Regional Terms in the U.S. Defined
Вставка
- Опубліковано 21 лип 2022
- Discussion of what the various terms for broad regions in the U.S. mean and what places they encompass. The terms Midwest, South, Northwest, Mid-Atlantic, and more have names that may not exactly match up with the direction that the term alludes to.
If you'd like to support the channel or purchase a pin for the viewer pin wall map, please visit my Patreon page:
/ geographyking
Album displayed: Slayer- "Reign in Blood" (1986)
It's interesting how Appalachia is often glossed over as a region. It's partially in the northeast, midwest, and south, but it's really none of those things. There are not even any states that are entirely within Appalachia other than West Virginia, which of course wasn't originally it's own state. That's how much of an afterthought the region has always been. But it's pretty clear and distinct. To use Pennsylvania as an example, there's a mountain ridge called Blue Mountain running through the state. Everything to the southeast of blue mountain is Atlantic Pennsylvania and everything to the northwest is Appalachian Pennsylvania. The culture of these two regions is completely different despite being part of the same state.
It’s always strange to me that people want to draw borders at a state line. I think looking at county level and natural geography is a much better way of defining a region in my opinion, so I agree with you.
Vermont is almost entirely within the Appalachian region, but the culture couldn't be more different than the more southerly portions of the mountain chain.
@@eurodoc6343 Appalachia as a region stops at the Southern Tier in New York.
Appalachian Mountains will be a refuge in the years to come.
@@bonecanoe86 The actual mountain chain, though, continues up through New England and into the Canadian maritime provinces, with a very small portion also extending just over the border into southern Quebec.
For me personally, I've always found the "Cultural Regions of the United States" map that floats around Reddit to be my favorite. I think I-80 going through the Midwest is a huge cultural divide, with those north of the I-80 corridor being significantly different than those south of it. Conversely, Buffalo feels much more like Milwaukee, Chicago or Detroit than it does Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. As someone who grew up with Big Ten football, I always assumed everyone in the Midwest was the same... but growing up in Milwaukee and traveling to places like Columbus and Indianapolis, I feel like southern Illinois/Indiana/Ohio are more akin to Kentucky and Tennessee than they are Wisconsin, Michigan or Minnesota.
Very true. I’m from South Bend, IN which is in the same Great Lakes-rust belt region. Going to college in centra Indiana there’s definitely a big cultural difference between south bend and Fort Wayne, Indy, or Evansville. So hey rust belt brother/sister!
I-80? Are you sure about that? I live near I-70 in Missouri, and I certainly wouldn't consider my home to be Southern in any way.
@@Compucles St Louis area? It may not be “Deep South southern” but in a lot of ways it’s different than the upper Midwest. The upper Midwest has a different dialect and is historically a lot more Catholic than Protestant
Growing up in SE Michigan, I couldn't agree with you more. There is a different vibe south of Indy or Columbus, even the accents change. I use I- 70 as my demarcation line, I feel more in common with my fellow "rust belters" in Milwaukee Cleveland Toledo etal.. mention Big 10, American League Central etc that regional idenity kicks in.
Agreed. From Cincinnati and I have much more in common with KY and TN than with MI or WI or even IL.
I appreciate that you didn't try to make your own single perfect map of regions, tons of people try to make one, but the complexity of the regions of the US cannot be shown on one single map.
I feel like Virginia is one of the hardest ones to define in a region. Historically, Virginia is considered "Southern" or "Southeast" due to it's role in the Civil War being part of the south. Geographically though, I think Virginia is in the midatlantic along with West Virginia. Once you go south of Virginia it's definitely "the south". So I definitely consider Virginia a part of the mid-atlantic. That's just my viewpoint on it though.
When I was a kid, Virginia was definitely south. Northern Virginia is not that way any longer in my mind.
@@rhiahlMT 100% agreed. Tbh I feel like it is the Richmond metro and up that is definitely not south anymore. (Although Richmond definitely still has some southern roots in it still with it being the former Confederate capital)
Agreed. When I came to Florida , I had to move 6 different times for work. Talk about a state that is wack. Every 50 miles the culture and languages change dramatically. It’s not the “south”, it’s it’s own strange country. I’m guessing but the distance from the GA boarder to key west is like Detroit to Tennessee. Think of all the different people when covering that many fully populated miles.
Virginian here - I always tell people the real border between north and south isn’t the Mason-Dixon it’s around Haymarket, VA. That’s the last of the DC suburbs and from there it’s culturally southern all the way to Florida.
Ohio valley hardly feels like the rest of Midwest, more like Kentucky and Virginia. Most of the interior is quite rural.
hey kyle. just got back home a couple days ago from a 7 week long cross country road trip with some friends. im 20 and don’t come from a privileged background. the money i used was from school scholarships and in no way am trying to brag about that. i just wanted to say that your videos helped me tremendously in planning the trip and that doing a trip like that is far more doable than people think. thanks again for the videos you make and sharing ur knowledge with us. have a good one.
Thank you! I'm glad you were able to to get out on the road and see the country. Sounds like an amazing trip.
I took a six week round the country trip in spring '19. From WV to NY, to CO and back visiting 18 states, a couple twice. Had a great time.
I think this was spot on. You really have to look at the county level to define these regions. The hand made map at the end was excellent!
i think he's missing the "Great Plains" region. he lumped these areas into other areas where they don't really belong. from the foot of the Rocky Mountains East to the "Midwest", the Great Plains have their own thing going on.
