Description
The Southern United States is a large region in the southeastern and southcentral United States. Other names for the region include the American South and The South, as well as the historical name Dixie. The South has developed its own customs, literature, music, and cuisine, which distinguish it from the rest of the United States. Several factors contribute to this cultural distinctiveness, including the indigenous population, early European colonization and immigration of the Spanish, English, French, Irish, and Scots, slavery and a large African-American population, and the legacy of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Long a primarily agricultural region, the Southern United States has become increasingly industrialized in the last decades of the 20th century, fueling both domestic and international migration. Today, the South is one of the fastest-growing areas in the United States. While experiencing rapid economic growth, all states in the region except Maryland, Virginia, and Florida have higher poverty rates than the national average. Poverty is particularly prevalent in rural areas. Fewer students graduate with a secondary education diploma, incomes are lower, housing is cheaper, and the general cost of living is lower.
