Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland, the American Midwest, Middle America, or, datedly, the Middle West) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It was officially named the North Central Region by the U.S. Census Bureau until 1984. It is between the Northeastern United States and the Western United States, with Canada to the north and the Southern United States to the south.

The United States Census Bureau's definition consists of 12 states in the north central United States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The 2020 United States census put the population of the Midwest at 68,995,685. The region generally lies on the broad Interior Plain between the states occupying the Appalachian Mountain range and the states occupying the Rocky Mountain range. Major rivers in the region include, from east to west, the Ohio River, the upper Mississippi River, and the Missouri River. The Midwest is further divided by the U.S. Census Bureau into the East North Central states and the West North Central states.

Chicago is the most populous city in the American Midwest and the third-most populous in the United States. Other large Midwestern cities include Columbus, Indianapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Paul, and St. Louis. The Chicago metropolitan area has an estimated 9.4 million residents and is the region's largest metropolitan area, as well as the fourth-largest metropolitan area in North America. Other prominent metropolitan areas in the Midwest include Metro Detroit, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Greater St. Louis, the Cincinnati metro area, the Kansas City metro area, the Columbus metro area, the Indianapolis metro area, Greater Cleveland, and the Milwaukee metropolitan area.

The region's economy is a mix of heavy industry and agriculture, with extensive areas forming part of the United States' Corn Belt. Finance and services such as medicine and education are becoming increasingly important. Its central location makes it a transportation crossroads for river boats, railroads, autos, trucks, and airplanes. Politically, the region includes multiple swing states, and therefore is heavily contested and often decisive in elections.