# Artificial regions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 24, 2020, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164 "2020-03-24T10:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/1 "2020-03-24T10:15:40Z")
I spent much of my early years in the Spokane area. The local TV stations and the newspapers would often refer to a region centered on that city as the Inland Empire. (Yes, I know there’s another Inland Empire in California. No reason the name can’t be dupicated; it’s not like either region had a trademark on the name.) As far as I can tell, the region was most likely a creation of the Spokane CofC, and basically was a marketing tool. The local media promulgated the region because they greatly benefitted from it. Some time ago, I compiled a [list of similar regions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_geographic_portmanteaus#Generalized_border_regions), but these had the property that their names were portmanteaus of two or three state names. They almost all were centered on a city near a state border and the regions usually extended into the neighboring state(s). Other than the two Inland Empires, I don’t know of any that don’t have a portmanteau name. So any other such regions around? Any in other countries, or is this a purely US phenomenon? ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/2 "2020-03-24T11:42:00Z")
[The Thumb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thumb) ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/3 "2020-03-24T12:03:07Z")
[The Golden Triangle](https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/lifestyle/2010/06/25/get-to-know-the-golden-triangle-beaumont-and-beyond/) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/4 "2020-03-24T12:51:27Z")
Our area here is the [Capital District](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_District,_New_York) – Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer (Troy), and Saratoga counties. New York State itself is divided into ten regions: Western NY, Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, Central NY, North Country, Mohawk Valley, Capital District, Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island. These are primarily economic districts, but most are in everyday use. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/5 "2020-03-24T12:54:12Z")
The Chesapeake Bay and the Susquehanna River entirely cut off the eastern part of Maryland from the rest, and “[The Eastern Shore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Shore_of_Maryland)” tends to have very little in common with the rest of the state culturally, politically, and economically. Maryland as a whole might be deep, deep blue, but it’s bright neon red on the Eastern Shore. It’s essentially Kansas over there, but with a beach! ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/6 "2020-03-24T12:54:54Z")
Do you mean like the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/7 "2020-03-24T12:57:44Z")
In terms of duplication, I think “the tri-state region” is tops. And news websites for these places don’t seem to understand this. So I follow a link to a story and the only clue as to location is “the tri-state region”. Have to click on a banner (and oftentimes that one click isn’t enough) to figure out where this is. Whatever happened to datelines at the start of a story with a full place name and date? One of my “favorite” CoC-style region names is the Treasure Valley for a stretch of the Snake River Valley around the Oregon-Idaho border and into Idaho apparently as far as Boise although that is too far in my experience. The name “Snake” is, of course, a major mistake from a PR point of view. And the name is also base on the usual series of goofs of explorers misunderstanding the locals. Hey, if over 1000 years ago Erik the Red had the brains to name Greenland for PR purposes, why didn’t these people of 100-200 years ago also get the point? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/8 "2020-03-24T14:01:02Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > In terms of duplication, I think “the tri-state region” is tops… I had my own design firm for a while and called it _ **Tri-County Industries, Incorporated** _ with, of course, no clue as to which three counties. ---
**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/9 "2020-03-24T14:34:50Z")
The Philadelphia metropolitan area is often referred to locally at **The Delaware Valley**. Besides the city, I would say this includes: PA counties Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester; NJ counties Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem; and New Castle County (including the city of Wilmington) in Delaware. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/10 "2020-03-24T14:51:10Z")
The northeastern three counties of Vermont were dubbed “The Northeast Kingdom” by the late Governor George Aiken, and the name has stuck. The area is extremely rural even by Vermont standards. People often talk about going hunting, fishing, hiking, or whatever, “in the Kingdom” this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/11 "2020-03-24T15:02:00Z")
I’m in Western PA. Pretty much everyone in Western PA knows they’re in Western PA. I’m sure someone somewhere may have tried to delineate it on a map sometime, but in reality, there is no clear definition of the area. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/12 "2020-03-24T20:42:21Z")
Here’s an one for your old PNWers. “20 Miracle Miles”. A [stretch](https://lostoregon.org/2009/03/26/oregon-coast-20-miracle-miles/) of the Oregon coast that includes what is now Lincoln City. (It used to be a bunch of little burgs until they merged into one.) Then governor Mark Hatfield came up with an apt revision: “20 Miserable Miles”. This in no way hurt his political career as he went on to serve a long time in the Senate. Yeah, we knew. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/13 "2020-03-24T20:48:02Z")
Was Hatfield the guy who came up with the slogan, “Welcome to Oregon. Now go home!” ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/14 "2020-03-24T20:49:52Z")
How about The Bermuda Triangle? > **[Bermuda Triangle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_Triangle)** > > Reportedly haunted locations: > The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an urban legend focused on a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The idea of the area as uniquely prone to disappearances arose in the mid-20th century, but most reputable sources dismiss the idea that there is any mystery. > The earliest suggestion of unusual disappearances... ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/15 "2020-03-24T21:05:05Z")
[The Salish Sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salish_Sea) An international region. Is it “artificial” though? As it’s based more on biological and climatic zones, I would argue it’s more “natural” a region that state or provincial boundries ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/16 "2020-03-24T21:06:05Z")
Upstate New York. Many places along the Great Lakes say that they are on the North Coast. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/17 "2020-03-24T21:29:16Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The name “Snake” is, of course, a major mistake from a PR point of view. And the name is also base on the usual series of goofs of explorers misunderstanding the locals. > > Hey, if over 1000 years ago Erik the Red had the brains to name Greenland for PR purposes, why didn’t these people of 100-200 years ago also get the point? Because Erik was a real estate promoter with an eye to future, and the other guys were explorers making maps with no economic interest in the areas they were documenting. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/18 "2020-03-24T22:02:24Z")
“Golden Horseshoe” is a term applied to the stretch of cities around Toronto and abutting Lake Ontario, more or less. Now they talk about a “Greater Golden Horseshoe” which is anything in the first definition and whioch borders on that, stretching the definition beyond any meaning and expanding it to an area bigger than Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/19 "2020-03-24T22:39:54Z")
Perhaps the outlying regions could be the “gold plated horseshoe” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164/20 "2020-03-25T01:49:46Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > In terms of duplication, I think “the tri-state region” is tops. - I’m going to conquer the entire tri-state area!\* [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artificial-regions/850164.md?page=2)