Mid-Atlantic | |
---|---|
Left to right from top: The Lower Manhattan skyline in New York City, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Assateague Island, the Philadelphia skyline, the Catskills seen from the Hudson River, and Downtown Pittsburgh, Downtown Jersey City, and the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, and Washington, D.C. skylines | |
Coordinates: 41°N77°W / 41°N 77°W | |
Composition | |
Metropolitan areas | |
Largest city | New York |
Area | |
• Total | 191,299.86 sq mi (495,464.4 km2) |
• Land | 174,468.45 sq mi (451,871.2 km2) |
• Water | 16,831.41 sq mi (43,593.2 km2) 8.80% |
Population | |
• Total | 60,783,913 |
• Density | 320/sq mi (120/km2) |
GDP (nominal) | |
• Q3 2022 | $5.233 trillion |
The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the Northeastern and Southeastern states of the United States. Its exact definition differs upon source, but the region typically includes New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia, District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Some sources include New York, while others exclude Pennsylvania. However, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the states listed above are commonly accepted as the Mid-Atlantic region. The region has its origin in the Middle Colonies of the 18th century when its states were among the Thirteen Colonies of pre-revolutionary British America. As of the 2020 census, the region had a population of 60,783,913, representing slightly over 18% of the nation's population.
The Mid-Atlantic region played an instrumental and historic role in the nation's founding and the development of the nation. Each of the seven states were members of the Thirteen Colonies that sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress, which assembled in Philadelphia and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, and formalized the Continental Army under George Washington's command during the American Revolutionary War. Following independence, the states again gathered in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention, in 1788, where they ratified the United States Constitution, which remains the oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution in force in the world. [10]
The Mid-Atlantic region was settled during the colonial era between the early 17th century and the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 by European Americans of primarily Dutch, German, Swedish, English, and other Western European ethnicities. Religious pluralism and freedoms existed in the original Thirteen Colonies and were particularly prevalent in Province of Pennsylvania and the geographic region that ultimately broke from Pennsylvania to form the Delaware Colony. Among the 13 colonies, the Province of Maryland was the only colony with a substantial Catholic population.
Following the American Revolutionary War, the Mid-Atlantic region hosted each of the historic capitals of the United States. The nation's capital was constructed in Washington, D.C. in the late 18th century, and relocated there from Philadelphia in 1800.
In the early part of the 19th century, New York and Pennsylvania overtook Virginia as the nation's two most populous states, and the Mid-Atlantic region overtook New England as the most important trading and industrial center in the nation. During this period, large numbers of German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Polish, and other immigrants arrived in the region's coastal cities, including Baltimore, Newark, New York City, Philadelphia, and interior cities such as Pittsburgh, and Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo, with their skyscrapers and subways, which emerged as icons of modernity and American economic and cultural power in the 20th century.
In the late 19th century, the region played a vital and historic role in the development of American culture, commerce, trade, and industry sectors. Historian Frederick Jackson Turner labeled it "typically American." [11]
The Northeast Corridor and Interstate 95 in the region link an almost contiguous urban region, which includes large and small cities and their respective suburbs and forms the Northeast megalopolis, one of the world's most important concentrations of finance, media, communications, education, medicine, and technology. The Mid-Atlantic is a relatively affluent region of the nation; nearly half of the nation's 100 highest-income counties based on median household income are located in the Mid-Atlantic, and 33 of the nation's top 100 counties based on per capita income are in the region. Most of the Mid-Atlantic states rank among the 15 highest-income states in the nation by both median household income and per capita income.
