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Regional definitions vary from source to source. The states shown in dark red are usually included, while all or portions of the striped states may or may not be considered part of the Upper Midwest.

The Upper Midwest is a region of the United States with no universally agreed-upon boundary, but it almost always lies within the US Census Bureau's definition of the Midwest and includes the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as at least the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The Upper Midwest often includes the rest of Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and sometimes extends further southwest to include Missouri, east to Ohio, and sometimes west to North and South Dakota, and the parts of Montana east of the Rockies.

Many call it the part of the Midwest that is not included in the Rust Belt, and north of Chicagoland. Another possible definition is the Great Lakes states that are not in the region of the original 13 colonies.

According the to 2000 US Census, the core states of Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana total 39,460,846 people and 282,175 square miles of land. Including the other states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, and Ohio the region contains 60,943,336 people and 582,739 square miles of land. In round numbers, the core states have the same area as France, and the expanded region has the population of France.

The Association for Institutional Research in the Upper Midwest defines the region as including the states of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

According to the Library of Congress, the area is a region of the United States that comprised the old Northwest Territory which includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

The National Weather Service defines the Upper Midwest as the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

The United States Geological Survey has at least two definitions of the Upper Midwest:

• The USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center considers it to be the six states, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin which comprise the watersheds of the upper Mississippi River and upper Great Lakes.
• The USGS Mineral Resources Program considers the area to be Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

• The History of the Upper Midwest: An Overview
• USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
• U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Upper Midwest Mineral Resources Program
• AIRUM web site
• Video documentaries on the Upper Midwest