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Top 10 States By Water Area (in square miles)
1. Alaska -- 91,316.00
2. Michigan -- 39,912.28
3. Florida -- 11,827.77
4. Wisconsin -- 11,187.72
5. Louisiana -- 8,277.85
6. California -- 7,736.23
7. New York -- 7,342.22
8. Minnesota -- 7,328.79
9. Texas -- 6,783.70
10. North -- Carolina 5,107.63
red = Great Lakes
blue = Gulf Coast
Ahem. Did you forget that number 7 is also on the Great Lakes?
Not exactly, I wasn't sure how to classify NYS because it's both a Great Lakes state and an East Coast state. I had a similar problem with FL because only 1/2 of their coastline is on the Gulf, while the other 1/2 is on the Atlantic. My main point was to illustrate how much water is actually in states like WI, MI, and MN because people often don't give us the credit we deserve. They think the Midwest is all flat treeless plains and endless farmland. They don't realize that the Great Plains states and Great Lakes states are geographically and culturally very different from one another. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think the Great Lakes states have more in common with the Northeast than with the Plains states. That's my $0.02.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,035,535 times
Reputation: 4047
I don't see why this is a matter of discussion.
No offense OP, but this thread is kind of pointless.
I've always considered the Gulf Coast exactly that, The Gulf Coast, not the third coast or fourth coast or anything else.
East Coast
West Coast
Gulf Coast
You can decide if you want to name the Great Lakes region "Third Coast" or not. I like calling my region Gulf Coast, and by importance, it's not going to be 3rd in the future. Trade with Latin America is changing that. The two largest ports by tonnage are on the Gulf Coast...
Some Chicagoans, the kinds who rarely leave their neighborhoods, refer to Lake Michigan as "The Ocean." And some from Western states even think Chicago is "on the East Coast." This is erroneous, of course, but that shows how the Great Lakes have the reputation as a third coast.
Did you really meet Chicagoans who call Lake Michigan "The Ocean"?!?!?
I've lived here 9 years, and been coming to Chicago for 15 years. I've never ONCE heard anyone even remotely refer to "The Lake" as "The Ocean". I would think they'd be laughed at immediately and told to completely get over themselves.
I just can't imagine anyone actually saying that, haha. "The Lake" is as ingrained here as "The Loop", "The EL", "The City", "The North Side", "The South Side", etc.
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