<P> The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the American Midwest, Middle West, or simply the Midwest, is one of four geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau . It occupies the northern central part of the United States of America . It was officially named the North Central region by the Census Bureau until 1984 . It is located between the Northeastern U.S. and the Western U.S., with Canada to its north and the Southern U.S. to its south . </P> <P> The Census Bureau's definition consists of 12 states in the north central United States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin . The region generally lies on the broad Interior Plain between the states occupying the Appalachian Mountain range and the states occupying the Rocky Mountain range . Major rivers in the region include, from east to west, the Ohio River, the Upper Mississippi River, and the Missouri River . A 2012 report from the United States Census put the population of the Midwest at 65,377,684 . The Midwest is divided by the Census Bureau into two divisions . The East North Central Division includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, all of which are also part of the Great Lakes region . The West North Central Division includes Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota, several of which are located at least partly, within the Great Plains region . </P>

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