Piedmont (United States)

The Piedmont is a plateau region of the eastern United States situated between the Atlantic coastal plain and the Blue Ridge Mountains, running from New York in the north to central Alabama in the south. As a physiographic province it forms part of the larger Appalachian Highlands and includes both upland and lowland sections, covering roughly 80,000 square miles that narrow above the Delaware River and widen to nearly 300 miles across North Carolina. Its name comes from Romance language roots meaning at the foot of the mountains, describing its position as a transitional landscape between the coastal plains and the mountains further inland. The Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line marks its eastern edge, while the Blue Ridge Mountains generally mark its western limit.