I have a bit of an issue with FL. There are great patches in Central and South FL that are Southern. Many of the immigrants (foreign or from another state), live in the same areas in the city or pretty close by the city. I live in the Tampa area, I live in the NW section of Hillsborough County. Within maybe a five mile radius it was pretty country, until recently. Urban sprawl is bringing new residents. But longtime residents, such as myself, will not say that we don't live in the South.
It has a major flaw in that there is a giant saguaro cactus placed over texas where they do not grow at all naturally. That is sonoran desert plant, in texas you have chihuahuan desert plants
@@bvbxiong5791 the great plains are a sub region not there own thing.
@@slatecraft nice catch. The saguaro is really only found in Arizona (Sonoran Desert) and extreme east California. I don't think they even reach into NM, and any that are growing in Las Vegas were imported.
Heck the cattle skull in AZ should be in TX and swapped with the Texan Saguaro lol. Although, of course, there is tons of ranching in AZ.
I'm not even done yet and this is my FAVORITE video of yours and I've been watching for over a year! Get out of my head! I live in Phoenix and recently took a google drive up through 4 corners into New Mex and then pan handle of OK and Kansas and then into Missouri (I'm from Wisconsin) to see where the SOUTHwest turns into the MIDwest even though I've taken the drive in real life a few times. Then you came out with this vid and break it down to counties, this is brilliant! Easily the best description of these regions ever!
Thank you!
Red Dead Redemption 2 did a great job blending vast regions of the USA into their game map. Snowy mountains, vast plains, desert, tropical swamps and temperate forests are all quite close to eachother. Once you enter another region, you can feel the vibe changing, the climate, ecology and culture immediately.
Saint Dennis reminded me of New Orleans
@@jcoolguy1548 That is because it is based on New Orleans
@@thebandit979 yeah I know, just saying it really reminded me of it
Great video!!
I’ve always thought the “Great Plains” should be considered a region instead of the Midwest being such a large area. I live in south central Kansas and it’s weird to me that I technically live in the same region as the Great Lakes, an area I’ve never even been anywhere close to. This would solve the Oklahoma issue too.
“Come on in, the waters fine!” I mean it, come on up to where we HAVE water…
@@samiam619
If you're calling people to WA state... Stop it 🤣. We have become over run by folks thinking we have lots of water. Let them know it falls from the sky, as in rain every day, cloudy, overcast... Extremely gloomy if their not used to it. Depressingly dark (not like AK dark) cloudy drizzle's; all year, every day. 😂 😆 LoL. Don't come to WA state 🤣😃. Oh, Michigan, Illinois area... Yes, go there!
I think of that too living on the Great Lakes area. It’s very different geographically and culturally than Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas.
@@roxannwatson8896 lol. The biggest surprise people get in the Pacific NW, is that the summers and early fall or GORGEOUS.
@@5daysofcoffee no it isn't. Most of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michican and Minnesota are just as flat, if not flatter than those states you mentioned. They are she same culturally in most every way, as well.
As an Oklahoman, I felt like you called it well. From Oklahoma City east, it's forested woodland. From OKC west, it's rolling prairie flatland.
tulsa feels more southern/midwestern being near the Ozarks. And okc feels more southwestern like Dallas. I grew up in tulsa and moved to okc. Okc kinda feels like Dallas 2.
Western panhandle is very close to desert
@@joshbutts3143 I would argue OKC feels more like Dallas than Tulsa because they're both southern cities in the great plains, neither are southwestern.
@@bluedream6462 yeah thats a better way to put it. Southwest would be more deserty like new mexico
Living in Broken Bow, I feel closer to poor rural parts of Mississippi or Alabama.
Your take on Illinois is spot on. I moved from a “southern” county(Randolph) 1 up across the border to a midwest county(Monroe). Accents, culture, and topography change in only 45 mins worth of driving. It’s very interesting.
Reign in Blood! brutal album.
im planning a motorcycle trip in US or Europe, im not yet decided.
I see that US has a lot of changing scenery and climates to ride through, looks like a different planet from my prospective.
you have a very interesting channel, great work!
Hi Metal,
Arkansas has plenty of crooked roads.
Cyclers love it. Texas is green to Weatherford.
After that, you are in high lonesome country.
You won't find the caprock around Lubbock very interesting.
New Mexico has good roads for making time,
but you will find your greatest pleasure in getting off
your bike and walking around. I truly love the Gallup area.
Lots of American Indians with a different view on the world
than European man. The camping is good all over the American
West. Many towns formed up around railroads. Trains are
often LOUD in the middle of the night. Have fun!
I nerded out to this so hard. And i am Canadian. 🤔
I thought I was the only person facinated and completely entertained by maps, til I found your channel. ❤️
I'd like to see a video that attempts to make sense of Ontario's different regions.
@@eurodoc6343 I am out of loop on Ontario cause I am out west. I would love to see a breakdown of anything Canadian :) As a current Albertan, Ontario and Quebec ruin our lives 😂
Defining the south has been a subject of much debate and research over the years. Shrinidhi Ambinakudige did an interesting study on the 'vernacular' definition of the south and "dixie" based on terms found in telephone listings for businesses. Basically he found that the cultural south as we know it has been shrinking, areas like Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Texas identify less with the south now than they did in 70's and 80's.
Huh. That's very interesting!
I'm Kentuckyian and I know no one that considers our state to be in the south.(This is from personal experience so not everyone thinks like me and everyone I know from the state but it's just interesting.)
We consider ourselves mostly just mid-west since we have a lot of manufacturing, and farming. We do have some southern ties though since we have bluegrass music, and I would say a lot of our local food is more culturally identified to be southern food.
