United States, Southeast

The southeastern states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia border the Atlantic Ocean on their eastern shores. Georgia is the southernmost state in the region and borders Florida. Virginia is the northernmost and borders Maryland to its north and east.

The general geography of these states comprises three parts. Each has a coastal plain that begins at the Atlantic Ocean and which extends west to a second area—a plateau region called the Piedmont. The third region is the Appalachian Mountains, which run from Canada to Georgia.

Each of these states is traversed by rivers that flow from the mountains to their Atlantic coast. The rivers were the highways used by the pioneers after the beginning of settlements as they moved westward to eventually across the mountains. In Virginia, the rivers all flow into the Chesapeake Bay. From north to south, the rivers are the Potomac, the Rappahannock, the York, and the James. These rivers all have important tributaries upstream.

The Chesapeake Bay is a vast estuary surrounded by Virginia and Maryland. It begins with the entrance of the Susquehanna River into its northernmost reaches. The Susquehanna's watershed feeding into the Chesapeake includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and West Virginia. The length of the Chesapeake is 455 miles (304 kilometers) from the Susquehanna River's entrance south to the Atlantic Ocean. Geologists believe that the bay was formed at the end of the Eocene era when it was hit by a major bolide at the lower end of the Susquehanna about 35 million years ago. The Chesapeake is relatively shallow with brackish water. The word Chesapeake is an Algonquin word for shellfish, which abound in the bay along with oysters, crabs, and numerous species of fish. Most of the bay is surrounded by Virginia. The James, York, Rappahannock, and Potomac Rivers form peninsulas extending into the bay. The Northern Neck is the peninsula formed by the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers. The York and the Rappahannock form the Middle Peninsula. The James and the York Rivers form The Peninsula. The James is the longest river in Virginia with a length of 340 miles. The climate of the Chesapeake Bay is humid and subtropical. It has hot, humid summers and mild, rainy winters. However, severe winters do occasionally occur in which the more brackish parts of the tributary rivers freeze over solid enough for lightweight automobiles to drive across. The Virginia eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay is called the Eastern Shore. It forms a fourth peninsula with its eastern side on the Atlantic Ocean and its western side on the Bay.

Hampton Roads Harbor is located at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay and is one of the world's best natural harbors. South of it along the Virginia–North Carolina border is the Dismal Swamp. The swamp is a large wetlands area with a rich variety of wildlife such as Virginia deer, rabbits, raccoons, foxes, bobcats, bears, and numerous species of birds, snakes, frogs, and turtles. A portion of the swamp has been preserved in far southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina as the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Attempts to drain, log, and farm the Dismal Swamp were made in colonial times, but for the most part it is still in primitive condition. In its center is Lake Drummond. Its soils are so complicated by organic materials that crops from its soils have produced unusual results, such as mottled colors in cotton.

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