Appalachia Portal

Mount Mitchell, the highest point of the Appalachian Mountains.

Appalachia (locally /ˌæpəˈlæə/, elsewhere also /-lə, -lʃə/) is a geographic region located in the central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountains of New York, continuing south through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Smoky Mountains into northern Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, with West Virginia near the center, being the only state entirely within the boundaries of Appalachia. In 2021, the region was home to an estimated 26.3 million people, of whom roughly 80% were White.

Since its recognition as a cultural region in the late 19th century, Appalachia has been a source of enduring myths and distortions regarding the isolation, temperament, and behavior of its inhabitants. Early 20th-century writers often engaged in yellow journalism focused on sensationalistic aspects of the region's culture, such as moonshining and clan feuding, portraying the region's inhabitants as uneducated and unrefined; although these stereotypes still exist to a lesser extent today, sociology studies have since begun to dispel them.

While endowed with abundant natural resources, Appalachia has long struggled economically and has been associated with poverty. In the early 20th century, large-scale logging and coal mining firms brought jobs and modern amenities to Appalachia, but by the 1960s the region had failed to capitalize on any long-term benefits from these two industries. Beginning in the 1930s, the federal government sought to alleviate poverty in the Appalachian region with a series of New Deal initiatives, specifically the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The TVA was responsible for the construction of hydroelectric dams that provide a vast amount of electricity and that support programs for better farming practices, regional planning, and economic development. (Full article...)

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Largest cities in Appalachia

City, State City population (2020)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 302,971
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 249,545
Huntsville, Alabama 215,006
Birmingham, Alabama 200,733
Knoxville, Tennessee 190,740
Chattanooga, Tennessee 181,099
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 100,618
Roanoke, Virginia 100,011
Erie, Pennsylvania 94,831
Asheville, North Carolina 94,589
Scranton, Pennsylvania 76,328
Johnson City, Tennessee 71,046
Greenville, South Carolina 70,720
Youngstown, Ohio 60,068
Decatur, Alabama 57,938
Kingsport, Tennessee 55,442
Harrisonburg, Virginia 51,814

Cities with at least 50,000 persons inside city boundaries as of 2020 shown

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