@LugubriousGeorge I live in central kentucky
"Areas like ...Ohio?
Wut?
Most of Kentucky is definitely southern. The southern half of Kentucky is not much different than my area of Tennessee. The northern half of Kentucky is more Midwest
As a Portland native, people up here never lump Idaho together with the pacific northwest. It's both very separated culturally, environmentally, and politically. It's far, far on the other side of the cascade mountain range and is hard red compared to the hard blue of western OR/WA. Most importantly it just really is very far away. Over a mountain range and across a desert far away.
As someone from the Intermountain West I'd have liked to see that and also just Mountain West included in this list. These are common regional terms out here.
Yeah the Rockies need to be in here. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah.
I was waiting for a Mountain West as well.
I thought the same thing being in eastern oregon. Politically and geographicly the pacific northwest and mountain west are not the same. Idaho and Montana could be considered northwestern but defenilty not pacific northwestern. You could put eastern oregon and Washington in the mountain west region if you went by county.
I must give you credit. This is probably the most accurate map and discription you have offered to date. Thank you.
As someone from western North Dakota, I am glad than when you broke it down by counties, you didn’t include it as part of the Midwest. It’s one of those things that has always been hard for me to explain to people. I went to college in Fargo, which is pretty midwestern and it felt very different than my home along the Montana border. Once you get to western North Dakota, the land is much less flat and the entire area is not filled with farm fields. Ranching is also a lot bigger in western ND. There’s even a town, Medora, that is a “western” town (and tourist trap) and I lived further west than that. Places like Billings, Denver, and Cheyenne always felt so much closer culturally than Fargo or Grand Forks. I would probably even put Bismarck more in the West than the Midwest, but it is definitely on the border of the two regions.
3:38 A bigger reason South Florida (where I’m from) is not considered “the South” is due to the fact it was largely undeveloped until the 1900s following new train routes, missing out on the surrounding culture and history of the previous 100-200 years. Many original settlers, and later migrants/retirees, came from the North.
Until yellow fever or malaria was able to be cured, nobody wanted anything to do with all those swamps and mosquitos.
Anything south of Tampa was never really the south to begin with. Overall I still consider it to be a southern state.
On a related note, California was "discovered" and the coast mapped in the 1540s, but it was still believed to be an island until the late 1770s and very few people lived there before or after contact. Aside from people with native ancestry and very early settlers (virtually all with some native ancestry), the entire population of the state arrived after 1850 and the number that was there in the 1880s was dwarfed by those coming in the 1890s and beyond, then another massive wave came from the 1930s onward, like the ancestors of our friend Kyle here. Very few people in California, especially in Southern California, have family ties to the area for more than 90 years.
@@Zombie-lp8bx there’s 2 parts of Florida sir, 2 different cultures, anything above Orlando is more southern than Orlando all the way down to Miami, which has more of a Caribbean vibe because it’s a lot of Hispanics and Haitians
@@niyachilds5687 You could probably make it 4. Inland and coastal Florida. Belle glade is a lot different then Miami.
Really spot on with the county level granulation. As someone who grew up in the Ozark region of southern Missouri, this always presented a bit of an identity crisis for me. We were "midwestern" but not like Minnesota or Wisconsin, and we were "southern" but not like Alabama or South Carolina. Eventually I learned to love the "Ozarks" as a distinct identity. Also, another interesting "fuzzy" divide between the South and the Midwest that you can see play out in central Missouri is the further south you are, the predominant ethnic background is English and Scots-Irish, whereas the further north into the Midwest you go, it becomes Germanic and Scandinavian.
Born n raised in Joplin, couldn’t agree more!
I had my opinions about regions until I saw you are a Slayer fan. Now you are the single greatest authority on regions AND music! All joking aside I have always thought including Louisville as Midwest seemed off to me but your highlight of the Midwest got me rethinking.
Years ago I had a coworker tell me that Oklahoma is part of the Midwest, but being from Michigan, there was no way I could agree that those two states are part of the same region. Since then I've found it more useful to separate the Great Lakes region from the Great Plains region, which I think does a better job of separating the major cultural and geographic differences. Although, if pressured, I would definitely still say the heart of the Midwest is in the Great Lakes region.
Being from the Great Plains side of the Midwest I've found that people over here certainly think we are the "real Midwest" which is obviously just bias on both our parts. But it certainly makes Oklahoma being the Midwest sound more reasonable to me. Still wouldn't truly call it that but if they want to claim it I can't cop it
In my opinion, you can roughly divide the Midwest into 3 sub-regions: The Great Lakes(Everything East of the Mississippi), the Northern Plains(ND and SD, and I hesitantly put MN here), and the Heartland(Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri). As someone from Missouri, There is definitely a noticeable cultural difference between the more populated eastern Midwest states and the less populated western Midwest states. Oklahoma can be considered Midwestern in so much that, in the few times I've been there, the people seem culturally more similar to cities in Southern Missouri and Kansas than those in Northern Texas. It's kind of the bastard child of the Midwest and Texas.
You aren't the first Michiganer who I've noticed feels weird about considering the Great Plains side of the Midwest questionable, to say the least.
I’ve never thought of any states west of the Mississippi as midwestern.
@@grahamturner2640 That's silly
I was taught that Oklahoma was part of the Southwest along with Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
I really like your county-level depictions of the regions, I think they're very accurate!
Since the inception of the term Megalopolis, I have always envisioned it as extending through the greater Boston area, since the virtually continuous urban sprawl goes that far.
Yep, all the way down through Richmond.
