How many outer-shell electrons do nitrogen group elements have?

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Each element in the nitrogen group (Group 15 of the periodic table) possesses an outermost shell containing five electrons.1

These five valence electrons are arranged such that two occupy an outer s orbital, while the remaining three each occupy one of the three outer p orbitals. This configuration allows these elements to form three covalent bonds through their three half-filled outer orbitals, typically leaving behind an unshared, or lone, pair of electrons.1