South Central United States

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 South Central United States.

The South Central United States or South Central states is a region of the United States located in the south central part of the country. It evolved out of the Old Southwest, which originally was literally the western U.S. South, as can be seen in the now defunct Southwest Conference of the NCAA. The states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas (which make up what the Census Bureau Division calls West South Central States) are almost always considered the "core" of the region. As part of the East South Central States sub-group of the Census Bureau classification, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky are also frequently listed under the heading. At the highest extent, Kansas, and Missouri, may be included by some sources. All or parts these states are in the Central Time Zone. At different and changing points in time, all of the above states were/are considered part of the West in American history.

Geography

Caddo Lake, on the Texas–Louisiana border is home to the largest Cypress forest in the world.

The climate varies from the semi-tropical in the Mississippi Delta, South Louisiana, and Southeast Texas, to the dry Chihuahuan desert in West Texas. The southeastern portions include the Appalachian mountains in Alabama and Tennessee and the Piney Woods of East Texas, Louisiana, and southern Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta. Large portion of the northeastern quarter of the region is mountainous, with the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The northwest quarter of the region is dominated by the Great Plains which become progressively drier west of 1,000° W, forming the North American Llano. The southwestern portions border the Rio Grande, and are generally drier than other areas of the South Central United States, Central Texas having the most annual precipitation.

Texas is the largest South Central state by both area and population. Texas is still home to over half the region's population. The largest city in the region—Houston; is located in Texas. New Orleans was tied with Oklahoma City but, after Hurricane Katrina, the population of the New Orleans metro area has declined to approximately 900,000 (a survey shows that the population has bounced back to almost 1.2 million as of April 2007).

History

The history of the South Central states is dominated by the conflict and interaction between three cultural-linguistic groups: the Anglosphere (first Great Britain and then the United States), the Hispanidad (first Spain then Mexico), and the Francophonie (always France). In the 17th and 18th centuries Spain and France maneuvered for control of Texas, with the Spanish based in Mexico and New Mexico and the French in Louisiana. During the War of the Quadruple Alliance hostilities spread to the New World and the French troops from Natchitoches briefly captured the capital of Spanish Texas, Los Adaes in what is now western Louisiana. The French were not able to wrest control of Texas from Spain, and by the early 19th century sold their North American holdings to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, which comprised slightly less than half of what is today the South Central United States.

The official West and East South Central states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee were members of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Kentucky was often considered a "non-official" Confederate state. Oklahoma, although Indian Territory at the time, was home to 5 Native-American tribes, of which a majority allied themselves with the Confederacy. Thus, all these states are usually considered to make up a large part of the American South both historically and culturally, as well as classified by the U.S. Census Bureau.

**States in the South Central Region**
State	2010 Pop.	Land Area	Density
Arkansas	2,915,918 (4th)	52,068 (3rd)	51.34 (3rd)
Louisiana	4,533,372 (2nd)	43,562 (4th)	102.59 (1st)
Oklahoma	3,751,351 (3rd)	68,667 (2nd)	50.25 (4th)
Texas	25,145,561 (1st)	261,797 (1st)	79.65 (2nd)

Regions of the World

	Africa	Mediterranean Saharan Northern Greater Middle East Maghreb Middle East Sub-Saharan Western East Great Lakes Central Southern Horn Islands
	North America	Northern Pacific Northwest Northeastern United States New England Midwest Mid-Atlantic Western United States Southwest Mountain States South Central United States Southern United States East Coast West Coast Bible Belt Appalachia Great Lakes Eastern Canada Western Canada Northern Canada Atlantic Canada Northern Mexico Aridoamerica Caribbean West Indies Central Middle Mesoamerica Anglo French Latin (Hispanic)
	South America	Southern Northern (Guianan states) Western West Indies Patagonia Amazon Latin (Hispanic)
	Asia	Central Aral Sea Aralkum Desert Caspian Sea Dead Sea Far East Russian Eastern Northeastern Inner Asia Southeastern Mainland Maritime Northern Siberia Southern Indian subcontinent Western Caucasus Transcaucasia Greater Middle East Middle East Near East Mediterranean Asia-Pacific

