# Which came first, the Mid-East or the Mid-West **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2000, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840 "2000-11-05T21:06:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/1 "2000-11-05T21:06:15Z")
I was wondering today about the Mid-West region of the United States. Certainly there are a lot of States that would fall under the classification of Mid-East if the nomenclature existed, however they are lumped into the East Coast category. Is this because Middle East has negative connotations, or was already used in a geographical sense? Who named first, the Okies or the Arabs? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/2 "2000-11-06T01:55:35Z")
The names come from the point of view of the people who first employed them. The Middle West was so called by people on the east coast of the U.S. to distinguish it from the far west (California and Oregon, for example). The Middle East was named by people in Europe to distinguish it from the Far East (Japan and China, for example). ---
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/3 "2000-11-06T02:08:59Z")
With that point of view in mind, wouldn’t the people in California and Oregon require a way to distinguish Ohio and Indiana from the East coast? Mid-East would be a suffient definition but it is not used. Why? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/4 "2000-11-06T02:30:53Z")
Indiana and, I believe, Ohio were part of “the Northwest Territories” that were laid out in grid form. After the land west of there was explored, you could not refer to that territory as Northwest , which included states of Minn. Wisc, Mich, Ind, Ill, and, I believe, Ky and Ohio. May have included Iowa as well. I think that is why those states are called now the Midwest, but it is only my guess. States east thereof are eastern states, nothing mideast about them. The midwest states could be called mideast, esp. Ind & Ohio, but they’re not. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/5 "2000-11-06T02:58:43Z")
> [@](#): > > With that point of view in mind, wouldn’t the people in California and Oregon require a way to distinguish Ohio and Indiana from the East coast? Mid-East would be a suffient definition but it is not used. Why? Because when the name got attached to the region, there were far fewer people on the west coast (meaning they had less opportunity to impose a term on the language). The population of the U.S. has traditionally “looked westward” for its geographic orientation. This could very easily change in the future with the increased populations of California and Texas, but the language, to date, has not yet begun to reflect that very much. (There has actually been a slight shift in the meaning of “midwest” in the last 15 years, but I’m not sure which region of the country is driving that change. The midwest used to be the stats of the Northwest Ordinance (basically, the Great Lake states), with Iowa, and sometimes Kansas tacked on. Recently, people have been using the term to describe Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and, sometimes, the Dakotas.) ---
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/6 "2000-11-06T03:27:27Z")
And in viewing the country from the West I am also biased. In Seattle, the United States stretches far to the East of me. My perspective is certainly different than the founders of our country, to me,“Head West Young Man”, means certain death by drowning. You make a strong point Tom but my years of working in the Interstate trucking industry have left me wishing for a regional moniker with which to define these oddball states. It’s time to unite as a country and consider new territories, forget old boundaries, and move on into the new Century! Possible suggestions: The Mississippi States Partially West or Almost East (depending on your location) The IBBen Memorial States Kinfolk Territories Any other ideas? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/7 "2000-11-06T03:30:23Z")
I always figured everything east of you was called “back in civilization.” ---
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/8 "2000-11-06T03:42:26Z")
Occasionally we crawl from our igloos and tee-pees and set out barefoot toward lands mystical to us. Places so advanced and fast paced, we become confused and disoriented. We head for such hubs of humanity as: Detroit, Cleveland, and Indianapolis. We head for the Kinfolk Territories! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/9 "2000-11-06T04:20:19Z")
Well, when I was growing up in Cleveland, we called it the Midwest, but I have to admit, that the “Kinfolk Territories” does have a certain ring to it… ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/10 "2000-11-06T04:57:42Z")
Interesting choices for Kinfolk Territories since I have either family or heritage in all three of those locations. (My sister the Seattlian (Seattlite?) claims that there are a _huge_ number of Michigan State University alumni in Seattle.) ---
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/11 "2000-11-06T05:05:43Z")
Amazing, usually the slugs scare away those from the East. ---
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/12 "2000-11-06T08:07:10Z")
Chillun’ raised and schooled in Chicago learn that the Northwest Territory covered the area north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi. West of there y’got cher Great Plains. The “Mid-East” states are sometimes refered to as “Mid-Atlantic,” probably to avoid confusion with the Arabian Peninsula, another arid, lifeless place with an over-inflated sense of self-importance. :::ducking and running 😉 ::: ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/13 "2000-11-06T08:15:24Z")
If I remember correctly, what is commonly known as the Middle East today, was originally called the Near East. The British gave the names, and I’m not sure when the switch took place. ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/14 "2000-11-06T08:31:53Z")
Look at these links: [http://www.online.masu.nodak.edu/divisions/hssdiv/meartz/notes/mideast1.htm](http://www.online.masu.nodak.edu/divisions/hssdiv/meartz/notes/mideast1.htm) [http://www.wnyc.org/new/togo/shorts/chapters/lewisBernard.htm](http://www.wnyc.org/new/togo/shorts/chapters/lewisBernard.htm) [http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/5/0,5716,53855+1+52543,00.html](http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/5/0,5716,53855+1+52543,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-mid-east-or-the-mid-west/39840/15 "2000-11-07T01:19:03Z")
I vote for Mid-Atlantic, good call Beruang. Thanks for all the answers, you guys have solved a mystery for me 🙂