COMPOSITION OF THE COUNTRY

The territory of the United States is historically divided into eight regions: 1) New England; 2) the Mid-Atlantic region; 3) the South; 4) the Midwest; 5) the Southwest; 6) the Rocky Mountain region; 7) the Pacific Northwest and Alaska; 8) California and Hawaii.

New England.

New England is highly industrial, but it also has many fields, woods and small towns. New England is the part of the United States that is most like "old" England. It includes six states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Is­land, and Connecticut.
The Mid-Atlantic Region.

The Mid-Atlantic region is not uniform. Geograph­ically, historically and economically, the Mid-At­lantic states are quite different from one another. For example: the state of New York borders on Can­ada and has cold winters; Maryland has much in common with the American South.

The Mid-Atlantic region plays an important role in the United States. Its cities include Washington D. C, the nation's capital, and New York City, the nation's financial centre. The Mid-Atlantic re­gion is densely populated. It includes six states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary­land and West Virginia.

The South. Economically, historically and culturally, the South is a distinct region. With its warm climate and rich soil, it developed an economy based on cot­ton export. Conflicts between the North and the South, especially over slavery, led to the Civil War in 1861. The South preserves its traditions, for ex­ample good cooking and a slower, more hospitable way of life. The South includes eleven states: Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro­lina, Tennessee, Ar­kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.