Editing Mid-Atlantic (United States) (section)

==Composition==
Definitions of the geographic components of the Mid-Atlantic region differ slightly among sources.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Merriam-Webster |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mid-Atlantic |access-date=August 30, 2017 |website=Merriam-webster.com}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name="Census" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />

The [[United States Census Bureau]] defines the Mid-Atlantic as a sub-region of the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]] and only includes New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.<ref name=Census>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/pdfs/reference/us_regdiv.pdf |title=Census Regions and Divisions of the United States |publisher=[[United States Department of Commerce]], [[Economics and Statistics Administration]], [[United States Census Bureau]], Geography Division |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053705/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/pdfs/reference/us_regdiv.pdf |archive-date=September 21, 2013 }}</ref> The [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] excludes New York;<ref name=":0" /> the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] excludes New York and New Jersey;<ref name=":3" /> and the [[United States Department of Transportation|U.S. Department of Transportation]] - [[United States Maritime Administration]] includes [[North Carolina]].<ref name=":4" /> 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.<ref name=":2" /> 

West Virginia and Virginia are atypical of this region in a few ways. These states both primarily lie within the [[Southern American English|Southern American dialect region]],<ref>Labov, William, Sharon Ash and Charles Boberg, ''Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, Phonology and Sound Change'', Mouton de Gruyter, 2005 [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/maps/MapsS/Map1S.html Southern Regional Map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605040452/http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/maps/MapsS/Map1S.html |date=June 5, 2017 }}</ref> and the major religious tradition is largely [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical Christian]], with 30% in Virginia and 39% in West Virginia identifying as evangelicals.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 11, 2015 |title=Religious Landscape Study |url=http://religions.pewforum.org/maps |access-date=November 2, 2017 |website=Religions.pewforum.org}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Census 2000 Report |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf |access-date=November 2, 2017 |website=Census.gov}}</ref>

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File:Mid-Atlantic Region location map.gif|A [[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] fact sheet on the Mid-Atlantic region's groundwater<ref>Earl A. Greene et al. [http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/old.2004/3067/ "Ground-Water Vulnerability to Nitrate Contamination in the Mid-Atlantic Region"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117100713/https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/old.2004/3067/ |date=2017-11-17 }}. [[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] Fact Sheet FS 2004-3067. 2005. Retrieved 25 April 2013. Note: Although the locator map appears to exclude part of northwestern Pennsylvania, other more detailed maps in this article include all of the state.</ref>
File:Middle Atlantic States - 1883 Monteith map.jpg|An 1897 map displaying a broad definition of the Mid-Atlantic region
File:Middle Atlantic States.jpg|An 1886 Harper's School Geography map showing the region, which excludes [[Virginia]] and [[West Virginia]]
File:Census Regions and Division of the United States.svg|The [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]]'s geographic definition of the Mid-Atlantic includes three states, [[New Jersey]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and [[Pennsylvania]]
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