Appalachia is a term used to describe a region in the eastern United States that stretches from southern New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Although part of the Appalachian Mountains extend through New England and into Canada, they are not considered part of the Appalachia geographical region.
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Appalachia is a term used to describe a region in the eastern United States that stretches from southern New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Although part of the Appalachian Mountains extend through New England and into Canada, they are not considered part of the Appalachia geographical region.
Demographics
Over twenty million people live in Appalachia, an area roughly the size of the United Kingdom, covering mostly mountainous, often isolated areas from the border of Mississippi and Alabama in the south to Pennsylvania and New York in the north. Appalachia also includes parts of the states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio, and the entire state of West Virginia. The region contains few intermediate-sized cities, and only two large metropolitan areas are located entirely within the region—Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Knoxville, Tennessee. (However, the expansive region served by the Appalachian Regional Commission incorporates some additional urban areas, including Birmingham, Alabama, the northern part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, western fringes of the Charlotte area, western fringes of the Piedmont Triad, western fringes of the Washington metropolitan area and the eastern fringes of the Nashville metropolitan area.)
Culture
Appalachia has historically been the domain of numerous native communities, including the Cherokee and Shawnee.
Prior to the 20th century, some parts Appalachia were geographically isolated from the rest of the country; much of the region, though, had been connected through the coming of the pioneering roads, early iron, timber and coal speculations and ventures, and the railroads. As a result, many pioneers stayed in the region and preserved the culture of their ancestors (most of them Scots-Irish, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, and English), who settled the region in the 18th century. The region's culture includes a strong oral tradition (including music and song), self-sufficiency, modesty, and strong religious faith. Coal deposits in the region were tapped in the latter half of the 19th century and drew a new wave of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Central Europe. With this industrialization came increased urbanization.
Long characterized as economically underdeveloped, Appalachia, in fact, was rich in minerals and saw a tremendous amount of wealth lifted from the region by outside corporations and business interests. A larger question over how Appalachians became impoverished through brutal land speculation and labor policies continues to be examined by historians.
Though the region is often characterized as educationally deficient, the inhabitants of the region established log cabin colleges as early as the 1790s and instilled a strong sense of education, literature, music and the arts. Appalachians have also preserved much historical lore today. For example, Appalachian people have preserved a lot of historical medical knowledge. People in the community know where to find, identify, harvest, and prepare various herbs that are medicinally used. Ancient arts, such as beelining, would be more likely to be familiar to an Appalachian person than one from other areas.
