The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East or simply the East, is a region roughly coinciding with the boundaries of the United States established in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which bounded the new country to the west along the Mississippi River. It is geographically diverse, spanning the Northeast and Southeast as well as the eastern part of the Central United States.
In 2011 the 26 states east of the Mississippi (including Washington, D.C. but not the small portions of Minnesota and Louisiana east of the river) had an estimated population of 179,948,346 or 58.28% of the total U.S. population of 308,745,358 (excluding Puerto Rico).
The Southern United States constitutes a large region in the south-eastern and south-central United States. Because of the region's unique cultural and historic heritage, including Native Americans; early European settlements of English, Scots-Irish, Scottish and German heritage ; importation of hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans; growth of a large proportion of African Americans in the population, reliance on slave labor, and legacy of the Confederacy after the American Civil War, the South developed its own customs, literature, musical styles, and varied cuisines, that have profoundly shaped traditional American culture.The South's culture is deeply rooted in the American Civil War.
In the last few decades, the Southern US has been attracting internal and international migrants. The American South is among the fastest-growing areas in the United States.
Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana are parts of the Eastern United States which make up the area often known as the Southern United States.