Yep and the Boston area goes up into Portland NH as well.
@@busydadscooking001
Portsmouth is in New Hampshire. Portland is in Maine. 😉
@@busydadscooking001 It's getting that way.
@@rhiahlMT I always envision it as when on I-95, after going north past Jacksonsville, the next big city you directly passthrough is Richmond, and then your continuiously going through big cities on I-95 until Boston.
You forgot the Intermountain West which generally means the Rocky Mountain states of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. I live in Idaho and I see and hear that term being used a lot.
Yeah, that suprised this utard too.
Add Nevada, subtract Colorado. Now you've got the most solid block of red in the country. And politics is beginning to be a hallmark of regional identification (witness the movement in parts of Washington, Oregon and California to ceceed from their state and join Idaho)
@@gtwfan52 Nevada’s not red
@@KanyeTheGayFish69 this is true; it was struggle-sessioned into purple territory by woke morons
@@KanyeTheGayFish69 it sure is outside of Vegas.
Another subdivision of the West is the 'Mountain West'. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah.
Yeah they hate to be lumped together with the west coast states.
I have lived and travelled all over the country and your assessment at the county level is spot on - especially your assessment of the South.
Love your videos! I once heard West Virginia described as the southernmost northern state, the northernmost southern state, the westernmost eastern state, and the easternmost western state. I feel like that’s quite true. As a Virginia native who has spent significant time in WV, I would have a really hard time choosing one region to put the Mountain State in.
In my opinion there are 12 + 1 Clear Regions of the United States
1) New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Conecticut)
2) Mid Atlantic (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, DC)
3) The South aka Dixie (Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana)
4) Midwest (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota)
5) Texas
6) California
7) The Frontier aka The Interior West (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho)
8) The Southwest (Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico)
9) The Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon)
10) Caribbean USA (places that are a mix of Caribbean culture and broad USA culture) (Florida, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands)
11) Oceania USA (places that are a mix of Oceania culture and broad USA culture) (Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, The Northern Mariana Islands)
12) Arctic USA (you get it) (Alaska)
13) Motherlands (everyone in the USA has ancestry from another country or comes from a Nation that predates the country. Everyone has a connection to places outside the US. This one’s more abstract, Ik, but yknow what I mean, like for example, Italy or Japan or UK or Mexico immigrants have heavily shaped the culture of the country etc)
Tho this isn’t to say all states are perfect
NOVA and former parts of DC that were retroceded to Virginia are Mid Atlantic
Kansas City Missouri is Frontier and southern Missouri is Southern
Parts of Utah are Southwest
And arguably Idaho is becoming more PNW
But these are my personal opinions on the regions
✌️
I made this comment before watching the video. I’m at 1:04 in and a bit worried we have the exact same idea 💀
I’ve had this region map in mind for weeks lol
Great minds think alike?
Agree but there are plenty of sub-regions within many of those, such as Great Lakes area, or Appalachia.
I like it but things would have to overlap. just for example I noticed a Caribbean USA which are the places that are in the Caribbean, but there are cities in southern states with just as much Caribbean culture as the ones in the actual Caribbean. Examples: New Orleans LA, St. Augustine FL, Charleston SC, and Savannah GA to name the "big four".
Couldn’t an argument be made that parts
Northern California could fall in the Pacific North West
I’ve been able to live in a lot of areas. What I always thought was funny is how people in other regions think of the different areas. I started in Idaho/Washington and the east was all the way east…usually New England. When I was in Oregon I worked for a company based in Connecticut. None of the people I dealt with almost every day couldn’t remember that there were other time zones. They were always, even after two years, asking for information that couldn’t be made available because our day wasn’t over for another 3 hours. To them the west was Chicago.
I worked for a Massachusetts based company for a bit. They got super pissed that we were spending so much money on gas. My boss sent them an official Montana Highway Map with a to-scale cutout of New England in the middle of it.
They never mentioned gas reimbursements again. 🤣🤣
@@playgroundchooser To us New Englanders think anything more than 20-30 minutes is far away.
Very informative video. Liked. Feels like I'm going to refer back this, both by watching it more times in the future and by referring to it in comments on other channels. Wish I could like more than once.
This is such a thorough analysis of the terms! Thank you so much!
First thing I noticed was the Slayer Reign In Blood album over your right shoulder, well from your view. Amazing album!
The county by county breakdown is definitely the best way to do it. As someone from Western NY, I'm at a crossroads of many different regions. I don't feel comfortable categorizing myself as from the mid-Atlantic, northeast, or mid-west but do feel strong similarities with all of them.
Thanks for another video! Also loved the illustrations on the map toward the end. Very interesting to see how you broke the regions down, by states and county
Totally agreed with your county break-downs. You nailed it. I'm from the Tidewater area, and I have always considered that mid-Atlantic.
I live in the part of Illinois you included in the South, and I'd like to thank you for doing so. I spent the first 45 years of my life in the Midwest. Where I live now is emphatically NOT the Midwest!
The very first thing that jumped out to me was Slayers Reign in Blood to your right. Arguably one of the finest thrash albums ever made. 1986 was indeed a groundbreaking year for thrash metal and it was a great time to be teenager!! Aside from that, thank you for posting this very well put together and interesting video.
I haven't seen another channel like yours. Kudos to you, sir.
I really appreciate that you talked about the regional views on the boundaries.
I appreciate the county level divisions. Being from western South Dakota, it felt wrong for people to classify where I lived as being midwest since it fit much better with the rocky mountain region and the wild west!
