Editing Midwestern United States (section)

=== Definitions ===
{{Redirect2|Lake states|Plains states|the geographic regions|Great Lakes region|and|Great Plains}}

[[File:Midwestern_United_States_subdivisions.svg|thumb|Divisions of the Midwest by the U.S. Census Bureau into [[East North Central States|East North Central]] and [[West North Central States|West North Central]], separated largely by the [[Mississippi River]]<ref name="CensusRegionsMap" />]]
[[File:Scotts bluff national monument.jpg|thumb|[[Scotts Bluff National Monument]] in western Nebraska]]

The first recorded use of the term ''Midwestern'' to refer to a region of the central U.S. occurred in 1886; ''Midwest'' appeared in 1894, and ''Midwesterner'' in 1916.<ref name="oed.com">[[Oxford English Dictionary]] entries for ''Midwestern'', ''Midwest'', and ''Midwesterner'', http://www.oed.com/</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197407 |title=Regional Song Sampler: The Midwest {{pipe}} Library of Congress |website=Loc.gov |access-date=July 16, 2017}}</ref> One of the earliest late-19th-century uses of ''Midwest'' was in reference to Kansas and Nebraska to indicate that they were the civilized areas of the west.<ref name="Blaser 1990 69"/> The term ''Midwestern'' has been in use since the 1880s to refer to portions of the central United States. A variant term, ''Middle West'', has been used since the 19th century and remains relatively common.<ref>Examples of the use of ''Middle West'' include {{cite book |last= Turner |first= Frederick Jackson |title= The Frontier in American History |publisher= H. Holt and Company |year= 1921 |oclc= 2127640 |url= https://archive.org/details/frontierinameric00turniala}} {{cite book |last= Shortridge |first= James R. |title= Middle West: Its Meaning in American Culture |publisher= University Press of Kansas |year= 1989 |isbn= 978-0-7006-0475-3 |url= https://archive.org/details/middlewestitsmea00shor|url-access= registration }} {{cite book |last= Bradway |first= Becky |title= In the Middle of the Middle West: Literary Nonfiction from the Heartland |publisher= Indiana University Press |year= 2003 |isbn= 978-0-253-21657-1 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yuq2ZNXLvAIC}} and {{cite book |last= Gjerde |first= Jon |title= The Minds of the West: Ethnocultural Evolution in the Rural Middle West, 1830–1917 |publisher= UNC Press |year= 1999 |isbn= 978-0-8078-4807-4 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qDxRsvJ0zeUC}}; among many others.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/rrhtml/regions3.html |title=About this Collection – Railroad Maps, 1828–1900 {{pipe}} Digital Collections {{pipe}} Library of Congress |website=Memory.loc.gov |access-date=July 16, 2017}}</ref>

Traditional definitions of the Midwest include the Northwest Ordinance ''[[Northwest Territory|Old Northwest]]'' states and many states that were part of the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. The states of the Old Northwest are also known as [[Great Lakes region (North America)|Great Lakes states]] and are east-north central in the United States. The Ohio River runs along the southeastern section, and the Mississippi River runs north to south near the center. Many of the Louisiana Purchase states in the west-north central United States are also known as the [[Great Plains]] states, and the Missouri River is a major waterway joining with the Mississippi. The Midwest lies north of the [[Parallel 36°30′ north|36°30′ parallel]], which the 1820 [[Missouri Compromise]] established as the dividing line between future [[Slave and free states|slave and non-slave states]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hammond |first=John Craig |date=March 1, 2019 |title=President, Planter, Politician: James Monroe, the Missouri Crisis, and the Politics of Slavery |url=https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/105/4/843/5352833 |journal=Journal of American History |language=en |volume=105 |issue=4 |pages=843–867 |doi=10.1093/jahist/jaz002 |issn=0021-8723}}</ref>

The Midwest Region is defined by the [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]] as these 12 states:<ref name="CensusRegionsMap" />
* '''[[Illinois]]:''' Old Northwest, Mississippi River (Missouri River joins near the state border), Ohio River, and Great Lakes state
* '''[[Indiana]]:''' Old Northwest, Ohio River, and Great Lakes state
* '''[[Iowa]]:''' Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River, and Missouri River state
* '''[[Kansas]]:''' Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains, and Missouri River state
* '''[[Michigan]]:''' Old Northwest and Great Lakes state
* '''[[Minnesota]]:''' Old Northwest, Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River, part of [[Red River Colony]] before 1818, Great Lakes state
* '''[[Missouri]]:''' Louisiana Purchase, Mississippi River (Ohio River joins near the state border), Missouri River, and [[Border states (American Civil War)|border]] state
* '''[[Nebraska]]:''' Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains, and Missouri River state
* '''[[North Dakota]]:''' Louisiana Purchase, part of Red River Colony before 1818, Great Plains, and Missouri River state
* '''[[Ohio]]:''' Old Northwest (Historic [[Connecticut Western Reserve]]), Ohio River, and Great Lakes state. The [[Appalachian Ohio|southeastern]] part of the state is part of northern [[Appalachia]]
* '''[[South Dakota]]:''' Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains, and Missouri River state
* '''[[Wisconsin]]:''' Old Northwest, Mississippi River, and Great Lakes state

