The belt regions of the United States are portions of the country that share certain characteristics. The "belt" terminology was first applied to growing regions for various crops, which often follow lines of latitude because those are more likely to have similar climates. The allusion was to a long clothing belt, as seen on a map.
The usage has expanded to other climatic, economic, and cultural concentrations. These regions are not formally defined; they frequently overlap and have vague borders. The terminology is also used outside the U.S. (e.g., India's Hindi Belt).
Name | Description | State | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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AL | AK | AZ | AR | CA | CO | CT | DE | FL | GA | HI | ID | IL | IN | IA | KS | KY | LA | ME | MD | MA | MI | MN | MS | MO | MT | NE | NV | NH | NJ | NM | NY | NC | ND | OH | OK | OR | PA | RI | SC | SD | TN | TX | UT | VT | VA | WA | WV | WI | WY | ||
Corn Belt[2] | midwestern states where corn is the primary crop | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cotton Belt[3] | southern states where cotton is or was a primary crop | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frost Belt/ Snow Belt[4] | a region of cold weather in the north-central United States | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rice Belt[5][2] | southern states where rice is a major crop. | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rust Belt[2] | northeastern and central northern states where heavy industrialization—and some economic stagnation—is common. | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
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