The region is home to eight of the top 25 ranked universities in the nation: Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; Columbia University and NYU in New York City; Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey; the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh; Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia according to U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Ranking. [12] [13] [14]
Definitions of the geographic components of the Mid-Atlantic region differ slightly among sources. [15] Generally speaking, the region is inclusive of the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, and the federal district of the District of Columbia, with some additional sources including or excluding other areas in parts of the Northeast region and the South Atlantic states, for practical reasons. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
The United States Census Bureau defines the Mid-Atlantic as a sub-region of the Northeast and only includes New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. [5] The Bureau of Labor Statistics excludes New York; [3] the Environmental Protection Agency excludes New York and New Jersey; [7] and the U.S. Department of Transportation - United States Maritime Administration includes North Carolina. [8] In 2004, the United States Geological Survey within the context of Ground-Water Vulnerability to Nitrate Contamination, defined the region as including Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and parts of New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina. [6]
West Virginia and Virginia are atypical of this region in a few ways. These states both primarily lie within the Southern American dialect region, [16] and the major religious tradition is largely Evangelical Christian, with 30% in Virginia and 39% in West Virginia identifying as evangelicals. [17] Although a few of West Virginia's eastern panhandle counties are considered part of the Washington metropolitan area, the major portion of the state is rural and there are no major or even large cities. [18]
Shipping and trade have been important to the Mid-Atlantic economy since the beginning of the colonial era. The explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to see the region in 1524. Henry Hudson later extensively explored that region in 1611 and claimed it for the Dutch, who then created a fur-trading post in Albany in 1614. Jamestown, Virginia was the first permanent English colony in North America, it was established seven years earlier in 1607.
From early colonial times, the Mid-Atlantic region was settled by a wider range of European people than in New England or the South. The Dutch New Netherland settlement along the Hudson River in New York City and New Jersey, and for a time, New Sweden along the Delaware River in Delaware, divided the two great bulwarks of English settlement from each other. The original English settlements in the region notably provided refuge to religious minorities, Maryland to Roman Catholics and Pennsylvania to Quakers and Anabaptist Pennsylvania Dutch. In time, all these settlements fell under English colonial control, but the region continued to be a magnet for people of diverse nationalities.
The area that came to be known as the Middle Colonies served as a strategic bridge between the North and South. The New York and New Jersey campaign during the American Revolutionary War saw more battles than any other theater of the conflict. Philadelphia, midway between the northern and southern colonies, was home to the Continental Congress, the convention of delegates who organized the American Revolution. Philadelphia also was the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the United States Constitution in 1787, while the United States Bill of Rights was drafted and ratified and the first Supreme Court of the United States sat for the first time, in the first capital under the Constitution of New York.
While early settlers were mostly farmers, traders, and fishermen, the Mid-Atlantic states provided the young United States with heavy industry and served as the "melting pot" of new immigrants from Europe. Cities grew along major ports, shipping routes, and waterways, including New York City and Newark on opposite sides of the Hudson River, Philadelphia on the Delaware River, Allentown on the Lehigh River, and Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay.
MSA | 2020 census | 2010 census | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 20,140,470 | 18,897,109 |
2 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 6,385,162 | 5,649,540 |
3 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 6,245,051 | 5,965,343 |
4 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 2,844,510 | 2,710,489 |
5 | Pittsburgh, PA | 2,370,930 | 2,356,285 |
6 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 1,799,674 | 1,713,954 |
7 | Richmond, VA | 1,314,434 | 1,186,501 |
8 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | 1,166,902 | 1,135,509 |
9 | Rochester, NY | 1,090,135 | 1,079,671 |