This was an excellent video idea, and an interesting treatment. What really captured my interest was the difficulty you had defining satisfactory boundaries and aligning them with political borders. I think what makes regional boundaries so hard to define is that they vary considerably with context. The most superficial way we use regional names is to identify approximate physical locations. If I say I moved from the Northeast to the Southwest, you know it's a long move that likely resulted in a substantial change of climate, but not much else. However, describing geographic locations is not the most common reason we use regional names.
It's more common to use regional names as shorthand to describe some specific attribute commonly associated with a geographic region. Those attributes include things like political sentiment, social norms, linguistic trends, geographic character, cuisine, climate norms, natural resource availability, economic drivers, religiosity, sectarianism, etc. The list is long. It can be useful to describe these things in regional terms, but the boundaries and utility of regional names varies widely with the attribute(s) in question. As a result, not all regions are used at the same frequency or to describe the same characteristics. Pacific Northwest is a good example. While it can be used to describe a geographic region, it's far more commonly used to describe distinct political sentiment or weather from the rest of the Northwest. As such, I believe the Pacific Northwest is better defined as the parts of Oregon and Washington West of the Cascades, as compared to those states in their entirety. Your suggested definition isn't wrong, per se. It's simply less useful when we consider what Pacific Northwest is most often meant to communicate.
Educated adults born in this country don't usually know or rely on fixed definitions of regional boundaries. We tend to rely on intuition gained by hearing the names used in a variety of contexts, in much the same way we often know what words mean in context while being unacquainted with their dictionary definitions. Our intuitions are often incomplete, and sometimes wrong, but we usually get the point. The same is not true of children and foreigners. While understanding can be acquired from rigorous study, it's more commonly achieved through cultural immersion over an extended time.
I don't mean to criticize your choices, or that you didn't adequately address all the alternative regional boundaries. Doing so requires a book-length treatment, and that book would require a new edition every generation or two to remain relevant. I just wanted to expand on the difficulties you had identifying the limits of each region and aligning those limits with political boundaries. You've inspired me to pay more attention to how these region names are used in practice, attempt to develop some context-specific boundaries, and see what I can learn from where they do and don't overlap. I suspect it will be fun and enlightening.
Thank you for your rather nerdy sounding comment
Ty again Kyle, excellent information and presentation 👍🏼
Having aced World Geography in 8th grade and as a lifelong map reader, I "second" your analysis and conclusions. Growing up and graduating from Tulsa, I lived in Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Southern California from Santa Monica to Orange County to San Diego. I spent many weeks in New York City and up the Hudson Valley to Poughkeepsie and Kingston and made it as far north as Albany and Buffalo.
Many trips began with a plane ride to the area major city (Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, etc). In each region I traveled extensively by auto as a "business road warrior." From first hand experience I can tell you that you "nailed it" on every category and overlapping label in your video down to the county level.
I've cover by car all of the lower 48 except Montana, Idaho and Oregon. (I flew into Seattle to go by car from there to do business over to Spokane.) At 72 and retired, friends and acquaintances ask me if I do any traveling. I just tell them "I've seen the USA, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe."
My wanderlust to pick up and go again is filled. San Diego is the place where I want to spend my time. There is no place like it that I've seen.
I agree with your county line map of the south. I knew there were parts of Illinois farther south the D.C. , but this really put it in to perspective.
There's one region you didn't mention The Rocky Mountain region. Now just going by state lines it would be Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado. If we're going by county lines I'd add the very northern parts of Arizona & New Mexico.
@2:48 A lot of people would call that The Deep South minus the south half of Florida.
I absolutely loved this. How much detail to put in is always the question, and you've put a ton into this.
We live in the INW, Inland Northwest, which has also been called the Inland Empire (railroad lines still carry this term). Like many US zones explained in your video, some count this (INW) as a larger area from Wenatchee, Washington to Lewiston, Montana and from the Canada border to Boise.
For us, we generally consider the center of the INW to be the zone around nearby cities of Spokane, Washington and Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. There are different ideas for how far out is still in the INW.
I generally consider the INW to begin in the WA state Tri-Cities area (Richland, Pasco, Kennewick) ending west in Missoula, Montana. Starting north in Sandpoint, Idaho and ending south in Pullman and Moscow college towns.
Just as you have explained in many areas, I've looked in the past and haven't seen an official consensus as to what the INW is. But it represents being on the other side of the NW mountains and before it gets flatter in Montana or more barren in Idaho.
Thanks for sharing this interesting and fun information!
I love your entertaining videos! You should do a geographical breakdown of the college football conferences and how they align. That will be very interesting especially considering the recent addition of USC & UCLA into the BIG10 and the SEC expanding into Texas & Oklahoma. I would enjoy watching your breakdown of that video!
I live in Victoria, but my American friends in Seattle always use always use the term ‘Pacific Northwest’. And I don’t think you can use the state lines to define that area, either. People living in the arid deserts of eastern Washington and Oregon probably wouldn’t consider themselves in the Pacific Northwest. Maybe everything west of the Cascade Mountains? Another excellent video, Kyle!
Agreed. When I lived in Idaho, we referred to Washington and Oregon as Pacific North Western states.
I agree, west of the Cascade Mountains and north of California is an accurate boundry for the Pacific Northwest. Once you get east of the Cascades, it's not a coastal region as the term Pacific would imply. It's too far from the ocean.
