Historical regions of the United States

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Image:U.S. Territorial Acquisitions.png

The territory of the United States and its overseas possessions has evolved over time, from the colonial era to the present day. It includes formally organized territories, proposed and failed states, unrecognized breakaway states, international and interstate purchases, cessions, and land grants, and historical military departments and administrative districts. The last section lists informal regions from American vernacular geography known by popular nicknames and linked by geographical, cultural, or economic similarities, some of which are still in use today.

For a more complete list of regions and subdivisions of the United States used in modern times, see List of regions of the United States.

File:Wpdms early grants 1621 1639.png

Image:Nieuw Nederland.png settlements of The Netherlands, collectively called New Netherland]]

Colonial era (before 1776)

Image:Masscolony.png

Image:Wpdms illinois country settlements 1763.png

File:Mapofgermancoast-1775.jpg, a historical region of present-day Louisiana located above New Orleans on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River]]

File:Vandalia01.png was the name of a proposed British colony located south of the Ohio River, primarily in what is now the U.S. states of West Virginia and eastern Kentucky]]

File:Westsylvaniamap.png was largely deterred by the Revolutionary War]]

=Thirteen Colonies=

=Pre-Revolutionary War regions=

{{main|European colonization of the Americas}}

† - indicates failed legal entities

==New England==

==Mid-Atlantic==

==Southern==

==Interior==

Image:NorthAmerica1762-83.png and the founding of the United States: British claims are indicated in red and pink, while Spanish claims are in orange and yellow.]]

==Far West==

Unlike the land to the east, most of the land west of the Mississippi River was under French or Spanish rule until the first years of the 19th century.

=Colonies settled but unrecognized=

File:Oregoncountry2.png

File:Map of USA AK full.png. The controversial purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 turned out to be a great deal for the U.S. when the area proved to contain a treasure trove of natural resources.]]

File:West Florida Map.png, claimed by the United States, spanned parts of three later states. The Spanish province also included part of the present-day state of Florida.]]

=Colonies proposed but unrealized=

Independent entities later joined to the Union

Regions purchased from foreign powers

{{See also|Territorial evolution of the United States|Manifest Destiny}}

Regions annexed from or ceded by foreign powers

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File:Map of Philippines.png|The Philippines was a commonwealth of the United States, 1935–1946

File:US insular areas.svg|Worldwide location of current U.S. insular areas:

{{legend|#000080|The USA}}

{{legend|#C000C0|incorporated unorganized territory}}

{{legend|#00C000|unincorporated organized territory}}

{{legend|#FF9933|Commonwealth status}}

{{legend|#FF8080|unincorporated unorganized territory}}

File:Puerto Rico (orthographic projection).png|The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Ceded or purchased Native American regions

{{further|Aboriginal title in the United States|Category:Aboriginal title in the United States}}

File:Arkansasterritory.PNG is in teal;{{explain|reason=Nothing in this image is coloured teal|date=October 2024}} Arkansas is in dark green; western portion of Lovely's Purchase is in light green (to Indian Territory, 1828)]]

File:Indiana Indian treaties.svg

File:MDAH Series 0443 Filename 73473-sb5-13.jpg

Interstate, territorial, and federal cessions

Image:United States land claims and cessions 1782-1802.png

The following are state cessions made during the building of the U.S.

Former organized territories

File:Northwest Territory locator map (1787).svg. Britain irrevocably ceded all claims to the territory in the 1814 Treaty of Ghent.]]

File:USA Expansion since 1803.jpg

File:Territorial-acquisition-uscensus-bureau.jpg

The following is a list of the 31 U.S. territories that have become states, in the order of the date organized (all were considered incorporated):

Internal land grants, cessions, districts, departments, claims and settlements

File:Map of Military Reserves in the United States, 1778–1816, with Dates of Creation.jpg

Image:Ohio Country en.png, 1775–1794]]

The following are land grants, cessions, defined districts (official or otherwise) or named settlements made within an area that was already part of a U.S. state or territory that did not involve international treaties or Native American cessions or land purchases.