10 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | 899,262 | 870,716 |
City | 2020 census | Total area | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | New York, NY | 8,804,190 | 472.43 sq mi |
2 | Philadelphia, PA | 1,603,797 | 142.70 sq mi |
3 | Washington, D.C. | 689,545 | 68.35 sq mi |
4 | Baltimore, MD | 585,708 | 92.05 sq mi |
5 | Virginia Beach, VA | 459,470 | 497.50 sq mi |
6 | Newark, NJ | 311,549 | 25.88 sq mi |
7 | Pittsburgh, PA | 302,971 | 58.35 sq mi |
8 | Jersey City, NJ | 292,449 | 21.03 sq mi |
9 | Buffalo, NY | 278,349 | 52.48 sq mi |
10 | Chesapeake, VA | 249,422 | 350.95 sq mi |
Township | 2020 census | |
---|---|---|
1. | Hempstead, NY | 793,409 |
2. | Brookhaven, NY | 485,773 |
3. | Islip, NY | 339,938 |
4. | Oyster Bay, NY | 301,332 |
5. | N. Hempstead, NY | 237,639 |
6. | Babylon, NY | 218,223 |
7 | Huntington, NY | 204,127 |
8 | Ramapo, NY | 148,919 |
9 | Lakewood Township, NJ | 135,158 |
10. | Amherst, NY | 129,595 |
State or federal district | 2020 census | Total area | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | New York | 20,201,249 | 54,555 sq mi |
2 | Pennsylvania | 13,002,700 | 46,055 sq mi |
3 | New Jersey | 9,288,994 | 8,722.58 sq mi |
4 | Virginia | 8,631,393 | 42,774.2 sq mi |
5 | Maryland | 6,177,224 | 12,407 sq mi |
6 | West Virginia | 1,793,716 | 24,230 sq mi |
7 | Delaware | 989,948 | 2,489 sq mi |
8 | District of Columbia | 689,545 | 68.35 sq mi |
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1790 | 2,085,066 | — | |
1800 | 2,702,679 | 29.6% | |
1810 | 3,466,545 | 28.3% | |
1820 | 4,278,349 | 23.4% | |
1830 | 5,362,691 | 25.3% | |
1840 | 6,357,873 | 18.6% | |
1850 | 8,046,649 | 26.6% | |
1860 | 9,929,648 | 23.4% | |
1870 | 11,515,592 | 16.0% | |
1880 | 13,887,075 | 20.6% | |
1890 | 16,566,269 | 19.3% | |
1900 | 19,919,159 | 20.2% | |
1910 | 24,427,360 | 22.6% | |
1920 | 28,144,267 | 15.2% | |
1930 | 32,768,581 | 16.4% | |
1940 | 34,870,074 | 6.4% | |
1950 | 38,951,029 | 11.7% | |
1960 | 44,306,759 | 13.7% | |
1970 | 48,818,784 | 10.2% | |
1980 | 49,532,898 | 1.5% | |
1990 | 51,637,657 | 4.2% | |
2000 | 55,210,865 | 6.9% | |
2010 | 57,999,602 | 5.1% | |
2020 | 60,783,913 | 4.8% | |
Source:1790–2020 [21] |
Capital | 2020 census | Total area | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Washington, D.C. | 689,545 | 68.35 sq mi |
2 | Richmond, Virginia | 226,610 | 62.57 sq mi |
3 | Albany, New York | 99,224 | 21.94 sq mi |
4 | Trenton, New Jersey | 90,871 | 8.20 sq mi |
5 | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | 50,099 | 11.86 sq mi |
6 | Charleston, West Virginia | 48,864 | 32.64 sq mi |
7 | Annapolis, Maryland | 40,812 | 8.11 sq mi |
8 | Dover, Delaware | 39,403 | 23.97 sq mi |
Note: The Mid-Atlantic region is also home to the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.
Parties | |||||||||
Nonpartisan | Federalist | Democratic-Republican | National Republican | Democratic | Whig | Know Nothing | Republican | Constitutional Union | Progressive |
The Mid-Atlantic is home to 33 professional sports franchises in the five major leagues and the two most prominent women's professional leagues:
NFL | NHL | MLB | NBA | MLS | WNBA | NWSL | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York/New Jersey | Giants Jets | Devils Islanders Rangers | Mets Yankees | Knicks Nets | NYC FC Red Bulls | Liberty | Gotham FC |
Washington | Commanders | Capitals | Nationals | Wizards | United | Mystics | Spirit |
Philadelphia | Eagles | Flyers | Phillies | 76ers | Union | ||
Pittsburgh | Steelers | Penguins | Pirates | ||||
Baltimore | Ravens | Orioles | |||||
Buffalo | Bills | Sabres |
Notable golf tournaments in the Mid-Atlantic include the Barclays, Quicken Loans National and Atlantic City LPGA Classic.
Two high-level professional tennis tournaments are held in the region. The US Open, held in New York, is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, whereas the Washington Open is part of the ATP Tour 500 series and WTA 250 series.
Notable motorsports tracks include Watkins Glen International, Dover Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway, which have hosted Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR, World Sportscar Championship and IMSA races. Also, the Englishtown and Reading drag strips such have hosted NHRA national events. Pimlico Race Course at Baltimore and Belmont Park at New York host the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes horse races, which are part of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
With a GDP nominal of over $5.2 trillion, the Mid-Atlantic economy would be third-largest in the world if calculated separately, only behind the remaining United States and China and nearly $1 trillion larger than next place Japan. This economic prosperity is buoyed by a significant financial services and banking sector, healthcare and chemicals industry, and telecommunications and entertainment conglomerates.
According to the Global Financial Centres Index, [22] the Mid-Atlantic region is home to the leading financial center in the world (New York) at #1, with Washington also present at #15.
