Mid-Atlantic (United States)

Region of the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mid-Atlantic (United States)map

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, New York, and Pennsylvania, with other sources including or excluding other states or areas in the Northeast and Southeast, most common among them being Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] 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.

Quick Facts Composition, Metropolitan areas ...
Mid-Atlantic
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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
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U.S. states always included in definitions of the Mid-Atlantic states (highlighted in dark red). U.S. states sometimes included in definitions of the Mid-Atlantic states (highlighted in pink).
Coordinates: 41°N 77°W / 41; -77
Composition
Metropolitan areas
Largest cityNew York
Area
  Total191,299.86 sq mi (495,464.4 km2)
  Land174,468.45 sq mi (451,871.2 km2)
  Water16,831.41 sq mi (43,593.2 km2)  8.80%
Population
  Total60,783,913
  Density320/sq mi (120/km2)
GDP (nominal)
  Q3 2022$5.233 trillion
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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 sprawl, 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]

Composition

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]

History

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Shipping containers at Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey

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.

Major states, cities, and urban areas

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New York City
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Philadelphia
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Baltimore
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Washington, D.C.

Metropolitan areas

More information MSA, 2020 Census ...
Largest metropolitan statistical areas by population in the Mid-Atlantic Region
MSA2020 Census2010 Census
1New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA20,140,47018,897,109
2Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV6,385,1625,649,540
3Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD6,245,0515,965,343
4Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD2,844,5102,710,489
5Pittsburgh, PA2,370,9302,356,285
6Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC1,799,6741,713,954
7Richmond, VA1,314,4341,186,501
8Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY1,166,9021,135,509
9Rochester, NY1,090,1351,079,671
10Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY899,262870,716
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More information City, 2020 Census ...
Top ten largest cities by population in the Mid-Atlantic Region
City2020 Census Total area
1New York, NY8,804,190 472.43 sq mi
2Philadelphia, PA1,603,797 142.70 sq mi
3Washington, D.C.689,545 68.35 sq mi
4Baltimore, MD585,708 92.05 sq mi
5Virginia Beach, VA459,470 497.50 sq mi
6Newark, NJ311,549 25.88 sq mi
7Pittsburgh, PA302,971 58.35 sq mi
8Jersey City, NJ292,449 21.03 sq mi
9Buffalo, NY278,349 52.48 sq mi
10Chesapeake, VA249,422 350.95 sq mi
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More information Township, 2020 Census ...
Top ten largest towns/townships by population in the Mid-Atlantic region[20]
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
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States and federal district

More information State or federal district, 2020 Census ...
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
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More information Census, Pop. ...
Historical population
CensusPop.Note
17902,085,066
18002,702,67929.6%
18103,466,54528.3%
18204,278,34923.4%
18305,362,69125.3%
18406,357,87318.6%
18508,046,64926.6%
18609,929,64823.4%
187011,515,59216.0%
188013,887,07520.6%
189016,566,26919.3%
190019,919,15920.2%
191024,427,36022.6%
192028,144,26715.2%
193032,768,58116.4%
194034,870,0746.4%
195038,951,02911.7%
196044,306,75913.7%
197048,818,78410.2%
198049,532,8981.5%
199051,637,6574.2%
200055,210,8656.9%
201057,999,6025.1%
202060,783,9134.8%
Source:1790–2020[21]
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State capitals and federal district

More information Capital, 2020 Census ...
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
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Note: The Mid-Atlantic region is also home to the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

