South Central United States

The climate varies from the semi-tropical in the Mississippi Delta, South Louisiana, and Southeast Texas, to the dry Chihuahuan desert in West Texas. The southeastern portions include the Appalachian mountains in Alabama and Tennessee and the Piney Woods of East Texas, Louisiana, and southern Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta. A large portion of the northeastern quarter of the region is mountainous, with the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The northwest quarter of the region is dominated by the Great Plains which become progressively drier west of 100° W, forming the North American Llano Estacado. The southwestern portions border the Rio Grande, and are generally drier than other areas of the South Central United States.

Texas is the largest South Central state by both area and population. Texas is still home to over half the region's population. The largest city in the region, Houston, is located in Texas. New Orleans was tied with Oklahoma City in population but, after Hurricane Katrina, the population of the New Orleans metro area declined to approximately 1 million.[1] By 2017, the population of New Orleans had bounced back to almost 1.3 million.[2]

These four states come together in a region known as the Ark-La-Tex region.

Two megaregions exist within this region:

• The Texas Triangle is formed by Interstates 10, 35, and 45 connecting in the shape of a triangle to link the four metropolitan areas of Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.
• The Gulf Coast megaregion is located along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and primarily along the I-10 corridor centered upon the urban areas of Houston and New Orleans, this megaregion extends into the southeastern region.

Major cities

City	City Population	Metro Population	U.S. Rank
Texas
Houston	2,325,502	6,997,384	4
San Antonio	1,532,233	2,518,036	7
Dallas	1,345,047	7,233,323	9
Austin	964,254	2,168,316	11
Fort Worth	895,008	7,233,323	13
El Paso[lower-alpha 1]	682,669	845,553	22
Louisiana
New Orleans	391,006	1,262,888	50
Baton Rouge	221,599	830,480	99
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City	649,021	1,396,445	27
Tulsa	403,035	991,561	47
Arkansas
Little Rock	197,881	738,344	121

[3][4][5][6][7][8]

1. El Paso is often considered a part of the Southwest Region. In fact, El Paso is the only city on this list that is in Mountain Time Zone instead of the Central Time Zone. El Paso is closer to the Arizona state capital (Phoenix) than it is to the Texas state capital (Austin). El Paso is also closer to the California state line than it is to the Louisiana state line.

[9][10][11][12]

The history of the South Central states is dominated by the conflict and interaction between three cultural-linguistic groups: the Anglosphere (first Great Britain and then the United States), the Hispanidad (first Spain then Mexico), and the Francophonie (always France). In the 17th and 18th centuries Spain and France maneuvered for control of Texas, with the Spanish based in Mexico and New Mexico and the French in Louisiana. During the War of the Quadruple Alliance hostilities spread to the New World and the French troops from Natchitoches briefly captured the capital of Spanish Texas, Los Adaes in what is now western Louisiana. The French were not able to wrest control of Texas from Spain, and by the early 19th century sold their North American holdings to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, which comprised slightly less than half of what is today the South Central United States.

The official West and East South Central states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee were members of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Kentucky was often considered a "non-official" Confederate state. Oklahoma, although Indian Territory at the time, was home to 5 Native-American tribes, of which a majority allied themselves with the Confederacy. Thus, all these states are usually considered to make up a large part of the American South both historically and culturally, as well as classified by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Major Professional Teams

Team	Sport	League	Venue	Titles
Dallas Cowboys	Football	NFL	AT&T Stadium	5
Dallas Mavericks	Basketball	NBA	American Airlines Center	1
Dallas Stars	Hockey	NHL	American Airlines Center	1
FC Dallas	Soccer	MLS	Toyota Stadium	0
Houston Astros	Baseball	MLB	Minute Maid Park	1
Houston Dynamo	Soccer	MLS	BBVA Stadium	2
Houston Rockets	Basketball	NBA	Toyota Center	2
Houston Texans	Football	NFL	NRG Stadium	0
New Orleans Pelicans	Basketball	NBA	Smoothie King Center	0
New Orleans Saints	Football	NFL	Mercedes-Benz Superdome	1
Oklahoma City Thunder	Basketball	NBA	Chesapeake Energy Arena	1[lower-alpha 1]
San Antonio Spurs	Basketball	NBA	AT&T Center	5
Texas Rangers	Baseball	MLB	Globe Life Field	0

[22][23][24]

Major College Teams

School	Mascot	Conference
University of Arkansas	Razorbacks	SEC
Baylor University	Bears	Big 12
Louisiana State University	Tigers	SEC
University of Oklahoma	Sooners	Big 12
Oklahoma State University	Cowboys	Big 12
University of Texas	Longhorns	Big 12
Texas A&M University	Aggies	SEC
Texas Christian University	Horned Frogs	Big 12
Texas Tech University	Red Raiders	Big 12

[25][26][27][28]