Captivating Facts About the Region

	Appalachia is a 200,000-square-mile region that follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi. The Southern Appalachian Information Node focuses on Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama, and the Carolinas. Here are some interesting facts about our region:
Appalachian Highlands

• Southern Appalachia hosts the highest mountains and largest collection of public land in eastern North America.
• Walking through old growth forests in the Southern Appalachians, one may find as many tree species as all that occur in Europe, among them white oaks 400 years old and poplars 150 feet tall.
• Southern Appalachia's public forests are a critical refuge for endangered wildlife.
• In the Southern Appalachian Forests black bears hibernate in the heart of ancient, hollow trees; the forest floor is rich with ferns, mosses, and wildflowers; and bird songs call from nests high in the forest canopy.

• Flying Squirrel

  Shenandoah Park trails lead to groves of 300-year-old hemlocks and 400-year-old white oaks. The forest provides habitat for an equally impressive display of wildlife, including black bears, northern flying squirrels, and an uncommon variety of salamanders.
• Because of the unique growing conditions in the varying altitudes of North Carolina and Tennessee, the Smokies contain the diversity of plant life that is found in the whole of the Appalachian chain as it stretches from Georgia to Maine. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park alone harbors more than 1400 varieties of flowering plants and 100 species of trees.
• The Region's economic fortunes were based in the past mostly on extraction of natural resources and manufacturing.
• The modern economy of the Region is gradually diversifying, with a heavier emphasis on services and widespread development of tourism, especially in more remote areas where there is no other viable industry.

  Green Tree Frog © 1995 LEAPS

• Coal remains an important resource, but it is not a major provider of jobs. Manufacturing is still an economic mainstay but is no longer concentrated in a few major industries.
• The name Appalachia comes from the Appalachee tribe of Northern Florida.
• The geographical region known as Appalachia is named after the mountain chain which serves as a barrier from the outside world.
• The isolation that the mountains bring has preserved many traditions; family is very important to the Appalachian people.
• The inhabitants of this area are traditionally very independent and have survived in the mountains for generations by subsistence farming. They are known for their strong work ethic and take great pride in every job they do.
• West Virginia is the only state which is entirely contained within the region of Appalachia.
• 1 in 5 Appalachian children (77,000) live in poverty ($14,630 or less per year for a family of three in 2001), and nearly 40,000 Appalachian children lack health insurance as of 1998.
• Each day, airborne pollutants from coal-fired plants and automobiles poison the mountain air, killing treesand acidifying streams.
• Urban sprawl and second home construction swallow the forests and farms on private lands.

• Treemont

  During the last 20 years, tens of thousands of acres of national forest have been logged, many of them replanted as pine plantations.
• Just 20 years ago, the Washington Monument was visible from the northern end of Shenandoah National Park 75 miles away. Today, air pollution in the region is so severe that visitors often can't see beyond the nearest hills.
• The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has both the highest visitation rates and the highest pollution in the U.S. park system.

Geographic Perspectives
U.S. Programs & Activities | International | California | Central Southwest/Gulf Coast | Great Basin
Northern Rockies | Pacific Basin | Pacific Northwest | Southern Appalachian | Southwest

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