Mid-Atlantic (United States)

Mid-Atlantic Region
Composition	New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland Washington, D.C. Virginia West Virginia
Metropolitan areas	Baltimore–Washington Buffalo–Niagara Falls Albany–Schenectady–Troy Philadelphia–Wilmington New York–Newark Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton Pittsburgh Richmond Rochester Syracuse Scranton–Wilkes-Barre Harrisburg–York–Lebanon Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News
Largest city	New York City
Area
• Total	191,308.5 sq mi (495,487 km2)
Population  (2008 est.)
• Total	57,303,316
• Density	300/sq mi (120/km2)
GDP
• Total	$2.962 trillion (2007)

The Mid-Atlantic, also called Middle Atlantic states or the Mid-Atlantic states, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South Atlantic States. Its exact definition differs upon source, but the region usually includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and West Virginia. The Mid-Atlantic has played an important role in the development of American culture, commerce, trade, and industry.

In the late 19th century, it was called "the typically American" region by Frederick Jackson Turner. Religious pluralism and ethnic diversity have been important elements of Mid-Atlantic society from its settlement by Dutch, Swedes, English Catholics, and Quakers through to the period of British rule, and beyond to the current day. After the American Revolution, the Mid-Atlantic region hosted each of the historic capitals of the United States, including the current federal capital, Washington, D.C.

In the early part of the 19th century, New York and Pennsylvania overtook Virginia as the most populous states and the New England states as the country's most important trading and industrial centers. Large numbers of German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Polish, and other immigrants transformed the region, especially coastal cities such as New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., but also interior cities such as Pittsburgh, Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo.

New York City, with its skyscrapers, subways, and headquarters of the United Nations, emerged in the 20th century as an icon of modernity and American economic and cultural power. By the 21st century, the coastal areas of the Mid-Atlantic were thoroughly urbanized.

The Northeast Corridor and Interstate 95 link an almost contiguous sprawl of suburbs and large and small cities, forming the Mid-Atlantic portion of 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, having 43 of the 100 highest-income counties in the nation based on median household income and 33 of the top 100 based on per capita income. Most of the Mid-Atlantic states rank among the 15 highest-income states in the nation by median household income and per capita income.

Defining the Mid-Atlantic

A USGS fact-sheet interpretation of the Mid-Atlantic in terms of groundwater.

An 1897 map displays an inclusive definition of the Mid-Atlantic region.

There are differing interpretations as to the composition of the Mid-Atlantic, with sources including in the region a number of states from New York to South Carolina. A United States Geological Survey publication describes the Mid-Atlantic Region as all of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, along with the parts of New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina that drain into the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays and the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. Sometimes, the nucleus is considered to be the area centered on the Washington metropolitan area, including Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and West Virginia.

West Virginia and Virginia are atypical of this region in several ways. They are the only states to lie primarily within the Southern American dialect region, and the major religious tradition in both states is Evangelical Christian, 31% in Virginia and 36% in West Virginia. Although a few of West Virginia's eastern panhandle counties are considered part of the Washington, D.C. MSA, the major portion of the state is rural, and there are no major or even large cities.

History

Shipping containers at the Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal, part of 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 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. The same city 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 at New York City.

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. Such flourishing cities included New York City and Newark on opposite sides of the Hudson River, Philadelphia on the Delaware River, and Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay.

Major cities and urban areas

New York City

Philadelphia

Baltimore

Washington, D.C.

