Hi,

I need a list of 'areas' and abbreviations of US states and regions. 
What do I mean by this?  Well, perhaps the best way to describe it is
by illustration...

"West Coast" "Southern California" "Bay Area" "New England"
"Southwest" "Tenn." "Wash."

...these are ways that people might describe an area of the US, or of
a state, but they are NOT simply the names of any state (or their
two-letter post office abbreviations).  I'm looking for terms and
abbreviations that people actually USE, not a collection of made-up
terms (i.e., "South-eastern New Hampshire").

I'm looking for someone to collect a bunch of these (where 'bunch' is
125+,
given that at least 50 will probably simply be state abbreviations). 
Thanks!  Please feel free to ask if you need any clarification.

Hello.

I've compiled a list of 207 USA regions. The list is drawn from
numerous source. All regions listed are genuine "areas." The list is
by no means comprehensive as there are thousands of regions (large and
small) in the USA.

Adirondacks
Appalachia
Arkansas River Valley
The Badlands
Bay Area
Bayou
The Berkshires
Bible Belt
The Bighorn Basin
Black Belt (Alabama)
Black Hills
Blackhawk Valley
Bluegrass Country
Blue Ridge
Borscht Belt
Brandywine Valley
Cajun Country
Canyonlands
Cape Cod
The Carolinas
Cascades
The Catskills
Central California
Central Carolina
Central Florida
Central Maine
Central Ohio
Central Oregon
Central Piedmont
Central Texas
Central Virginia
Central Wyoming
Chesapeake Bay
Coastal Maine 
Coastal Plain
Colorado Plateau
Columbia Plateau
Connecticut River Valley
Connecticut Valley
Corn Belt
Crowley's Ridge
Cumberland Plateau
The Dakotas
Death Valley
Deep South
Delaware Valley
The Delta
Dixie
Downeast Maine
East Arkansas
East Coast
Eastern Arizona
Eastern Oklahoma
Eastern Oregon
Eastern Maine
Eastern Seaboard
Eastern Wyoming
Emerald Coast
The Everglades
Flathead Valley
Florida Keys
Florida Panhandle
Four Corners
Fox Valley
Genesee Valley
Gold Country
The Great Basin 
Great Lakes
The Green Mountains
Great Plains
Gulf Coast
High Sierra
Housatonic Valley
Hudson Valley
Irvine Valley
Kalamazoo Valley
Klamath Falls Area
Kennebec Valley
Lower Colorado River Valley
Lower Michigan
Mason-Dixon Line
Maumee Valley
Merrimack Valley
Michigan Thumb
Mid Michigan
Midaltantic
Middle West
Mid-Plains
Mid-State (Wisconsin)
Midwest
Mississippi Delta
Mississippi Valley
Missouri Plateau
Missouri Valley
Mohawk Valley
The Mojave
Mountain States
Napa Valley
Naugatuck Valley
New England
North Arkansas
North Central Michigan
North Central Montana
North Central Texas
North Central Wyoming
North Florida
North Georgia
North Idaho
North Iowa
Northeast Alabama
Northeast Nebraska
Northeast Texas
Northern California
Northern Iowa
Northern Maine
Northern Neck (Virginia)
Northern New Mexico
Northern Ohio Valley
Northern Oklahoma
Northern Rockies
Northern Vermont
Northern Virginia
Northwest Mississippi
Northwestern Michigan
Ohio River Valley
Ohio Valley
Oklahoma Panhandle
Olympic Peninsula
The Outer Banks
The Ozarks
Ozark Plateau
Pacific Northwest
Penn Valley
Pennsylvania Dutch Country
Piedmont Plateau
The Prairie
Pueblo Country
Puget Sound
Red River Valley
Rocky Mountain States
Rust Belt
Sacramento Valley
San Gabriel Valley
Sand Hills
The Shenandoahs
Sierra Nevada
Silicon Valley
The Smokies
Smoky Mountains
The South
South Florida
South Georgia
Southeast Arkansas
Southeast Kentucky
Southeastern Colorado
Southeastern New Mexico
Southern California
Southern Maine
Southern New Mexico
Southern Utah
Southern Vermont
The Southwest
Southwest Georgia
Southwest Mississippi
Southwest Tennessee
Southwest Virginia
Southwest Wisconsin
Southwestern Illinois
Southwestern Michigan
Southwestern New Mexico
The Sun Belt
Superior Upland
Suwannee Valley
Tampa Bay Area
Tennessee Valley
Texas Gulf Coast
Texas Panhandle
Tri-Peaks Region
Tri-State Area
Upper Arkansas
Upper Colorado
Upper Michigan
Upper Peninsula
Upstate New York
Utah Valley
Virginia Highlands
Virginia Lowlands
Waterville Valley
The West
West Central Georgia
West Coast
West Texas
Western Illinois
Western Iowa
Western Kentucky
Western Maryland
Western Nebraska
Western Nevada
Western Oklahoma
Western Pennsylvania
Western Piedmont
Western Washington
Western Wisconsin
Western Wyoming
Willamette Valley
The White Mountains
Wine Country

Additionally, here are some state abbreviations that differ from the
two-letter postal abbreviation (note that I didn't include things like
NY because it's the same as the postal code):

Ariz.
Cal.
Calif.
Colo.
Conn.
Del.
Fla.
Ill.
Ind.
Kan.
Mich.
Minn.
Miss.
Neb.
Nev.
Okla.
Penn.
Tenn.
Tex.
Wash.
W. Va.
Wisc.
Wyo.
 
search terms: region, valley, belt, country, northern, southern,
north, south, east, west, western

Some ideas came from Frommer's USA regions:
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/usa/
Some ideas came from Colleges & Universities lists, such as this one
cached by Google:
http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:1-a0yIUXaLkC:www.aadenet.org/Adv%2520Credential/educational_institution_codes.htm&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

I hope this helps.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 21 Jan 2003 03:39 PST

I notice that I omitted a few state abbreviations from that list. The
following are also used:

Ark.
Mass.
Mont.
New Mex.
Oreg.
Ver.
Virg.

Sorry about that. By the way... Go Bears!

Go Bears!  Good stuff, thanks!!