@@kuhnhan a good part of Northern California is definitely part of the pacific nw. Towns like eureka, crescent city, redding, and places like Mt Shasta are definitely considered pacific nw
Hello from Canada, I love your video as I love US history, culture and geography, I'm a truck driver and I was fortunate enough drove through 41 state and I was amazed by the cultural diversity I've experienced while traveling across the country, especially food like how each states have their own signature dishes like Michigan hotdogs, cheeses teak, fried chicken with tea and biscuit and biscuit, Wisconsin cheese curds(wich is the only place in the USA where it's as good as in Québec since it comes from us french canadians), etc
Edit : I really had to mention Louisiana seafood boil wich I fell in love with, best thing ever, I literally had to buy one big bag of Louisiana cajun seafood boil spices mix on my way back home
Seafood boil comes from the East (north and south)
Glad you enjoyed the Louisiana food. As a Louisianan, it makes me happy
I love this content ! I just found your channel and I absolutely love it !!!
Awesome video Kyle and digging the Slayer in the back.
I have a system for determining which states are southern or not.
1. Did they fight for the confederacy in the Civil war 5 points
2. Is southern sweet tea served in fast food and restaurants 1 point
3. 1 point for each state you border Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia
4. Has your state made a contribution to BBQ or ripped off of other states. 2 points
5. Does your state have a team or teams in the original SEC, 1 point per team
6. Does your state border the Gulf of Mexico 1 point
7. Is your state plagued by Hurricanes 1 point
8. Is Fried chicken a staple dish for your state? 1 point
9. Does it rarely snow on Christmas in your state. 1
10. Is football the most popular sport in your state? 1 point
11. Was a famous Blues musician born in your state? 1 point
12. Does your state primarily pull for the Atlanta Braves? 1 point
Above 10- Undeniably Southern
8-10- Pseudo south
7 and below- Imposter
Did you just say... imposter? 😳
By my count on this list, Texas has 14 points. Even the most skeptical would have to give Texas 11 points, so it's "Undeniably Southern" either way.
Oklahoma wasn't a state during the Civil War, but the Indian Nations sided with the confederacy with General Stand Waite being the very last Confederate General to surrender. Consequently, the US government stripped Indian Land and opened up Oklahoma Territorry from former parts of Indian Territorry, with Land Runs. So does that still count? 🤔
If so... 10 points for Oklahoma. 12 if you want to argue BBQ... but thats debatable...
16 for South Carolina (Charleston), I already knew SC is undeniably southern, but this looked like a fun questionnaire, and it did not disappoint. 😅
I'm from OK.
1. Natives did before statehood, but 90% of pop. Descended from later settlers, and no Oklahoman feels like we were a confederate state (or shouldn't lol), so I'll say 0.
2. Not sure. We have iced tea/sweet tea, idk if it's southern or not. 0 (Potential 1)
3. 0
4. Not sure. I'll say 0 (potential 2)
5. Not sure. OU is part of the Big 12? Maybe OSU? 0 (Potential 2)
6. 0
7. 0
8. 1
9. 1
10. 1 (probably; though the Thunder is huge here).
11. Doubt it (Potential 1)
12. 0
OK gets 3 solid 1s, with a Potential max of 9, 14 if you want to count territorial Native American slavery.
Though a lot of the criteria doesn't make a lot of sense, like not snowing on Christmas.
Don't forget the Gulf Coast; Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas
Most refer to that as the "deep south" although i would like to include the low country of SC/GA as the "deep south" as well because the culture is as rich as all those other states combined.
@@danielobrien1 Not here in TX. Not sure what the other states mentioned above identify as. That would be an interesting poll.
@@gretchenbass4675 yeah I know on a google search most articles and images include SC,GA,AL,MS,LA as deep south states but at times SC and GA are left out and surprisingly there are sources that dont include LA as the south which is preposterous but maybe it's just cause its technically not the "southeast"
Hiya! A native New Mexican here. I always enjoy seeing the little NM flag in the background of your videos!
Love your videos! I never fail to learn something new. Keep being nerdy!
As someone who grew up in the area, I always considered the "Pacific Northwest" to include the northernmost coastal regions of California as well; basically Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity, and Siskiyou (and maybe Mendocino) counties.
I LOVE living in the Intermountain West -- best scenery in the country.
All that vast emptyness? Lol ok
@@uploadvidz4490 vast emptiness? You're thinking of the great plains, my friend. You ever seen the bluffs in Glenwood canyon, the geysers in Yellowstone, or the red arches in Utah? Nobody could call those places "vast emptiness".
@@uploadvidz4490 Try again.
@@uploadvidz4490 Do you even know what the Intermountain West is?
I totally agree with all of the divisions you submit, here. Nicely done. 👍
Love these kind of videos, Kyle! Super interesting! One area I always get confused about is the Greater LA area. There are so many suburbs and outlying towns that seem to fall under the LA umbrella and it's hard to keep track. It would be cool to see them broken down and what the differences are
Great video!
Oklahoman here and I feel like the south-west and south have the strongest cultural presence for sure. I went to college in the mid west and Oklahoma in my opinion is very different. I think i35 is very close to showing the actual divide between the south-west and southern portion of the state.
I've lived in all of the regions in the U.S., and I would add New England to your observation.
I think that is a fairly accurate assessment.
I agree, as a native New Orleanian and part Cajun, SE Louisiana is a microcosm of the South. I also consider the “Plains” their own area, not so much Midwest. More specifically you have the Northern Plains and the South Plains. As a weatherman, I reference regions all the time. I actually really enjoy it. The small “colloquial” regions are the best like “The Florida Parishes,” or “DelMarVa.”
Kudos to you for taking on such a hard to define topic. Don't know about no San Francisco in the Southwest, but hey, I ain't makin vids, just enjoying them. Great work!
