<P> The Census Bureau - defined region has a total area of 181,324 sq mi (469,630 km) with 162,257 sq mi (420,240 km) of that being land mass . Although it lacks a unified cultural identity, the Northeastern region is the nation's most economically developed, densely populated, and culturally diverse region . Of the nation's four census regions, the Northeast is the second most urban, with 85 percent of its population residing in urban areas, led by the West with 90 percent . </P> <P> Geographically there has always been some debate as to where the Northeastern United States begins and ends . The vast area from northern Virginia (outside Washington DC) to northern Maine, and from western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) to the Atlantic Ocean, have all been loosely grouped into the Northeast at one time or another . Much of the debate has been what the cultural, economic, and urban aspects of the Northeast are, and where they begin or end as one reaches the borders of the region . </P> <P> Using the Census Bureaus definition of the northeast, the region includes nine states: they are Maine, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania . The region is often subdivided into New England (the six states east of New York) and the Mid-Atlantic states (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania). This definition has been essentially unchanged since 1880 and is widely used as a standard for data tabulation . However, the Census Bureau has acknowledged the obvious limitations of this definition and the potential merits of a proposal created after the 1950 census that would include changing regional boundaries to include Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. with the Mid-Atlantic states, but ultimately decided that "the new system did not win enough overall acceptance among data users to warrant adoption as an official new set of general - purpose State groupings . The previous development of many series of statistics, arranged and issued over long periods of time on the basis of the existing State groupings, favored the retention of the summary units of the current regions and divisions ." The Census Bureau confirmed in 1994 that it would continue to "review the components of the regions and divisions to ensure that they continue to represent the most useful combinations of States and State equivalents ." </P> <P> Many organizations and reference works follow the Census Bureau's definition for the region; however, other entities define the Northeastern United States in significantly different ways for various purposes . The Association of American Geographers divides the Northeast into two divisions - "New England", which consists of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and the "Middle States", which consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware . Similarly, the Geological Society of America defines the Northeast as these same states but with the addition of Maryland and the District of Columbia . The narrowest definitions include only the states of New England . Other more restrictive definitions include New England and New York as part of the Northeast United States, but exclude Pennsylvania and New Jersey . States beyond the Census Bureau definition that other entities include in the Northeast United States are: </P>

What states are in the northeast of the united states