What boundaries define the US Midwest?

Question

Please give a reason behind your answer, if you have one, and also name all of the Midwestern states. Thanks!

Answer 1

I know a LOT about geography, so I'll help you out as best I can with the contemporary views on the Midwest...typically, these are your states:

ND, SD, NE, IA, MN, KS, WI, IL, IN, MI, OH

Anything further south than OH and further west than the Dakotas isn't the Midwest. I personally hate considering OH part of the Midwest (I'm from ND and I think it's way too far east), but that's because of history more than anything else. Some may include Missouri...typically it isn't....

Answer 2

Part of the answer is geographical, and part is historical. The western boundary is the states, excluding Texas, Arkansas, and the Gulf states, that lie wholly east of the Rockies. Colorado is not midwestern, but Oklahoma and Kansas are.

In the east, the Mississippi River is a boundary, except that states formed from the old Northwest Territory (north of the Ohio River) are also considered midwestern.

Having said that, the midwestern states include: North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma. Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana.

Notice that some of these are also considered plains states.