=Alaska=

=Colorado=

=Iowa=

=Nebraska=

=New York=

=Ohio=

=Oklahoma=

Image:Okterritory.png and Indian Territory, along with No Man's Land (also known as the Oklahoma Panhandle). The division of the two territories is shown with a heavy purple line. Together, these three areas would become the State of Oklahoma in 1907.]]

==Indian reserves==

=Pennsylvania=

= Tennessee =

Federal military districts and departments

{{see also|Reconstruction Era#Military reconstruction}}

These entities were sometimes the only governmental authority in the listed areas, although they often co-existed with civil governments in scarcely populated states and territories. Civilian administered "military" tracts, districts, departments, etc., will be listed elsewhere.

=Central United States=

  • Department of the Northwest (1862–1865) Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, Iowa, NebraskaHeidler, David Stephen; Heidler, Jeanne T.; Coles, David J.; Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History; W. W. Norton & Company; New York; 2000; p. 590.
  • District of Minnesota (1862–1865)
  • District of Wisconsin (1862–1865)
  • District of Iowa (1862–1865)
  • District of Dakota (1862–1866)
  • District of Montana (1864–1866)
  • Department of the Missouri (1861–1865) Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, part of Kentucky, and later Kansas; re-configured in 1865 as part of the Division of the Missouri.
  • Division of the Missouri (1865–1891).
  • Department of Dakota (1866–1911) Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and parts of Idaho, South Dakota and the Yellowstone portion of Wyoming.
  • Department of the Missouri (1865–1891) Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Indian Territory, and Territory of Oklahoma.
  • Department of the Platte (1866–1898) Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Dakota Territory, Utah Territory, Wyoming (except Yellowstone), and a portion of Idaho.
  • Department of Texas (1871–1880) (originally part of the Department of the Gulf) Texas after 1865.
  • Department of New Mexico (1854–65) New Mexico Territory; previously part of the District of California and the Department of the West.

=Pacific area=

  • Pacific Division (1848–1853) lands won in the Mexican–American War; became the original Department of the Pacific in 1853.
  • Military Department 10 (1848–1851) California.
  • Military Department 11 (1848–1851) Oregon Territory.
  • Department of the Pacific (1853–1858; and 1861–1865); separated into the Department of California and the Department of Oregon in 1858.
  • District of Oregon (1853–1858) Washington Territory, Oregon Territory.
  • District of California (1853–1858) California, New Mexico Territory; Utah added 1858

During the American Civil War, the Department of the Pacific had six subordinate military districts:

The Department of California (1858–1861) comprised the southern part of the Department of the Pacific: California, Nevada, and southern part of Oregon Territory; merged into the Department of the Pacific as the District of California.

The Department of Oregon (1858–1861) comprised the northern part of the Department of the Pacific: Washington Territory and Oregon Territory.

File:Reconstruction military districts.svg process of the southern states during Reconstruction.]]

=The south=

  • Department of the Gulf (1862–1865; created by the U.S. for the Civil War) Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.
  • Trans-Mississippi (or Trans-Mississippi Department; CSA) (1862–1865). Formerly "Military Dept. 2"; Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), Kansas, and Louisiana west of the Mississippi River.

=The west=

Retroceded possessions and overseas territories

Functioning but non-sanctioned territories

File:State_of_Deseret,_vector_image_cropped_-_2011.svg

These "territories" had actual, functioning governments (recognized or not):

Regional nicknames

{{Main|List of regions of the United States}}

File:US 9 regions.svg Regions separated by color, with the nine Census Divisions further delineated by shading

|Regions of the United States:

{{Legend|#0000ba|New England}}

{{Legend|#1e1eff|Mid-Atlantic}}

{{Legend|#878700|East North Central (Great Lakes, or Eastern Midwest)}}

{{Legend|#9f9f00|West North Central (Western Midwest, or The Great Plains States)}}

{{Legend|#ba0000|South Atlantic}}

{{Legend|#e70000|East South Central}}

{{Legend|#ff2424|West South Central}}

{{Legend|#00c300|Mountain States}}

{{Legend|#00e400|Pacific States}}

]]

=Belts=

Belts are loosely defined sub-regions found throughout the United States that are named for a perceived commonality among the included areas, which is often related to the region's economy or climate.

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See also

References

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