.
Clicking on the world symbol takes you to a display of all the states. They are both numbered and named.