Middle America (United States)

Middle America is a colloquial term for the United States heartland, especially the culturally conservative rural and suburban areas of the United States.

Middle America is generally used as both a geographic and cultural label, suggesting a Central United States small town or suburb where most people are middle class, Evangelical Christian or Catholic, and white. It is often caricatured in the same way as the American 1950s decade.

As a geographical label

Geographically, the label Middle America refers to the territory between the East Coast of the United States (particularly the northeast) and the West Coast. The term has been used in some cases to refer to the inland portions of coastal states, especially if they are rural. Alternately, the term is used to describe the central United States.

As a cultural label

Middle America is contrasted with the more culturally progressive urban areas of the country, particularly, those of the East and West Coasts. The conservative values considered typical of Middle America (often called "family values" in American politics) are often called "Middle American values".

Middle America

Middle America may refer to:

See also

Middle America (Americas)

Middle America is a region in the mid-latitudes of the Americas. In southern North America, it usually comprises Mexico, the nations of Central America, and the Caribbean. The scope of the term may vary. Sometimes, Colombia and Venezuela are also included in Middle America; the Caribbean is occasionally excluded from the region; and the Guianas are infrequently included.

Physiographically, Middle America marks the territorial transition between the rest of North America and South America, connecting yet separating the two. On the west, the Middle American mainland comprises the tapering, isthmian tract of the American landmass between the southern Rocky Mountains in the southern United States and the northern tip of the Andes in Colombia, separating the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Atlantic Ocean (viz. the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea) on the east, while the Greater and Lesser Antilles form an island arc in the east. The region developed sub-aerially southward from North America as a complex volcanic arc-trench system during the Early Cretaceous period, eventually forming the land bridge during the Pliocene epoch when its southern end (at Panama) collided with South America through tectonic action.