4 states · Census division · 40,774,139 people · 444,052 sq mi
West South Central states map
The West South Central division is Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Texas dominates it, with 71% of the population and 60% of the area.
How the region is defined
The West South Central is the division of the Census South region west of the Mississippi River: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. All four were part of the Louisiana Purchase or the Republic of Texas, and Oklahoma was Indian Territory until statehood in 1907. Its neighbours are Missouri, Kansas and Colorado on the north, New Mexico on the west and Mexico across the Rio Grande.
The four states had 40,774,139 people in 2020 on 444,052 square miles. Texas (29,145,505, 268,596 sq mi) is the second-largest state by both measures and has 254 counties, more than any other. The division contains four of the ten largest US cities — Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin — all in Texas.
States, capitals and largest cities
| State | Capital | Largest city | Population (2020) | Area (sq mi) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas (AR) | Little Rock | Little Rock | 3,011,524 | 53,179 |
| Louisiana (LA) | Baton Rouge | New Orleans | 4,657,757 | 52,378 |
| Oklahoma (OK) | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma City | 3,959,353 | 69,899 |
| Texas (TX) | Austin | Houston | 29,145,505 | 268,596 |
| Total (4 states) | 40,774,139 | 444,052 |
Geography
The division stretches from the swamps of the Mississippi delta to the desert mountains of West Texas, a range of about 1,000 miles. The eastern third — Louisiana, southern Arkansas, East Texas — is Gulf Coastal Plain: pine forest, bayous and the delta of the Mississippi, which forms the eastern border of Arkansas and Louisiana and reaches the Gulf 100 miles below New Orleans. Louisiana's coast is the country's largest wetland and is losing land to the sea.
The Ozark and Ouachita mountains cover northern and western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma — the only highlands between the Appalachians and the Rockies, though nowhere above 2,800 ft. The Arkansas River runs between them, from Kansas through Tulsa and Little Rock to the Mississippi. The Red River forms the Texas–Oklahoma border for about 500 miles.
West of the 98th meridian rainfall drops and the land becomes the Great Plains: the Oklahoma Panhandle, the Texas Panhandle and the Llano Estacado around Lubbock. Beyond the Pecos River is the Trans-Pecos, part of the Chihuahuan Desert, where Guadalupe Peak (8,751 ft) is the highest point in Texas and in the whole South. The Rio Grande forms the 1,250-mile border with Mexico from El Paso to Brownsville. Texas has about 370 miles of Gulf coast along barrier islands such as Padre Island. All four states are on Central time except El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas, which are Mountain.
Related maps
- Parent region: South; sibling divisions South Atlantic and East South Central.
- Overlapping informal regions: Southwest, Gulf Coast, Great Plains.
- Quiz: Southern states quiz.
- Cities: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, New Orleans, Oklahoma City; capitals Little Rock, Baton Rouge.
- Geography: Rio Grande, Arkansas River, Gulf of Mexico.