Very detailed. Thanks for providing all the possible outcomes. I agreed with much of what you said but too struggled with defining regions strictly by state borders.
The South is probably the hardest region to define. It's as much a cultural entity as it is a geographical one. I think your county map does a good job defining the region. I agree that southern Louisiana can be considered culturally distinct. I also think you could have included more of Virginia; anything south of Fredericksburg is still culturally southern. Good job!
America….claims “culture”…..lol. Also it’s 2023 people are everywhere. You think ATL is “southern” or whatever you’re claiming lol.
I consider Oklahoma and West Virginia to be parts of their own regions called the Great Plains (Effectively the northern half of the Texas triangle to the Tagia belt in Northern Canada) and Appalachia (Northern Alabama and Georgia to roughly Maine) and that places like Miami, Tampa, New Orleans and Houston are part of an emerging region called the Gulf coast. In general the same place can be a part of multiple regions and some states like California and Texas can cover several regions.
I like this. I think the Dakotas to Oklahoma should be their own region since they’re pretty different than the Great Lakes states that they’re traditionally limped together into the Midwest
Yes, I was surprised that he did not call out the Great Plains, which is probably the same as "tornado alley" and includes the eastern portion of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, as well as numerous states to the east of those.
Agree, living Houston there’s a melting pot of cultures, mixed with cowboy and cosmopolitan /urban culture, and everything related to water (hurricanes, humidity, fishing, ports etc). So I feel that we have more in common with New Orleans then a place like El Paso or even San Antonio. Gulf Coast seems the most appropriate
I love the casual slayer record in the background
Very informative and nice to watch 👍
As someone who lives in Michigan, I always like to refer to us as "Great Lakes Region" which also includes Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The Great Lakes played an important part in the development of the economies for all those states, and I fell like they have similar physical geography-especially MI , WI, an MN being defined by northern regions that are heavily forested with a lot of lakes and streams.
I then would include North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri as "Great Plains States which are characterized by mostly flat geography where agriculture is a big contributor to their economy (though it gets a little tricky with Southern Missouri being in the Ozarks...)
If you call it Great Lakes you really need to at least include western Pennsylvania and maybe Buffalo.
I'm in Chicago and I use think Big Ten states are a good divisions excluding NJ, MD, and now CA. Penn State and Nebraska feel like the fit well.
I think your maps of Virginia regarding south and mid Atlantic are pretty reasonable.
Being a VA native, I would've moved the "south" a little more east to include more of the area beneath Richmond and on the south western outskirts of Hampton Roads. I may have also added some of the area between Richmond and Fredericksburg.
As always, informative and very interesting.
Yes I've been actually looking for a video like this
You really put a lot of thought into this. You're right state boundaries shouldn't be the only criteria. I lived all my life in Laredo and Rio Grande Valley (South Texas) and never associated our neck of the woods as part of the traditional 'South'. You nailed that one. Very good observations.
Agreed
As a North Texan I've always thought Texas has at least 3, but as many as 5 distinct regions depending on how exacting you are in defining them. Many people dont realize how large and diverse our state truly is.
Thank you Kyle! This is great and you will get plenty of "discrepancy" comments, don't take them to heart. I didn't hear about the "Deep South". Some people think "New England" is a state, I heard that when I was interviewing in MA, LOL. I consider the East "East if the Mississippi" and West "West of the Mississippi" primarily due to the the river. I live in the SW and have read plenty of literature regrinding the SW as CO, NM, UT & AZ only, I'm sticking with that... - CA is it's own country. OH people have southern accents, even NE OH so I'm not sure how that fits in with location vs culture. I'm from the midwest and have traveled to every region and state in the lower 48 and I love the US! Safe Travels!
Having lived in both Tennessee and Utah, I agree with how you identified on the county level as to what region it is considered. Great video!
"Howdy, its Kyle" really makes my day, good sir. Love your channel.
I've liked geography since I was a kid, so I do like his videos.
I like that you include southern Illinois and Missouri, and West Virginia in your county level map of the South. I’ve definitely heard people from those places with distinctly Southern accents.
Edit: Regarding Oklahoma, I would extend what is the south a little to the southwest. My mom’s family is from that corner of the state and they are super Southern.
They say SE Oklahoma is more southern, though around OKC and maybe (?) Tulsa, it feels more Midwestern. Accents in the OKC region are definitely more Midwestern
As an Oklahoman I’ve always thought of us like a melting pot. Because the state is relatively new, there are tons of people from all parts of the country here. Central plains with Kansas, Tx panhandle, Nebraska and Dakotas seems like a good home.
Perfect timing! We are Canadians currently travelling through North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa on a road trip and we were just having this very conversation in the middle of Minnesota yesterday. Thanks so much for answering our question!
Thanks for visiting MN! as a person who’s lived in the freezing state for 15 years (i am 15 lols) i can say it is a very nice state to be in.
Also, what city did you visit? You went to to “middle” and i am a Central Minnesotan
@@PolychromaticZero This is our second visit to Minnesota and we love it! We’ve only been to the Minneapolis-St Paul area, but we’re hoping to go to Duluth soon, too. :)
I should also add that we drove from Fargo ND to Iowa through Minnesota, so past Albert Lea, etc, down the 35!
@@ruthiebeth1 i recently went to Duluth Wednesday 2 weeks ago, i went to the aquarium and gooseberry falls!
The county maps are pretty interesting. Definitely helps put things int o perspective for the larger/squarer states
This might just be me, but I call areas near the Rocky Mountains the Mountain West. basically an area spanning Spokane to Denver
Definitely not just you!