Metropolitan areas

Largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas by Population in the Mid-Atlantic Region

	MSA	2016 Estimate	2010 Census
1	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	20,153,634	19,567,410
2	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	6,131,977	5,636,232
3	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	6,070,500	5,965,343
4	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	2,798,886	2,710,489
5	Pittsburgh, PA	2,342,299	2,356,285
6	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	1,726,907	1,676,822
7	Richmond, VA	1,281,708	1,208,101
8	Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY	1,132,804	1,135,509
9	Rochester, NY	1,078,879	1,079,671
10	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	881,839	870,716

Top Ten Largest Cities by Population in the Mid-Atlantic Region

	City	2016 Est.
1	New York, NY	8,537,673
2	Philadelphia, PA	1,567,872
3	Washington, D.C.	681,170
4	Baltimore, MD	614,664
5	Virginia Beach, VA	425,602
6	Pittsburgh, PA	303,625
7	Newark, NJ	281,764
8	Jersey City, New Jersey	264,152
9	Buffalo, New York	259,902
10	Norfolk, Virginia	245,115

State capitals

• Albany, New York
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Trenton, New Jersey
• Dover, Delaware
• Annapolis, Maryland
• Richmond, Virginia
• Charleston, West Virginia

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

In presidential elections

Parties
Nonpartisan	Federalist	Democratic-Republican	National Republican	Democratic	Whig	Know Nothing	Republican	Constitutional Union	Progressive

• Bold denotes election winner.

Presidential electoral votes in the Mid-Atlantic states since 1789
Year	Delaware	District of Columbia	Maryland	New Jersey	New York	Pennsylvania	Virginia	West Virginia
1789	Washington	No election	Washington	Washington	Deadlocked	Washington	Washington	No election
1792	Washington	No election	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	No election
1796	Adams	No election	Adams	Adams	Adams	Jefferson	Jefferson	No election
1800	Adams	No election	Jefferson	Adams	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	No election
1804	Pinckney	No election	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	Jefferson	No election
1808	Pinckney	No election	Madison	Madison	Madison	Madison	Madison	No election
1812	Clinton	No election	Madison	Clinton	Clinton	Madison	Madison	No election
1816	King	No election	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	No election
1820	Monroe	No election	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	Monroe	No election
1824	Crawford	No election	Jackson	Jackson	Adams	Jackson	Crawford	No election
1828	Adams	No election	Adams	Adams	Jackson	Jackson	Jackson	No election
1832	Clay	No election	Clay	Jackson	Jackson	Jackson	Jackson	No election
1836	Harrison	No election	Harrison	Harrison	Van Buren	Van Buren	Van Buren	No election
1840	Harrison	No election	Harrison	Harrison	Harrison	Harrison	Van Buren	No election
1844	Clay	No election	Clay	Clay	Polk	Polk	Polk	No election
1848	Taylor	No election	Taylor	Taylor	Taylor	Taylor	Cass	No election
1852	Pierce	No election	Pierce	Pierce	Pierce	Pierce	Pierce	No election
1856	Buchanan	No election	Fillmore	Buchanan	Frémont	Buchanan	Buchanan	No election
1860	Breckinridge	No election	Breckinridge	Lincoln	Lincoln	Lincoln	Bell	No election
1864	McClellan	No election	Lincoln	McClellan	Lincoln	Lincoln	No election	Lincoln
1868	Seymour	No election	Seymour	Seymour	Seymour	Grant	No election	Grant
1872	Grant	No election	Hendricks	Grant	Grant	Grant	Grant	Grant
1876	Tilden	No election	Tilden	Tilden	Tilden	Hayes	Tilden	Tilden
1880	Hancock	No election	Hancock	Hancock	Garfield	Garfield	Hancock	Hancock
1884	Cleveland	No election	Cleveland	Cleveland	Cleveland	Blaine	Cleveland	Cleveland
1888	Cleveland	No election	Cleveland	Cleveland	Harrison	Harrison	Cleveland	Cleveland
1892	Cleveland	No election	Cleveland	Cleveland	Cleveland	Harrison	Cleveland	Cleveland
1896	McKinley	No election	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley	Bryan	McKinley
1900	McKinley	No election	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley	McKinley	Bryan	McKinley
1904	Roosevelt	No election	Parker	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Parker	Roosevelt
1908	Taft	No election	Bryan	Taft	Taft	Taft	Bryan	Taft
1912	Wilson	No election	Wilson	Wilson	Wilson	Roosevelt	Wilson	Wilson
1916	Hughes	No election	Wilson	Hughes	Hughes	Hughes	Wilson	Hughes
1920	Harding	No election	Harding	Harding	Harding	Harding	Cox	Harding
1924	Coolidge	No election	Coolidge	Coolidge	Coolidge	Coolidge	Davis	Coolidge
1928	Hoover	No election	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover	Hoover
1932	Hoover	No election	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Hoover	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1936	Roosevelt	No election	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1940	Roosevelt	No election	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1944	Roosevelt	No election	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt	Roosevelt
1948	Dewey	No election	Dewey	Dewey	Dewey	Dewey	Truman	Truman
1952	Eisenhower	No election	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Stevenson
1956	Eisenhower	No election	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower	Eisenhower
1960	Kennedy	No election	Kennedy	Kennedy	Kennedy	Kennedy	Nixon	Kennedy
1964	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson	Johnson
1968	Nixon	Humphrey	Humphrey	Nixon	Humphrey	Humphrey	Nixon	Humphrey
1972	Nixon	McGovern	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon	Nixon
1976	Carter	Carter	Carter	Ford	Carter	Carter	Ford	Carter
1980	Reagan	Carter	Carter	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Carter
1984	Reagan	Mondale	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan	Reagan
1988	Bush	Dukakis	Bush	Bush	Dukakis	Bush	Bush	Dukakis
1992	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Bush	Clinton
1996	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Dole	Clinton
2000	Gore	Gore	Gore	Gore	Gore	Gore	Bush	Bush
2004	Kerry	Kerry	Kerry	Kerry	Kerry	Kerry	Bush	Bush
2008	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	McCain
2012	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Obama	Romney
2016	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Trump	Clinton	Trump
Year	Delaware	District of Columbia	Maryland	New Jersey	New York	Pennsylvania	Virginia	West Virginia

