Eastern United States
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The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital.
As of 2011, the Eastern United States had an estimated population exceeding 179 million, representing the majority (over 58 percent) of the total U.S. population.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The three most populous cities in the Eastern United States are New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Northeastern United StatesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Northeastern United States comprises nine states, including (north to south): Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
The present-day Northeast is significantly smaller than the Northeastern Woodlands cultural area. The pre-Columbian Northeast had three major areas: the Coastal area, Saint Lawrence Lowlands, and Great Lakes-Riverine zones. The Coastal area includes the Atlantic Provinces of Canada and the Atlantic seaboard of the United States south to North Carolina. The Saint Lawrence Lowlands area includes parts of Southern Ontario, upstate New York, much of the Saint Lawrence River area, and the Susquehanna Valley. The Great Lakes-Riverine area includes the remaining inland areas of the Northeast, which were home to Central Algonquian and Siouan speakers. The Great Lakes region is sometimes considered a distinct cultural area due to its large concentration of Native American tribes.
New EnglandEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} New England is a subregion of the northeastern U.S. that is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada, and the state of New York. It includes six states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
In one of the earliest British colonial settlements in the New World, Pilgrims from England first settled in New England in 1620 at Plymouth Colony in and around present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. In the late 18th century, the New England colonies were among the first North American British colonies to support an escalation in the American Revolution against Britain, launching the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, and later firing the first shots of the American Revolutionary War in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.
New England produced the first examples of American literature and philosophy and was home to the beginnings of free and compulsory public education. In the 19th century, the region played a prominent role in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States. It was the first region of the United States to be transformed by the Industrial Revolution.
As of 2023, New England is home to two of the top ten universities in the nation, according to 2022-23 U.S. News & World Report rankings, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (tied for third), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts (tied for third).<ref name="national-universities">"Best national universities", U.S. News and World World Report</ref>
Mid-AtlanticEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} According to the United States Census Bureau, the Middle Atlantic is a subregion of the northeastern U.S. that includes three states: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
The Middle Atlantic region includes New York City, the largest city in the U.S. and a global center of finance and culture, and Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-largest city and first capital, where the Declaration of Independence was signed at Independence Hall in 1776, formally launching the American Revolutionary War, and later where the U.S. Constitution was drafted and ratified at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1789.
As of 2023, the Mid-Atlantic region is home to four of the top twenty-five universities in the nation, according to 2022-23 U.S. News & World Report rankings: Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Columbia University in New York, New York, and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<ref name="national-universities" />
East North Central StatesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The East North Central area, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, can also be classified as a subregion of the Northeastern United States, as these states are in the Great Lakes-Riverine area. As one of two subregional divisions used to categorize the modern Midwest, the East North Central region closely matches the area of the Northwest Territory, excluding a portion of Minnesota. The East North Central states form a large part of the Great Lakes region,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> although the latter also includes Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania and the Canadian province of Ontario.
Culturally, the East North Central region of the U.S. has been historically influenced by the British and the French; Anglo-American culture permeated states covering the region following the westward expansion of the United States. Religiously, the East North Central states have been and remain predominantly affiliated with Christianity. Altogether, the five states are majority Catholic, non- and inter-denominational, Methodist, Lutheran, and Baptist. The largest non-Christian religion has been Islam.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Chicago is the largest city in the region, followed by Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis. Chicago has the largest metropolitan statistical area, followed by Detroit, and Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan is the oldest city in the region, founded by French missionaries and explorers in 1668.
As of 2023, the East North Central States are home to one of the top ten universities in the nation, according to 2022-23 U.S. News & World Report rankings: the University of Chicago, which is ranked the sixth-best in the nation.<ref name="national-universities" />
Southeastern United StatesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Southeastern United States is a large region of the country that includes a core of states that reaches north to Maryland and West Virginia, bordering the Ohio River and Mason–Dixon line, and stretches west to Arkansas and Louisiana.Template:Refn
Unlike the Northeast, there is no official U.S. government definition for the Southeast, and it is defined variably among agencies and organizations.
Its unique cultural and historic heritage includes the following aspects:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Distinct Native American cultures (Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands)
- Early European settlements of English, Scotch-Irish, Scottish and German heritage
- Rejection of the Anglican Church as instituted by Great Britain and resorting to other denominations of Protestantism
- Helping partake in the American Revolutionary War
- Importation of hundreds of thousands of enslaved black Africans
- Growth of a large black population
- Reliance on slave labor from early 1600s to mid-1800s
- Southern yeoman farmers that differed from the planter class
- Legacy of the Confederacy after the Civil War
- Reconstruction Era
- Jim Crow era and Great Migration
- Civil rights movement
- Emergence of the New South and New Great Migration
These aspects, among other things, led to "the South" developing distinctive customs, literature, musical styles, and varied cuisines that have profoundly shaped traditional American culture.
