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Sun Belt



 
 
The Sun Belt is a region of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 generally considered to stretch across the South
Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
 and Southwest (the geographic southern United States). Another rough boundary of the region is the area south of the 37th or 38th parallels, north latitude.

The Sun Belt has seen substantial population growth in recent decades, partly fueled by a surge in retiring baby boomers who migrate domestically, as well as the influx of immigrants, both legal and illegal
Illegal immigration

Illegal immigration refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. In politics, the term may imply a larger set of social issues and time constraints with disputed consequences in areas such as economy, social welfare, education, health care, slavery, prostitution, legal p...
.






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Map of Usa Highlighting Sun Belt
The Sun Belt is a region of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 generally considered to stretch across the South
Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
 and Southwest (the geographic southern United States). Another rough boundary of the region is the area south of the 37th or 38th parallels, north latitude.

The Sun Belt has seen substantial population growth in recent decades, partly fueled by a surge in retiring baby boomers who migrate domestically, as well as the influx of immigrants, both legal and illegal
Illegal immigration

Illegal immigration refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. In politics, the term may imply a larger set of social issues and time constraints with disputed consequences in areas such as economy, social welfare, education, health care, slavery, prostitution, legal p...
. Also, over the past several decades, air conditioning
Air conditioning

An air conditioner is an appliance, system, or Mechanism designed to extract heat from an area via a refrigeration cycle. In construction, a complete system of heating, Ventilation , and air conditioning is referred to as "HVAC." Its purpose, in a building or an automobile, is to provide comfort during either hot or cold...
 has made it easier for people to deal with the heat of the region during the summertime.

Overview

The Sunbelt is known as the southern tier of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and includes the following states of Alabama
Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
, Arizona
Arizona

The State of Arizona is a U.S. state located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona....
, California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
, Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, Arkansas
Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
, Colorado
Colorado

The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
, Utah
Utah

The State of Utah is a western United States U.S. state of the United States. It was the List of U.S. states by date of statehood admitted to the United States on January 4, 1896....
, Mississippi
Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a U.S. state and a sovereignty located in the South Central United States and Southern United States of the United States of America ....
, Nevada
Nevada

Nevada is a U.S. state located in the Western United States of the United States of America. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas, Nevada....
, New Mexico
New Mexico

New Mexico is a U. S. State located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. Inhabited by Native Americans in the United States populations for many centuries, it has also has been part of the Spanish Empire viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S....
, Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, North Carolina
North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
, South Carolina
South Carolina

South Carolina is a U.S. state in the Southern United States of the United States. It borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north....
, reaching as far north as southern Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
. The Bible Belt
Bible Belt

Bible Belt is an informal term for an area of the United States in which socially conservative Evangelicalism Protestantism is a dominant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is extremely high....
 occupies much of the same geography as the Sun Belt, with the exception of the southwest.

Author and political analyst Kevin Phillips
Kevin Phillips (political commentator)

Kevin Phillips is an United States writer and commentator, largely on politics, economics, and history. Formerly a Republican Party strategist, Phillips has become disaffected with his former party over the last two decades, and is now one of its harshest critics....
 claims to have coined the term "to describe the oil, military, aerospace and retirement country stretching from Florida to California" in his 1969 book The Emerging Republican Majority.

The term "Sun Belt" became synonymous with the southern third of the nation in the early 1970s. There was a shift in this period from the previously economically and politically important northeast to the south and west. Events such as the huge migration of immigrant workers from neighbouring Mexico, warmer climate, and a boom in the agriculture industry allowed for the southern third of the U.S.A. to grow by leaps and bounds economically. The climate spurred not only agricultural growth but was also a haven for many retirees who set up retirement communities in places such as Florida and Arizona.

Industries such as aerospace, defense
Defense industry

The defense industry, also called the military industry, comprises government and commerce industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military equipment and facilities....
 and oil
Petroleum industry

The petroleum industry includes the global processes of Hydrocarbon exploration, Extraction of petroleum, Oil refinery, transporting , and marketing petroleum List of crude oil products....
 boomed in the Sun Belt as companies took advantage of the low involvement of labor unions
Trade union

A trade union or labor union is an organization run by and for workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions....
 in the south and enjoyed the proximity to many U.S. military installations
Military base

A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations....
 who were the major consumers of their products. The oil industry helped propel many southern states such as Texas and Louisiana forward and tourism exploded in Florida and southern California.

The economic emergence of the Sun Belt also had political ramifications. The Republican Party is said to have gained the most from the rise in power. Since 1970, the Sun Belt has gained 25 electoral votes, which were shifted mainly from northern and midwestern states. Politically, the Sun Belt is known as valuable electoral ground. Since Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States ....
's election in 1964, every elected United States President has been from the Sun Belt, with the exception of Barack Obama
Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the List of Presidents of the United States and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office....
 in 2008. (Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974....
, who was from Michigan, served as President following Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the only president to resign the office....
's resignation, but was never elected President or Vice President, and lost to Georgia's Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize....
 in the 1976 election.)