	Europe	Central Northern Nordic Northwestern Scandinavia Scandinavian Peninsula Baltic Eastern Southeastern Balkans North Caucasus Southern Russia European Russia Middle East Southern Iberia Southeastern Mediterranean Western Northwestern British Isles Germanic Romance Celtic Slavic
	Oceania	Australasia Australia New Guinea Zealandia Pacific Islands Micronesia Melanesia Polynesia
	Polar	Antarctic Arctic
	Oceans	World (Sea) Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific Great Barrier Reef Mariana Trench Ring of Fire Southern Convergence List of seas

Continents of the world / List of seas / Physical Earth

Regions of the United States

Administrative
(political)

Units	U.S. state District of Columbia Insular area Minor Outlying Island Maritime territory

Time zones	Hawaii–Aleutian Alaska Pacific Mountain Central Eastern

Census	West Pacific Mountain Midwest E N Central W N Central Northeast New England Middle Atlantic South S Atlantic E S Central W S Central

Courts of appeals	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Physical

Physiographic	Pacific Mountain Intermontane Plateaus Rocky Mountain Superior Upland Interior Plains Interior Highlands Appalachian Atlantic Plain

Coastal	Arctic West Great Lakes Gulf East

Historical

Cessions and accessions	Thirteen Colonies Louisiana Purchase Gadsden Purchase Texas annexation Oregon Treaty Mexican Cession Alaska Purchase Newlands Resolution

Civil War	Union Border states Confederacy Old South Dixie Slave and free states Theaters Pacific Western Trans-Mississippi Lower Seaboard Eastern

Divided

Other

List
Category

United States articles

History

Timeline	Pre-Columbian era Colonial era Thirteen Colonies Military history Continental Congress American Revolution War American frontier Federalist Era War of 1812 Territorial acquisitions Territorial evolution Mexican–American War Civil War Reconstruction Era Indian Wars Gilded Age Progressive Era African-American Civil Rights Movement 1865-1895 / 1896-1954 Spanish–American War Imperialism World War I Roaring Twenties Great Depression World War II Home front American Century Cold War Korean War Space Race Civil Rights Movement Feminist Movement Vietnam War Post-Cold War (1991–present) War on Terror War in Afghanistan Iraq War Timeline of modern American conservatism

By topic	Demographic Discoveries Economic Debt ceiling Inventions before 1890 1890–1945 1946–91 after 1991 Military Postal Technological and industrial

Geography

Politics

Federal

Executive	President Executive Office Cabinet / Executive departments Civil service Independent agencies Law enforcement Public policy

Legislature	Congress Senate Vice President President pro tem House of Representatives Speaker

Judiciary	Supreme Court Federal judiciary Courts of appeals District courts

Law	Constitution Federalism Preemption Separation of powers Bill of Rights Civil liberties Code of Federal Regulations Federal Reporter United States Code United States Reports

Intelligence	Central Intelligence Agency Defense Intelligence Agency Federal Bureau of Investigation National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency National Reconnaissance Office National Security Agency Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Uniformed	Armed Forces Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Coast Guard National Guard NOAA Corps Public Health Service Corps

Economy

Society

Culture	Americana Architecture Art Cinema Crime Cuisine Dance Demographics Education Family structure Fashion Flag Folklore Health care Health insurance Incarceration Languages American English Indigenous languages ASL Black American Sign Language HSL Plains Sign Talk Arabic Chinese French German Italian Russian Spanish Literature Media Music Names People Philosophy Public holidays Radio Religion Sports Television Theater

Social class	Affluence American Dream Educational attainment Homelessness Home-ownership Household income Income inequality Middle class Personal income Poverty Professional and working class conflict Smoking Standard of living Wealth

Issues	Abortion Affirmative action Anti-Americanism Capital punishment Criticism of government Discrimination Drug policy Energy policy Environmental movement Exceptionalism Gun politics Health care reform Human rights Immigration Illegal International rankings Islamophobia LGBT rights Same-sex marriage Nationalism Obesity Racism Separation of church and state Terrorism

Book
Category
Portal
WikiProject

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.