Which States Make Up The South?

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. The products that I advertise are the ones I believe in.

Our nation is not very different from other nations around the world in that there are geographic divisions that also represent cultural divisions. Saying “north” or “south” invites a concomitant cultural designation. However, the two are not coterminous. So, which states make up “the South?” We know Yankees come from the north (lol), but can we use our understanding of “the North” to define “the South?” Is the south simply everything that is not the north? No, it’s not that simple! Or, conversely, is “the North” everything that is not “the South?” 😛

The fact is there are border states that cloud the issue. States such as Missouri, West Virginia and Oklahoma regularly fall in and out of the definition of “the South” depending on who you ask and the nomenclature of what determines a southern state. We might also add Kentucky, and even Florida to that list! So what’s with the loosey-goosey definition?!?

The South can be drawn along historical lines, linguistic lines, cultural lines, and geographic lines. Each of these “lines” tell us a different story. While historical lines might refer to the Civil War and the Mason-Dixon Line, things are not all that clear. For instance, certain counties in Alabama and Tennessee were very pro Union during the Civil War.

Linguistic lines inform us that speakers who live in parts of southern Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma etc. exhibit a definite drawl in their speech. On the other hand, parts of northern Kentucky, West Virginia and southern Florida can be very northern (non-southern) in speech.

Historically, the south has had a certain subset of states that are unquestionably southern. We can say for certain that the following states are securely Southern.
• Virginia
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Georgia
• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Arkansas
• Louisiana
• Texas

What tends to cloud the issue of which states make up the south are the so-called border states, or peripheral states. These states tend to have both northern and southern characteristics, or had true southern origins but have changed over time to adopt the northern characteristics of the states around them. Remember, a state’s borders are man-made; speech patterns, cultural patterns, and social dynamics are much more fluid and amorphous. Borders can only be changed with an act of Congress, socio-linguistic patterns change every day!

Let’s also remember that the dichotomy of north and south is a very simplistic one. There are many different regional variations in within the framework of our country (too many to reasonably list), even within the south itself such as: southeastern, upper south, and deep south.

These following states can be considered border states.
• Florida
• West Virginia
• Kentucky
• Missouri
• Oklahoma

Some of you may look at that list and be belching fire right about now! You might be thinking: “what kind of lobotomized bowl of mashed potatoes is this author?” Well, let’s start by taking Oklahoma off the list. I don’t consider Oklahoma to be a southern state personally. Although, many southern families from Tennessee and Texas did settle in that state so the influence is definitely there. In the 19^th century maybe it was; today, maybe not. Missouri is kind of like Oklahoma for me, except a lot more southern but still not enough to be a “southern” state. If it weren’t for the Missouri Tigers and BBQ!

People from the north of Florida would definitely want to ring my neck lol. West Virginia, to be honest, I can’t figure out! I’d want to poll the state’s residents and find out what they think. The same goes for Kentucky: I really do think Kentucky is a southern state but often hear it talked about in midwestern terms. Just like Missouri and Florida, however, they do have a team in the SEC, the Kentucky Wild Cats! Maybe this is naive of me, but when I think “South” I think football and Kentucky is definitely a basketball state; but then again, so is North Carolina! Kentucky is definitely more southern than midwestern to me, therefore, it goes on the southern states list.

So let’s wrap it up and go with the list below! These are the states that make up “the South” for me! I know some would agree and others would disagree but that’s just the nature of free speech and opinion. Everyone is entitled to their points of view and whatever your view is of ‘which states make up the south,’ that’s fine!

• Virginia
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Georgia
• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Arkansas
• Louisiana
• Texas
• Kentucky
• [Florida]