Major cities within the Sun Belt

  • Atlanta
  • Albuquerque
    Albuquerque, New Mexico

    Albuquerque is the largest List of cities in the United States in the US state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande....
  • Austin
    Austin, Texas

    Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County, Texas. Situated in Central Texas and part of the Southwestern United States, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States....
  • Baton Rouge
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana

    Baton Rouge is the capital city and the second largest city of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish which contains 430,812 residents....
  • Birmingham
    Birmingham, Alabama

    Birmingham is the largest city in the United States state of Alabama and is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama. It also includes part of Shelby County, Alabama....
  • Charleston
    Charleston, South Carolina

    Charleston is a city in Charleston County, South Carolina in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is the largest city and county seat of Charleston County....
  • Charlotte
    Charlotte, North Carolina

    Charlotte is the largest city in the state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The List of United States cities by population in the United States....
  • Columbia
    Columbia, South Carolina

    Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 116,278 according to the United States Census, 2000 ....
  • Corpus Christi
    Corpus Christi, Texas

    Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, Texas, it also extends into Aransas County, Texas, Kleberg County, Texas, and San Patricio County, Texas counties....
  • Dallas
    Dallas, Texas

    Dallas is the third largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population in the United States.The city, with a population of over 1.3 million, is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex which contains 6.1 million people, and is the fourth-largest United States metropolitan area...
  • El Paso
    El Paso, Texas

    El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, Texas, United States, and part of the . According to the United States Census Bureau 2006 population estimates, the city had a population of 606,913....
  • Ft. Worth
    Fort Worth, Texas

    Fort Worth is the List of United States cities by population in the United States and the fifth-largest city within the state of Texas. Situated in and a cultural gateway into the Western United States, the city covers nearly in Tarrant County, Texas and Denton County, Texas counties, serving as the county seat for Tarrant County....
  • Greensboro
    Greensboro, North Carolina

    Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city, by population, in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County, North Carolina and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region....
  • Greenville
    Greenville, South Carolina

    Greenville is a mid-sized city located in the upstate of South Carolina. It is the county seat of Greenville County, SC and the principal city in the Greenville-Mauldin, South Carolina-Easley, South Carolina Greenville-Mauldin-Easley metropolitan area ....
  • Houston
    Houston, Texas

    Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles ....
  • Huntsville
    Huntsville, Alabama

    Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Alabama and Limestone County, Alabama Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Madison County....
  • Jacksonville
    Jacksonville, Florida

    Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Duval County, Florida. Since 1968, as a result of the Consolidated city-county of the city and county government , Jacksonville has been the List of United States cities by area city in land area in the continental United States....
  • Las Vegas
    Las Vegas, Nevada

    Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, Nevada, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and entertainment....
  • Los Angeles
    Los Angeles, California

    Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
  • Memphis
    Memphis, Tennessee

    Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County, Tennessee. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River ....
  • Miami
    Miami, Florida

    Miami is a global city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, the most populous county in Florida....
  • Mobile
    Mobile, Alabama

    Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern United States United States state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama....
  • Montgomery
    Montgomery, Alabama

    Montgomery is the Capital , second most populous city, and the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the Southern United States United States state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County, Alabama....
  • New Orleans
    New Orleans, Louisiana

    New Orleans is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans metropolitan area metropolitan area, the largest metro area in the state....
  • Norfolk
    Norfolk, Virginia

    Norfolk is an independent city in the Virginia in the United States. With a population of 234,403 as of the United States Census 2000, it is Virginia's second-largest incorporated city....
  • Orlando
    Orlando, Florida

    Orlando is a major city in Central Florida, United States and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Florida. It is also the principal city of Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area....
  • Oklahoma City
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

    Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, the city ranks List of United States cities by population among United States cities in population....
  • Pensacola
    Pensacola, Florida

    Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2006, the estimated population was 53,248....
  • Phoenix
    Phoenix, Arizona

    Phoenix is the capital and largest city in the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,552,259 residents, and is the anchor of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area with 4,179,427 residents....
  • Raleigh
    Raleigh, North Carolina

    Raleigh is the Capital of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats of Wake County, North Carolina. Raleigh is known as the ?City of Oaks? for its many oaks....
  • Reno
    Reno, Nevada

    Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, Nevada, United States. A 2006 estimate indicated that the city's population had increased to 214,853, but ranked Reno as the third largest city in the state following Las Vegas, Nevada, and Henderson, Nevada....
  • San Antonio
    San Antonio, Texas

    San Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population. Located in , the city is a cultural and geographical gateway into the ....
  • San Diego
    San Diego, California

    San Diego is the second largest city in California and the List of United States cities by population, located along the Pacific Ocean on the West Coast of the United States of the Western United States....
  • Santa Fe
    Santa Fe, New Mexico

    Santa Fe is the Capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the List of cities in New Mexico and is the county seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 62,203 at the United States Census, 2000; the estimate for July 1, 2006, is 72,056....
  • Sarasota
    Sarasota, Florida

    Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County, Florida on the Southwest Florida coast of the state of Florida in the United States. Its current official limits include Sarasota Bay and several barrier islands between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico....
  • Tampa
    Tampa, Florida

    Tampa is a United States city in Hillsborough County, Florida, on the west coast of the state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County....
    -St. Petersburg
  • Tucson
    Tucson, Arizona

    Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, Arizona, United States, located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix, Arizona and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border....
  • West Palm Beach
  • Winston-Salem
    Winston-Salem, North Carolina

    Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Winston-Salem is also the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County, North Carolina and the fourth-largest city in the state....


See also

  • Economy of the United States
    Economy of the United States

    The economy of the United States is the List of countries by GDP in the world. Its gross domestic product was estimated as $14.2 trillion in 2008....
  • Silicon Valley
    Silicon Valley

    Silicon Valley is the South Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, United States. The term originally referred to the region's large number of Integrated circuit innovators and manufacturers, but eventually came to refer to all the high-tech businesses in the area; it is now generally used as a metonym for the high-tech s...
  • Rust Belt
    Rust Belt

    The Rust Belt, sometimes called the Manufacturing Belt, is an area in parts of the Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic States, and portions of the Upper Midwest....


General

B. L. Weinstein and R. E. Firestine, Regional Growth and Decline in the United States: The Rise of the Sunbelt and the Decline of the Northeast (1978)