Southern United States

The Southern United States, also known as the American South, the Southern States, or simply known as the South, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the Western United States, with the Midwestern United States and Northeastern United States to its north and the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico to its south. The region was historically defined as all states south of the Mason–Dixon line and Ohio River.

The South does not precisely coincide with the geographic south of the United States but is commonly defined as including the states that fought for the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. The Deep South lies entirely within the southeastern corner. California, Arizona and New Mexico, which are geographically in the southern part of the country, are rarely considered part, while West Virginia, which separated from Virginia in 1863, commonly is. Some scholars have proposed definitions of the South that do not coincide neatly with state boundaries. While the border states of Delaware, Kentucky, and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia, continued to permit slavery during the Civil War, they remained with the Union. Since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, they became more culturally, economically, and politically aligned with the industrial Northern states, and are often identified as part of the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast by many residents, businesses, public institutions, and private organizations; however, the United States Census Bureau continues to define them as in the South with regard to Census regions. Although not included in the Census definition, two U.S. territories located southeast of Florida are sometimes included as part of the region. Usually, the South is defined as including the southeastern and south-central United States.

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