Southeastern United States

The US Southeast is the eastern portion of the Southern United States, but the Census Bureau does not provide a standard definition of a "Southeast" region of the United States, and organizations that need to subdivide the US are free to define a "Southeast" region to fit their needs. [http://images.google.com/images?q=southeastern+united+states&btnG=Search+Images&hl=en&sa=2] However, Georgia is almost always included, Texas is almost never included, and inclusion of other states varies.

Atlanta is the central metropolis of the Southeast [http://www.metroatlantachamber.com/macoc/business/img/alookatatlanta.pdf] [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0033-0124.1989.00162.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=prog] , and the Southeast roughly corresponds to an area with Atlanta centrally located, with Hartsfield as the region's airline hub. Much of Virginia is associated with the Washington, Richmond or Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News metropolitan areas. A portion of the latter extends into North Carolina.

The region boasts a number of prominent universities, with several large research universities of longstanding significance (such as James Madison University, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, Georgetown University,UNC Chapel Hill, Florida International University, University of South Florida, Florida State University, University of Florida, Furman University, University of Georgia, Emory University, Vanderbilt University, University of Tennessee, Duke University, Wake Forest University, Medical College of Georgia, Auburn University, University of Alabama, University of Mississippi, Louisiana State University, Tulane, University of Alabama Birmingham, University of Miami, Medical University of South Carolina, North Carolina State University, Clemson University, University of South Carolina and Georgia Institute of Technology) exerting an influence beyond the region.Dubious|Prominent universities|date=September 2008

Research Triangle Park, in the Raleigh-Durham urban area of North Carolina has emerged (over a nearly 50-year existence) as a major hub of technology, governmental and biotechnological research and development, as has the [http://www.vabiotech.com Virginia BioTechnology Research Park] in Richmond. The Cummings Research Park in the Huntsville, Alabama area is the second largest research complex in the nation. It is one of the biggest areas of aerospace engineering and missile defense technology.Fact|date=September 2008 The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida is the largest laboratory in the world devoted to the study of magnetism.Fact|date=September 2008 The University of South Carolina is currently constructing a research campus in downtown Columbia, and the University is the nation’s only National Science Foundation-funded Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Fuel Cells. [http://innovista.sc.edu/research/future_fuels.aspx]

Examples of definitions of the Southeast

References

* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=N_DPRvH2QMk Britannica Southeast U.S. video on Youtube]