Various organizations define the Midwest with slightly different groups of states. For example, the [[Council of State Governments]], an organization for communication and coordination among state governments, includes in its Midwest regional office eleven states from the above list, omitting Missouri, which is in the CSG South region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csg.org/about/regionaloffices.aspx |title=CSG Regional Offices |publisher=Council of State Governments |year=2012 |access-date=February 13, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220052340/http://www.csg.org/about/regionaloffices.aspx |archive-date=February 20, 2014 }}</ref> The [[Organization of the National Park Service#Midwest Region|Midwest Region]] of the [[National Park Service]] consists of these twelve states plus the state of [[Arkansas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1671/national-parks-in-the-midwest.htm|title=National Parks in the Midwest {{!}} National Park Service|website=Nps.gov|access-date=July 16, 2017}}</ref> The [[Midwest Archives Conference]], a professional archives organization, covers the above twelve states, plus [[Kentucky]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.midwestarchives.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=114 |title=What is MAC |publisher=Midwest Archives Conference |year=2012 |access-date=January 3, 2018}}</ref> A 2023 [[Emerson College]]/''Middle West Review'' poll includes the above twelve states, plus [[Oklahoma]] and [[Wyoming]].<ref>{{cite press release|title=Middle West Review and Emerson College Polling Launch Largest-ever Study on Midwestern Identity|url=https://emersoncollegepolling.com/middle-west-review-and-emerson-college-polling/|publisher=[[Emerson College]] Polling|date=October 18, 2023|access-date=October 23, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Emily|last1=Schmall|first2=Sara|last2=Ruberg|title=200 Years Later, Still Trying to Define the Midwest|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/18/us/midwest-states-harris-trump.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 18, 2024|access-date=October 23, 2024}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable sortable"
![[List of states and territories of the United States|State]]
!2020 census
!2010 census
!Change
!Area
!Density
|-
|{{flag|Iowa}}
| {{change|invert=on|3190369|3046355}}
|{{convert|55857.09|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|3190369|55857.09|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|Kansas}}
| {{change|invert=on|2937880|2853118}}
|{{convert|81758.65|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|2937880|81758.65|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|Missouri}}
| {{change|invert=on|6154913|5988927}}
|{{convert|68741.47|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|6154913|68741.47|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|Nebraska}}
| {{change|invert=on|1961504|1826341}}
|{{convert|76824.11|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|1961504|76824.11|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|North Dakota}}
| {{change|invert=on|779094|672591}}
|{{convert|69000.74|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|779094|69000.74|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|South Dakota}}
| {{change|invert=on|886667|814180}}
|{{convert|75810.94|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|886667|75810.94|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|- class=sortbottom style="background:#fbfbbb"
|'''Great Plains'''
| {{change|invert=on|15910427|15201512|bgcolour=#fbfbbb}}
|{{convert|427993.00|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|15910427|427993.00|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|Illinois}}
| {{change|invert=on|12812508|12830632}}
|{{convert|55518.89|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|12822739|55518.89|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|Indiana}}
| {{change|invert=on|6785528|6483802}}
|{{convert|35826.08|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|6785528|35826.08|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|Michigan}}
| {{change|invert=on|10077331|9883640}}
|{{convert|56538.86|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|10077331|56538.86|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|Minnesota}}
| {{change|invert=on|5706494|5303925}}
|{{convert|79626.68|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|5706494|79626.68|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|Ohio}}
| {{change|invert=on|11799448|11536504}}
|{{convert|40860.66|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|11799448|40860.66|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|{{flag|Wisconsin}}
| {{change|invert=on|5893718|5686986}}
|{{convert|54157.76|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|5893718|54157.76|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|- class=sortbottom style="background:#fbfbbb"
|'''Great Lakes'''
| {{change|invert=on|53085258|51725489|bgcolour=#fbfbbb}}
|{{convert|322528.93|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|53085258|322528.93|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|-
|- class=sortbottom style="background:#fbfbbb"
|'''Total'''
| {{change|invert=on|68995685|66927001|bgcolour=#fbfbbb}}
|{{convert|750521.93|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|{{Pop density|68985454|750521.93|sqmi|km2|prec=0}}
|}