East Coast of the United States
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Regional definitions vary from source to source. The states shown in dark red are usually included, while all or portions of the striped states may or may not be considered part of the East Coast. |
The "
East Coast," "
Eastern Seaboard," or "
Atlantic Seaboard" are terms referencing the easternmost coastal states in the
United States of America. They touch the
Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to
Canada. It usually includes all
thirteen original colonies, as well as such selected places as
Washington, DC,
Florida,
Maine and
Vermont. People elsewhere in the United States sometimes refer to the East Coast colloquially as "back east".
"East Coast" is sometimes associated with the
Northeastern and
Mid-Atlantic United States, particularly for cultural concepts such as an "Eastern college" or "East-coast liberal" or "I-95 Corridor" (referring to Interstate 95); the
Southeast coast from the Carolinas to Florida is more associated culturally with the larger
American South. "East Coast" may also refer even more narrowly to the highly urbanized strip along the coast from
Boston, Massachusetts to
Richmond, Virginia, which is also known as the "Northeast Corridor", a definition which excludes the hinterlands of Upstate New York and Western Pennsylvania, which may have more in common with the
Midwest than with cities like
New York,
Washington, D.C., and
Boston.
The "East Coast" can be loosely defined as any state that has shipping interests in the Atlantic Ocean. Culturally it is also where most of the first wave of immigrants from Europe, Africa, and Eurasia settled before America began its western expansion. Historically the
Mason-Dixon Line cuts this area in half at the northern border of
Maryland, which still indicates a cultural change. The
Appalachian Trail runs through most of these states from Maine through Georgia.
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Geology of the Appalachians*
West Coast of the United States*
Third CoastUS East Coast Travels from the Chesapeake Bay to Coastal SC
