East South Central States

The East South Central States constitute one of the nine Census Bureau Divisions of the United States.

Four states make up the division: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The division is one of the three that together make up the larger Census Bureau Region known as the South (the other two of which are the South Atlantic States and the West South Central States).

The East South Central States form the core of Old Dixie, one of the nine moral regions identified by James Patterson and Peter Kim in their acclaimed 1991 geopolitical best-seller, The Day America Told The Truth.

As of 2000, the East South Central States had a combined population of 17,022,810. This number was estimated to increase 3.48% to 17,615,260 by 2005. The West North Central region covers 178,596 square miles (462,560 km²) of land, and has an average population density of 95.31 people per square mile.

**States in the East South Central Region**
State	2005 Est.	Land Area	Density
Alabama	4,557,808 (2nd)	50,744 (1st)	87.64 (3rd)
Kentucky	4,173,405 (3rd)	39,728 (4th)	101.74 (2nd)
Mississippi	2,921,088 (4th)	46,907 (2nd)	60.64 (4th)
Tennessee	5,962,959 (1st)	41,217 (3rd)	138.03 (1st)

**Largest Cities in the East South Central Region**
	City	2000 Pop.
1	Memphis, Tennessee	650,100
2	Louisville, Kentucky	551,188
3	Nashville, Tennessee	545,524
4	Lexington, Kentucky	260,512
5	Birmingham, Alabama	242,820
6	Montgomery, Alabama	201,568
7	Mobile, Alabama	198,915
8	Jackson, Mississippi	184,256
9	Knoxville, Tennessee	173,890
10	Huntsville, Alabama	158,216
11	Chattanooga, Tennessee	155,554
12	Clarksville, Tennessee	103,455
13	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	77,906
14	Gulfport, Mississippi	71,127
15	Murfreesboro, Tennessee	68,816
16	Hoover, Alabama	62,742
17	Jackson, Tennessee	59,643
18	Dothan, Alabama	57,737
19	Johnson City, Tennessee	55,469
20	Owensboro, Kentucky	54,067
21	Decatur, Alabama	53,929
22	Biloxi, Mississippi	50,644
23	Bowling Green, Kentucky	49,296
24	Kingsport, Tennessee	44,905
25	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	44,779
26	Covington, Kentucky	43,370
27	Auburn, Alabama	42,987
28	Franklin, Tennessee	41,842
29	Greenville, Mississippi	41,633
30	Hendersonville, Tennessee	40,620