In presidential elections

Parties
NonpartisanFederalistDemocratic-RepublicanNational RepublicanDemocraticWhigKnow NothingRepublicanConstitutional UnionProgressive
  • Bold denotes election winner.
More information Year, Delaware ...
Presidential electoral votes in the Mid-Atlantic states since 1789
YearDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaMarylandNew JerseyNew YorkPennsylvaniaVirginiaWest Virginia
1789WashingtonNo electionWashingtonWashingtonGridlockedWashingtonWashingtonNo election
1792WashingtonNo electionWashingtonWashingtonWashingtonWashingtonWashingtonNo election
1796AdamsNo electionAdamsAdamsAdamsJeffersonJeffersonNo election
1800AdamsNo electionJeffersonAdamsJeffersonJeffersonJeffersonNo election
1804PinckneyNo electionJeffersonJeffersonJeffersonJeffersonJeffersonNo election
1808PinckneyNo electionMadisonMadisonMadisonMadisonMadisonNo election
1812ClintonNo electionMadisonClintonClintonMadisonMadisonNo election
1816KingNo electionMonroeMonroeMonroeMonroeMonroeNo election
1820MonroeNo electionMonroeMonroeMonroeMonroeMonroeNo election
1824CrawfordNo electionJacksonJacksonAdamsJacksonCrawfordNo election
1828AdamsNo electionAdamsAdamsJacksonJacksonJacksonNo election
1832ClayNo electionClayJacksonJacksonJacksonJacksonNo election
1836HarrisonNo electionHarrisonHarrisonVan BurenVan BurenVan BurenNo election
1840HarrisonNo electionHarrisonHarrisonHarrisonHarrisonVan BurenNo election
1844ClayNo electionClayClayPolkPolkPolkNo election
1848TaylorNo electionTaylorTaylorTaylorTaylorCassNo election
1852PierceNo electionPiercePiercePiercePiercePierceNo election
1856BuchananNo electionFillmoreBuchananFrémontBuchananBuchananNo election
1860BreckinridgeNo electionBreckinridgeLincolnLincolnLincolnBellNo election
1864McClellanNo electionLincolnMcClellanLincolnLincolnNo electionLincoln
1868SeymourNo electionSeymourSeymourSeymourGrantNo electionGrant
1872GrantNo electionHendricksGrantGrantGrantGrantGrant
1876TildenNo electionTildenTildenTildenHayesTildenTilden
1880HancockNo electionHancockHancockGarfieldGarfieldHancockHancock
1884ClevelandNo electionClevelandClevelandClevelandBlaineClevelandCleveland
1888ClevelandNo electionClevelandClevelandHarrisonHarrisonClevelandCleveland
1892ClevelandNo electionClevelandClevelandClevelandHarrisonClevelandCleveland
1896McKinleyNo electionMcKinleyMcKinleyMcKinleyMcKinleyBryanMcKinley
1900McKinleyNo electionMcKinleyMcKinleyMcKinleyMcKinleyBryanMcKinley
1904RooseveltNo electionParkerRoosevelt RooseveltRooseveltParkerRoosevelt
1908TaftNo electionBryanTaftTaftTaftBryanTaft
1912WilsonNo electionWilsonWilsonWilsonRooseveltWilsonWilson
1916HughesNo electionWilsonHughesHughesHughesWilsonHughes
1920HardingNo electionHardingHardingHardingHardingCoxHarding
1924CoolidgeNo electionCoolidgeCoolidgeCoolidgeCoolidgeDavisCoolidge
1928HooverNo electionHooverHooverHooverHooverHooverHoover
1932HooverNo electionRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltHooverRooseveltRoosevelt
1936RooseveltNo electionRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltRoosevelt
1940RooseveltNo electionRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltRoosevelt
1944RooseveltNo electionRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltRooseveltRoosevelt
1948DeweyNo electionDeweyDeweyDeweyDeweyTrumanTruman
1952EisenhowerNo electionEisenhowerEisenhowerEisenhowerEisenhowerEisenhowerStevenson
1956EisenhowerNo electionEisenhowerEisenhowerEisenhowerEisenhowerEisenhowerEisenhower
1960KennedyNo electionKennedyKennedyKennedyKennedyNixonKennedy
1964JohnsonJohnsonJohnsonJohnsonJohnsonJohnsonJohnsonJohnson
1968NixonHumphreyHumphreyNixonHumphreyHumphreyNixonHumphrey
1972NixonMcGovernNixonNixonNixonNixonNixonNixon
1976CarterCarterCarterFordCarterCarterFordCarter
1980ReaganCarterCarterReaganReaganReaganReaganCarter
1984ReaganMondaleReaganReaganReaganReaganReaganReagan
1988BushDukakisBushBushDukakisBushBushDukakis
1992ClintonClintonClintonClintonClintonClintonBushClinton
1996ClintonClintonClintonClintonClintonClintonDoleClinton
2000GoreGoreGoreGoreGoreGoreBushBush
2004KerryKerryKerryKerryKerryKerryBushBush
2008ObamaObamaObamaObamaObamaObamaObamaMcCain
2012ObamaObamaObamaObamaObamaObamaObamaRomney
2016ClintonClintonClintonClintonClintonTrumpClintonTrump
2020BidenBidenBidenBidenBidenBidenBidenTrump
YearDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaMarylandNew JerseyNew YorkPennsylvaniaVirginiaWest Virginia
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Culture

Sports

The Mid-Atlantic is home to 33 professional sports franchises in the five major leagues and the two most prominent women's professional leagues:

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.

Economy

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:

See also

References

Bibliography

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