The shift from a mainly rural society to more cities and urbanized metropolitan areas picked up speed following World War II in the 1940s. Since the late 20th century, certain Southeastern states and areas have seen great economic growth. This growth has led to many migrants moving to Southeastern states.<ref>Murphy, Shane. (February 10, 2021). The States People Are Fleeing (and Where They're Going). MoneyWise. Retrieved February 14, 2021. Template:Webarchive</ref> In 2020, Fortune 500 companies headquartered in southeastern states included: Virginia with 22, Georgia with 18, Florida with 18, North Carolina with 13, and Tennessee with 10.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
South Atlantic statesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The South Atlantic region of the United States is one of the nine Census Bureau Divisions of the country. This region corresponds to the Southern states/areas that were geographically part of the Thirteen Colonies, with the addition of Florida. It includes eight states and one federal district: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.<ref>"Census Regions and Divisions of the United States" Template:Webarchive, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved June 19, 2011</ref> The South Atlantic is also a recognized geographical division used by the United States Geological Survey.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp All entities within the region apart from the District of Columbia and West Virginia border the Atlantic Ocean.
As of 2010, the South Atlantic states had a combined population of 61,774,970. The South Atlantic region covers Template:Convert. With the exception of West Virginia, the region has seen rapid population growth and economic development in recent decades.
As of 2023, the South Atlantic region is home to three of the top ten universities in the nation, according to 2022-23 U.S. News & World Report rankings: Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, which is ranked the tenth-best in the nation.<ref name="national-universities" />
East South Central StatesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The East South Central region constitutes one of the nine U.S. Census Bureau divisions. Four states make up the division: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. Historically, the area has been colonized and influenced by the French, Spanish, British, early US, and Confederate governments.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Distinct among these states, Alabama's French culture has been preserved through the Alabama Creoles,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Kentucky's French culture can be observed throughout Louisville.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The East South Central states form the core of Old Dixie,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> one of the nine moral regions identified by James Patterson and Peter Kim in their acclaimed 1991 geopolitical best-seller, The Day America Told The Truth.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Politically and culturally, the East South Central is more conservative than the South Atlantic; Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee's governments have been described during 2012 to 2023 as some of the most conservative.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Religiously, conservative Evangelical Protestantism dominates the East South Central region as a central part of the Bible Belt.
As of 2020, the East South Central states had a combined population of 19,430,030. The East South Central region covers 183,401 square miles of land. Within the region, Tennessee is the largest state by population, though Alabama is the largest by land area; Tennessee was also the East South Central's fastest growing state between 2010 and 2020,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with Alabama second.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Kentucky was the third-fastest growing state,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Mississippi experienced population decline; despite population decline, Mississippi did increase in diversity.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Major population centersEdit
The following is a list of the 25 largest cities in the Eastern United States, based on 2021 population estimates:
- Top of Rock Cropped.jpg
New York City
population: 8,230,290 - 2009-09-18 3060x2040 chicago skyline.jpg
Chicago
population: 2,798,080 - The Philadelphia Skyline at Dusk.jpg
Philadelphia
population: 1,603,809 - Jacksonville at Night (39527326802).jpg
Jacksonville
population: 929,647 - Columbus-ohio-skyline-panorama.jpg
Columbus
population: 913,921 - Uptown Charlotte 2018 taking by DJI Phantom 4 pro.jpg
Charlotte
population: 912,096 - Downtown indy from parking garage zoom.JPG
Indianapolis
population: 887,232 - WashMonument WhiteHouse.jpg
Washington, D.C.
population: 714,153 - Bostonstraight.jpg
Boston
population: 695,506 - Nashville panorama Kaldari 01.jpg
Nashville
population: 678,448 - DetroitSkyline.jpg
Detroit
population: 664,139 - Memphis skyline from the air.jpg
Memphis
population: 651,011 - LouisvilleNightSkyline2-small.jpg
Louisville
population: 615,924 - Milwaukee skyline.jpg
Milwaukee
population: 587,721 - Baltimore Harbor from rest.jpg
Baltimore
population: 575,584 - Midtownatlanta.jpg
Atlanta
population: 524,067 - Downtown-Raleigh-from-Western-Boulevard-Overpass-20081012.jpeg
Raleigh
population: 483,579 - Miamiatnightpink.jpg
Miami
population: 478,251 - Virginia Beach from Fishing Pier.jpg
Virginia Beach
population: 450,224 - TampaSkyline.jpg
Tampa
population: 404,636 - Flats - 1 (13966708395).jpg
Cleveland
population: 376,599 - LexingtonDowntown.JPG
Lexington
population: 324,604 - Cincinnati oh skyline.jpg
Cincinnati
population: 307,266 - Greensboro Skyline.jpg
Greensboro
population: 301,094 - PittSkyline082904.jpg
Pittsburgh
population: 299,718
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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