Mid-Atlantic States

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Regional definitions vary from source to source. The states shown in dark red are usually included, while all or portions of the striped states may or may not be considered part of the Mid-Atlantic.

The Mid-Atlantic States (also called Middle Atlantic States) of the United States traditionally refers to that section of the Atlantic Seaboard between New England and the South. The definition usually includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia.[1]

In recent years, the popular usage of the term Mid-Atlantic region has also included the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area with the growing economic integration of that region into the Northeast Corridor.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] History

From early colonial times, the Mid-Atlantic region was settled by a wider range of European peoples than in New England or the South. The New Netherland settlement along the Hudson River in New York 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 the Friends and the mostly Anabaptist [[Pennsylvania Dutch]. In time, all these settlements fell under English control, but the region continued to be a magnet for people of diverse nationalities.

Early settlers were mostly farmers and traders and fishermen, and the region, called the Middle Colonies, served as a strategic bridge between North and South. Philadelphia, midway between the northern and southern colonies, was home to the Continental Congress, the convention of delegates from the original colonies that organized the American Revolution. The same city was the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

The Middle 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 shipping routes and waterways. Such flourishing cities included New York City on the Hudson River, Philadelphia on the Delaware River, and Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay.

The region is among the most ethnically-diverse regions in the nation and world. Large populations of African Americans, Latin Americans, Asians, West Indians, Arabs, and Europeans reside and continue to come to the Mid-Atlantic states. The region's ethnic diversity dates back to colonial times, with Dutch and Swedish colonies, and colonies such as Pennsylvania actively promoting ethnically diverse immigration.