Culture

Sports

The Mid-Atlantic is home to 30 professional sports franchises in major leagues:

	NFL	NHL	MLB	NBA	MLS	WNBA
New York metro area	Giants Jets	Devils Islanders Rangers	Mets Yankees	Knicks Nets	NYC FC Red Bulls	Liberty
Washington	Redskins	Capitals	Nationals	Wizards	United	Mystics
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. The US Open, held at New York City, is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, whereas Washington Open is part of the ATP World Tour 500 series.

Notable motorsports tracks include Watkins Glen International, Dover International 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.

See also

• List of regions of the United States

Bibliography

• Bodle, Wayne, "The Mid-Atlantic and the American Revolution", Pennsylvania History 82 (Summer 2015), 282–99.
• Heineman, Kenneth J., "The Only Things You Will Find in the Middle of the Road are Double Yellow Lines, Dead Frogs, and Electoral Leverage: Mid-Atlantic Political Culture and Influence across the Centuries", Pennsylvania History, 82 (Summer 2015), 300–13.
• Landsman, Ned C. Crossroads of Empire: The Middle Colonies in British North America (2010)
• Longhurst, James. "" Typically American": Trends in the History of Environmental Politics and Policy in the Mid-Atlantic Region." Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 79.4 (2012): 409-427.
• Magoc, Chris J., "In Search of a Useable—and Hopeful—Environmental Narrative in the Mid-Atlantic", Pennsylvania History, 82 (Summer 2015), 314–28.
• Mancall, Peter C., Joshua L. Rosenbloom, and Thomas Weiss. "Exports from the Colonies and States of the Middle Atlantic Region 1720–1800." Research in Economic History 29 (2013): 257-305.
• Marzec, Robert. The Mid-Atlantic Region: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures (2004)
• Richter, Daniel K, "Mid-Atlantic Colonies, R.I.P.", Pennsylvania History, 82 (Summer 2015), 257–81.
• Rosenbloom, Joshua L., and Thomas Weiss. "Economic growth in the Mid-Atlantic region: Conjectural estimates for 1720 to 1800." Explorations in Economic History 51 (2014): 41-59.