Which states do you think belong in the South?

If you consult the US Census, the South comprises 16 states and Washington, DC. It starts at Texas and Oklahoma in the West, pushes up against the Ohio River with Kentucky and West Virginia, and ends at the Atlantic Ocean with Delaware.

Wait — Delaware? Really? I had long considered the South everything below the Mason-Dixon line, a boundary survey that represented the line of freedom for black people escaping slavery, combined with the effects of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. So that would include states like Maryland, Missouri, and West Virginia, as well as DC — but not Delaware.

Earlier this year, I asked readers which states they thought belonged to the Midwest. Now I'm turning the same exercise to the South — another region whose boundaries might vary depending on whom you ask. So we're asking you: What's the South?

Your definition of the South might depend on history — or where you live

Some years back when I was living in Los Angeles, I met some Marylanders who told me the Free State was definitely not a Southern state. Now that I've lived in DC for a couple of years, I wouldn't call it Southern either (even if it's humid as all get out).

For some folks, the South is the 11 slave states that seceded from the United States to bring on the Civil War, but not the handful of slaveholding border states that did not: Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and West Virginia, which split from Confederate Virginia during the Civil War.

But there are other permutations of the South: anywhere kudzu grows, the density of Waffle Houses, perhaps where church attendance is higher than average.

After you submit your selection on the map above, all the states that generated more than half the highest count will be displayed back to you as a reader-generated South.  Our scale is based on how many times each state was picked, not the percentage of readers who selected the state, so the highest count sets the baseline. Be careful — you only get one chance to make your vote. Update: We've now closed the poll, but if you haven't submitted your selection, you can still see how your South compares to 41,923 readers.

220 years of US population changes in one map

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via