USA TRAVEL GUIDE, “MIDWEST”

BY CLAY LARROY

When you choose to travel, whether it is for business or pleasure, it is important to plan your trip well before hand. Don't be afraid to cash in your airline miles. Many travelers let their miles accumulate and never bother using them. Reap the rewards of your traveling and spend the miles you've earned! Miles have expiration dates, so be sure to use them before they expire. Often you can use them on items other than travel, so check out your options and get to spending. When you want to plan a vacation contact me!

The Midwestern United States (or Midwest) refers to the north-central states of the United States of America; specifically Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,

Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. A 2006 Census Bureau estimate put the population at 66,217,736. Both the geographic center and the population center of the contiguous United States are in the Midwest.

The Census Bureau divides this region into the East North Central states (essentially the Great Lakes states); and the West North Central states (essentially the Great Plains states), although Minnesota, which is listed among the West North Central states, is not listed as a Great Plains state.

Chicago is the largest city in the region, followed by Detroit and Indianapolis. Other important cities in the region include: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Des Moines, Kansas City, Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Omaha, St. Louis, and Wichita.

In the early nineteenth century, anything west of the Mississippi River was considered the West, and the Midwest was the region west of the Appalachians and east of the Mississippi. In time, some users began to include Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, and with the settlement of the western prairie, a new term, "Great Plains States," was used for the row of states from North Dakota to Kansas. Today, the term "Far West" means the West Coast.

These states are generally perceived as being relatively flat. That is true of several areas, but there is a measure of geographical variation. In particular, the eastern Midwest lying near the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the Great Lakes Basin, and northern parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa demonstrate a high degree of topographical variety. Prairies cover most of the states west of the Mississippi River with the exception of eastern Minnesota, the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri, and the southern tip of Illinois. Illinois lies within an area called the "prairie peninsula," an eastward extension of prairies that borders deciduous forests to the north, east, and south.

Rainfall decreases from east to west, resulting in different types of prairies, with the tallgrass prairie in the wetter eastern region, mixed-grass prairie in the central Great Plains, and shortgrass prairie towards the rain shadow of the Rockies. Today, these three prairie types largely correspond to the corn/soybean area, the wheat belt, and the western rangelands, respectively.

Hardwood forests in this area were logged to extinction in the late 1800s. The majority of the Midwest can now be categorized as urbanized areas or pastoral agricultural areas. Areas in northern Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, such as the Porcupine Mountains and the Ohio River valley, are largely undeveloped.

Residents of the wheat belt, which consists of the westernmost states of the Midwest, generally consider themselves part of the Midwest, while residents of the remaining rangeland areas usually do not. Of course, exact boundaries are nebulous and shifting.

 

REFERENCE SITES:

http://www.travelresearchonline.com/

Being in the Midwest, you get the best of all worlds and add your own flavor to it.

Big Sean
  

Experience life travel with those you love!