Southeastern United States

The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and the southern portion of the Eastern United States. The region 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.
There is no official U.S. government definition for the region, and it is defined variably among agencies and organizations.

History

The history of the present-day Southeastern United States dates to the dawn of civilization in approximately 11,000 BC or 13,000 BC. The earliest artifacts from the region were from the Clovis culture. Prior to the arrival of European colonialists, Native Americans occupied the region for several hundred years during the Woodland period.
The first Europeans to arrive in the region were conquistadors associated with the Spanish Empire. In 1541, Hernando de Soto journeyed through the southeast and crossed the Mississippi River. The region hosted the first permanent European settlement in North America, with the Kingdom of England establishing Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Four southeast states, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, were among the Thirteen Colonies who sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which declared independence from the British Crown, which was established with the colonies' victory over the British in the American Revolutionary War.
During the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America consisted of the southeastern states of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Texas was a Confederate State that isn't defined as part of the southeast region. Missouri and Kentucky had dual competing Unionist and Confederate state governments in the Confederate government of Missouri and Confederate government of Kentucky, while Maryland and Delaware were neutral southern border states that remained with the Union. West Virginia split from Virginia during 1863, and also served as a border state that remained with the Union while being contested by the Confederacy and Confederate government of West Virginia. Following the Reconstruction era in the 1870s, many Southeast state legislatures passed Jim Crow laws. The American segregation era spanned from the late 19th century to the mid-1960s.
In the mid-to-late 20th century, the Southeast saw many shifting changes take place population wise and economically. The Southeast started to see a spur of new economic growth in the 1930s, which stemmed from New Deal policies such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Fair Labor Standards Act instituting a minimum wage for the entire nation. World War II further helped growth within the Southeast, as military bases and military production drew workers from farming or low-wage industries into a new economy. With farming mechanization picking up to speed in the 1940s, promotion of different industries, and federal spending on defense and space programs, the Southeast saw further economic transformation in the ensuing years and decades of the 20th century.
The Southeast benefitted from its business and warm climate in its population growth during the late 20th century, as it helped in attracting job seekers and retirees from other U.S. regions. Florida in particular went from being the 27th most populated U.S. state in 1940 with 1.9 million residents, to being the 4th most populated U.S. state and having nearly 13 million residents in 2000. Southeast states such as North Carolina and Georgia saw large population growth increases as well during the late 20th century.

Geography

The United States Geological Survey defines Southeastern United States as including the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and Virginia.
There is no official United States Census Bureau definition of the Southeastern United States. They instead divide a larger region which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia, designated as "the South," into three separate subregions, none of which are conventionally considered to define the Southeast.
The nonprofit American Association of Geographers defines the Southeastern United States as including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The OSBO uses the same states, but includes Arkansas and Louisiana. The states of Delaware and Missouri, along with the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C., are also sometimes added in definitions of the term.

Demographics

Most populous states

The most populous states in the region as of the 2020 United States census are: Florida, followed by Georgia, and North Carolina.

State	2020 census	2010 census	Change	Land area	Density
Alabama				-	-
Arkansas				-	-
Florida				-	-
Georgia				-	-
Kentucky				-	-
Louisiana				-	-
Maryland				-	-
Mississippi				-	-
North Carolina				-	-
South Carolina				-	-
Tennessee				-	-
Virginia				-	-
West Virginia				-	-
Total				-	-

U.S. territories

and the U.S. Virgin Islands are located southeast of Florida, and are considered to be in the South / Southeastern U.S. by the FAA, Agricultural Research Service, and the U.S. National Park Service.

Territory	2020 census	2010 census	Change	Land area	Density
Puerto Rico				-	-
U.S. Virgin Islands				-	-

Largest cities

These are the largest cities in the Southeastern region of the United States by population, according to the United States Census Bureau in 2015:

Rank	City	State or territory	Population
1	Jacksonville	Florida
2	Charlotte	North Carolina
3	Washington	District of Columbia
4	Nashville	Tennessee
5	Memphis	Tennessee
6	Louisville	Kentucky
7	Baltimore	Maryland
8	Atlanta	Georgia
9	Virginia Beach	Virginia
10	Raleigh	North Carolina
11	Miami	Florida
12	New Orleans	Louisiana
13	Tampa	Florida
14	Lexington	Kentucky
15	San Juan	Puerto Rico
16	Orlando	Florida
17	Greensboro	North Carolina
18	Durham	North Carolina
19	St. Petersburg	Florida
20	Norfolk	Virginia
21	Winston-Salem	North Carolina
22	Hialeah	Florida
23	Chesapeake	Virginia
24	Baton Rouge	Louisiana
25	Richmond	Virginia
26	Huntsville	Alabama	215,006
27	Fayetteville	North Carolina
28	Augusta	Georgia
29	Little Rock	Arkansas

These are the metropolitan areas of the Southeastern region which exceed one million in population according to the United States Census Bureau's 2023 estimates:as estimated by the United States Census Bureau

Rank	Metropolitan area	Anchor city	Population	State or territory
1	Atlanta–Sandy Springs-Roswell	Atlanta	6,307,261	Georgia
2	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria	Washington	6,304,975	District of Columbia / Virginia / Maryland / West Virginia
3	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach	Miami	6,183,199	Florida
4	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater	Tampa	3,342,963	Florida
5	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson	Baltimore	2,834,316	Maryland
6	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford	Orlando	2,817,933	Florida
7	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia	Charlotte	2,805,115	North Carolina / South Carolina
8	Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin	Nashville	2,102,573	Tennessee
9	Virginia Beach–Chesapeake–Norfolk	Virginia Beach	1,787,169	Virginia / North Carolina
10	Jacksonville	Jacksonville	1,713,240	Florida
11	Raleigh–Cary	Raleigh	1,509,231	North Carolina
12	Louisville–Jefferson County	Louisville	1,365,557	Kentucky / Indiana
13	Richmond-Petersburg	Richmond	1,349,732	Virginia
14	Memphis	Memphis	1,335,674	Tennessee / Mississippi / Arkansas
15	Birmingham-Hoover	Birmingham	1,184,290	Alabama