Thr Rocky Mountains also cover major areas in Idaho, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona for what it's worth
@@ThirdBrainLives yea, the area I mentioned covers Idaho and western Montana but I should’ve included the northern parts of NM as well
The area on the west side of the Rockies, adjacent to the Mountain West, before the ranges that rise further to the west is called the Intermountain West or Great Basin.
This Idahoan has always considered the Pacific Northwest to include Idaho. Also common out here is the term Intermountain West that is between the Cascade and Rocky Mountain Ranges.
Love this channel!!! Keep it up!
Thanks Kyle, enjoyed the video!
As a fellow valley born from Merced. I appreciate the slayer album. One of my favorite.
As a native South Carolinian, we refer to Virginia as Southern. Once you drive into Maryland, you're in "yankee" territory. Every native Southerner I know thinks Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan are Northern states because they're certainly north of us.
South Carolinian (lowcountry) here as well but I dont consider VA except the southernmost part as southern.
@@danielobrien1it’s not 1890 goofy, people have migrated everywhere. And who uses the term “yankee” in 2023🤔
I went to school in Ithaca NY with a kid from Chicago who insisted up and down that Ohio (I'm from Columbus) wasn't the midwest. He was convinced it was part of the mid-atlantic region no matter what I said about it. I'm still shaking my head over that one, and it's been over ten years!
My only thoughts on your map, since I grew up and have lived my whole life around the Great Lakes, is a separate category for the Great Plains and the Appalachian regions. There's just such a significant difference, both culturally and geographically, between the midwest/Great Lakes, Appalachian mountain area, and the plains west of the Mississippi River. Just my 2 cents though!
Great video as always, man. Love your content!
Love the breakout by counties. I first clicked on the video thinking it was another about terms like "hot dish vs casserole" 😄. What you delivered was interesting and thankfully more provocative.
I think your demarcation between the Midwest and the West in Nebraska is well drawn. Along I-80 it definitely seems as if Kearney is the last bastion of the Midwest before you head into the arid and rugged terrain of the West. Although I am not entirely sure if I would include any part of the Sandhills in the Midwest.
Love your vids, Kyle! One thing I do disagree about though-Norfolk, VA (Hampton Roads) is definitely part of The South
Norfolk? I would consider it the least south feeling state in the Hampton roads. I’m from nova and it reminds me of Alexandria. Parts of the rest of the Hampton roads though def feel southern but not Norfolk itself.
I agree with most of your designations of the parts of the country in this video. Well done, Kyle.
I would like to suggest a video that covers the vocal dialects of the country if you haven't already done on on that.
I second this.
I think you covered this topic very well.
I lived most of my life in California, where people considered the state part of the West, or the West Coast. No one I knew considered the state or any part of it to be in the Southwest.
I agree. I grew up in Arizona. Most people think of Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Nevada and West Texas, when they hear the term Southwest.
I've always considered California South West, coming from Washington State. From my perspective, pretty much any state below Oregon is considered South West.
I also found calling *all* of California "Southwest" to be odd, but I have over the years teaching geography found it very common for *southern* California to be classified as Southwestern, and I think that's reasonable. Surprised he didn't use a "Pacific Coast States" category.
@@zenobiaw831 Haha, I'm from Oregon and never have thought of CA as Southwest. California has always ever been just california.
@@strummerjoe2199 as a fellow Arizonan, I agree. I would also add southern Utah, southern Colorado, and maybe the Oklahoma panhandle as the outer boundaries of the southwest. AZ and NM are the core.
I GOTTA CALL THIS OUT! The region in the cute map at the end called "Southwest" has a huge Seguaro cactus in it but it does not include Arizona which is the only state you will find Seguaros in! hahaha! Movies make this mistake all the time :D
Yeah. I also found it odd that Arizona wasn’t colored as part of the Southwest. I wonder which state has most of the pop culture definition of the region (which might be Arizona).
Haha I caught that too. BTW Saguaro N.P. is a hidden gem park-wise.
@@KreemieNewgatt It's a 20 minute drive for me and I still haven't been there :/ I am shame
I’m an Arizonan. The saguaro only grows in the Sonoran desert. I was like wtf is there a saguaro in Texas on the map.
That was a great breakdown.
Love the 'nerdy' perspective. Great narrative and maps. Thanks
Great video! I live in the Inland Northwest. Would really love to get your take on the Great Northwest defined on a county level. In that respect I consider the Northwest to extend to northern Idaho (down to around Nez Perce country) and encompass western Montana to the continental divide.
The continental divide is a climactic divide as well. East of it is much drier/less snow and has more ranching and less fruits and vegetables. But I can see western Idaho being considered pacific northwest.
@@GeographyKing I live in the Inland Northwest as well. I think of the Northwest as Washington, Oregon, Northern Idaho and Western Montana. You can also include extreme Northern California since it is geographically very similar. Alaska (especially Southeast Alaska) can be considered part of the Pacific Northwest since it is economically very attached to Seattle as the nearest major city. I would be very surprised if a large portion of Alaska's trade didn't funnel through Seattle.
I live in upstate NY and consider myself more a New Englander than a mid Atlantic person. I live closer to Vermont, Massachusetts, and Canada than I do the Atlantic Ocean.
Thank you for another awesome video, Geography King! Your channel is my favorite UA-cam channel.😀Will you be making a "Geographic Profile" video of my home state Washington anytime soon?
Greetings from Aberdeen, WA!
I agree with every single thing you have said. Great job!