Notable companies (over $100 billion market cap) headquartered in the region include:
Company | Headquarters | Market cap ($ billions) | Global rank |
---|---|---|---|
Chase | New York, New York | $447.91 | 13 |
Johnson and Johnson | New Brunswick, New Jersey | $430.06 | 15 |
Mastercard | Harrison, New York | $364.48 | 22 |
Pfizer | New York, New York | $272.39 | 29 |
PepsiCo | Harrison, New York | $232.01 | 40 |
Verizon Communications | New York, New York | $225.96 | 45 |
Comcast-NBC | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $211.42 | 50 |
Merck | Kenilworth, New Jersey | $192.90 | 60 |
Danaher | Washington, District of Columbia | $190.74 | 61 |
Morgan Stanley | New York, New York | $169.08 | 73 |
American Express | New York, New York | $147.98 | 89 |
Bristol Myers Squibb | New York, New York | $147.23 | 91 |
Citigroup | New York, New York | $127.27 | 105 |
Goldman Sachs | New York, New York | $115.43 | 118 |
BlackRock | New York, New York | $114.67 | 120 |
International Business Machines | North Castle, New York | $111.45 | 124 |
Estee Lauder | New York, New York | $108.67 | 130 |
Lockheed Martin | Bethesda, Maryland | $105.24 | 137 |
Delaware is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states region of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey to its northeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state's name derives from the adjacent Delaware Bay, which in turn was named after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and the Colony of Virginia's first colonial-era governor.
Maryland is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to its east, and the national capital of Washington, D.C. to the southwest. With a total area of 12,407 square miles (32,130 km2), Maryland is the ninth-smallest state by land area, and its population of 6,177,224 ranks it the 19th-most populous state and the fifth-most densely populated. Maryland's capital is Annapolis, and the most populous city is Baltimore.
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio and the Ohio River to its west, Lake Erie and New York to its north, the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east, and the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest via Lake Erie.
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for 282 miles (454 km) along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before emptying into Delaware Bay.
Cecil County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county is part of the Mid-Eastern Shore region of the state.
The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Eastern Shore of Virginia.
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean. The Thirteen Colonies, which formed the United States in 1776 were located on this coast, and it has played an important role in the development of the United States.
The Delaware Valley, sometimes referred to as Greater Philadelphia or the Philadelphia metropolitan area, is a major metropolitan region in the Northeast United States that centers on Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-most populous city, and spans parts of four U.S. states: southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland. With a core metropolitan statistical area population of 6.288 million residents and a combined statistical area population of 7.366 million as of the 2020 census, the Delaware Valley is the eighth-largest metropolitan region in the United States and the 68th-largest metropolitan region in the world.
The Northeastern United States is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. Located on the Atlantic coast of North America, the region borders Canada to its north, the Southern United States to its south, the Midwestern United States to its west, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east.
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. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital.
South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located between Pennsylvania and the lower Delaware River to its west, the Atlantic Ocean to its east, Delaware to its south, and Central Jersey or North Jersey to its north, depending on the definition of North Jersey.
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.
The South Atlantic United States form one of the nine Census Bureau Divisions within the United States that are recognized by the United States Census Bureau. This region, U.S. Census Bureau Region 3, Division 5, corresponds to the South with the addition of Florida.
Tri-state area is an informal term in the United States which can refer to any of multiple areas that lie across three states. When referring to populated areas, the term implies a shared economy or culture among the area's residents, typically concentrated around a central metropolis.
The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the D.C. area, Greater Washington, the National Capital Region, or locally as the DMV, is the metropolitan area centered around Washington, D.C., the federal capital of the United States. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is part of the larger Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area, which is the third-largest combined statistical area in the country.
The Northeast megalopolis, also known as the Northeast Corridor, Acela Corridor, Boston–Washington corridor, BosWash, or BosNYWash, is the world's largest megalopolis by economic output and the most populous megalopolis exclusively within the United States, with slightly over 50 million residents as of 2022.
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education, is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and foreign higher education institutions. Its headquarters are in Wilmington, Delaware.
The National Park Service (NPS) in the United States is a Bureau of the Department of the Interior with its headquarters located in Washington, D.C. The bureaus consist of numerous support offices and seven regional offices, which oversee park operations within their geographic area. The NPS has 3 main offices/verticals that support the Office of the Director: The Office of Congressional & External Relations, The Office of Management & Administration, and Operations.
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