Eastern United States

The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply The East or The East Coast, is a region of the United States located east of the Mississippi River.[1] It includes 26 states and the national capital of Washington, D.C. As of 2011, the region had an estimated population exceeding 179 million, representing over 58 percent of the total U.S. population.[2] [3][4]

The area ceded to the United States by Great Britain (in light brown) following the Revolutionary War in 1783 is recognized as the Eastern United States.

New England
Main article: New England

New England is a region of the U.S. located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

In one of the earliest English settlements in the New World, English Pilgrims from Europe first settled in New England in 1620, in the colony of Plymouth. In the late 18th century, the New England colonies would be among the first North American British colonies to demonstrate ambitions of independence from the British Crown.

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, it 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.

Mid-Atlantic
Main article: Mid-Atlantic (United States)

The Eastern U.S. includes the seven states of the Mid-Atlantic U.S.: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the nation's capital of Washington, D.C.. The 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 where the Declaration of Independence was signed at Independence Hall in 1776, formally launching the American Revolutionary War, and later the location where the U.S. Constitution was drafted and ratified at Independence Hall in 1789.

Midwest
Main article: Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States, of referred to as the Midwest, is one of the four geographic regions within the United States that are recognized by the United States Census Bureau.

Five states in the central and inland northeastern US, traditionally considered to be part of the Midwest, can also be classified as being part of the Eastern United States: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. A 2006 Census Bureau estimate put the population at 66,217,736. The United States Census Bureau divides this region into the East North Central States (essentially the Great Lakes States) and the West North Central States.

Chicago is the largest city in the region, followed by Columbus 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, having been founded by French missionaries and explorers in 1668.

The term Midwest has been in common use for over 100 years. Another term sometimes applied to the same general region is "the heartland". Other designations for the region have fallen into disuse, such as the "Northwest" or "Old Northwest" (from "Northwest Territory") and "Mid-America". Since the book Middletown appeared in 1929, sociologists have often used Midwestern cities (and the Midwest generally) as "typical" of the entire nation. The region has a higher employment-to-population ratio (the percentage of employed people at least 16 years old) than the Northeast, the West, the South, or the Sun Belt states.

Four of the states associated with the Midwestern United States (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) are also traditionally referred to as belonging in part to the Great Plains region.

Southern United States
Main article: Southern United States

The southern United States is a large region of the United States that is sometimes considered to overlap with the Eastern United States, especially in the cases of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Its unique cultural and historic heritage includes the following aspects:[5][6]

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.

A shift from mainly a rural society, to more cities and metropolitan areas becoming urbanized, started to largely form following World War II in the 1940s. Since the late 20th century, certain Southern states and areas have seen great economic growth. This growth has led to many migrants moving to southern states, including many that are in the eastern United States.[7] In 2020, Fortune 500 companies headquartered in eastern southern states included: Virginia with 22, Georgia with 18, Florida with 18, North Carolina with 13, and Tennessee with 10.[8]

Major population centers

The following is a list of the 25 largest cities in the Eastern United States, based on 2021 population estimates:

See also

References
  1. "Eastern U.S. states". TheFreeDictionary.com.
  2. Whitaker, John O. (1998). Mammals of the Eastern United States. Hamilton, William J. (William John) Jr., 1902-1990. (3rd ed.). Ithaca: Comstock Pub. Associates. p. 4. ISBN 0-8014-3475-0. OCLC 38438640. eastern United States—that part of the nation east of the Mississippi
  3. Quandt, Sara A. (2009). Latino Farmworkers in the Eastern United States : Health, Safety and Justice. Springer-Verlag New York. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-387-88347-2. OCLC 901254381. The eastern US considered in this volume includes 22 states. This includes the southeastern states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia), the Mid-Atlantic states (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey), interior states (Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio), and New England (New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine).
  4. https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Minnesota%2c+Iowa%2c+Missouri%2c+Arkansas+and+Louisiana Archived 2022-11-17 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Culture in the Old South | US History | (AY Collection) Archived 2022-11-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  6. Wealth and Culture in the South | US History | (AY Collection) Archived 2021-02-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  7. Murphy, Shane. (February 10, 2021). The States People Are Fleeing (and Where They're Going). MoneyWise. Retrieved February 14, 2021. Archived February 23, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Number of U.S. companies listed in the Fortune 500 ranking 2020, by state Archived 2021-02-06 at the Wayback Machine. Statista. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
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