The West South Central States form one of the nine
Census Bureau Division
This is a list of some of the ways ''regions'' is defined in the United States. Many regions are defined in law or regulations by the federal government; others by shared culture and history, and others by economic factors.
Interstate regions C ...
s of the
United States that are officially designated by the
United States Census Bureau.
Four states compose the division:
Arkansas,
Louisiana,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, and
Texas. Texas is larger in area and population than the three others combined. The division is one of the three that together make up the broader
Census Bureau Region known as
the South (the other two being the
South Atlantic states and the
East South Central states).
Archived copy
at the Library of Congress (January 7, 2013).
The unofficial term South Central States refers to approximately the same area.
Demographics
As of 2019, the West South Central States had a combined population of 40,619,450. The West South Central region covers 443,501 square miles.
Politics in the West South Central States
*Bold denotes election winner.
Sports
Within the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, the first team in the region were founded in 1960: the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League and the Houston Oilers of the American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
. The Oilers relocated after 1996, whereas two more teams in the region joined the NFL: the Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
(2002) and New Orleans Saints (1967).
Two Major League Baseball teams are based in the region: Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
(1962) and Texas Rangers (1972). The region has five NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
teams: San Antonio Spurs (1967), Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
(1971), Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...
(1980), New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...
(2002) and Oklahoma City Thunder (2008). National Hockey League features the Dallas Stars since 1993.
Texas also has three Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
teams: FC Dallas (1996), Houston Dynamo
Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...
(2006), and Austin FC (2021), whereas the Dallas Tornado
The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons.
...
played in the North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
from 1968 to 1981.
Collegiate athletics have deep significance in the region's culture, especially football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
. The Southwest Conference was based in the region from 1914 to 1996. Currently the Big 12 Conference has four teams from Texas and two from Oklahoma, whereas the Southeastern Conference has one team from Texas, one from Arkansas and one from Louisiana.
According to a survey of Division I-A coaches, the Red River Shootout
The Oklahoma–Texas football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between border rivals Oklahoma and Texas. The two teams first played each other in 1900, and the rivalry has been renewed annually and uninterrupted since 1929 for a tota ...
, the rivalry between the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns, ranks the third best in the nation.
References
{{Coord, 33, -94, format=dms, display=title, type:adm1st_region:US_scale:8000000
.
Census regions of the United States
Geography of the South Central United States
Regions of the Southern United States
Regions of the United States