"The Midwest"

We should rename it the "middle east"

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This is because names are with relation to the center of power.

So to europeans, the middle east is well, middle east, from europe.

While to east coast americans, the midwest is well, the middle west, compared to the original colonies.

This is what happens when you use naming systems from the powerful instead of just using local names.
- So to europeans, the middle east is well, middle east, from europe.
  
  Europe splits it into "near east" (Turkey, UAE, Iran), "middle east" (Afghanistan, India) and "far east" (China).
- Sort of? The fact is when the midwest got its name there was land to the west America had not claimed/seized/stolen.
i was about to say that this its like calling West Asia the "Middle East".

or one of the easternmost indian states being called "West Bengal".
- For the latter it is because the East Bengal is the independent country of Bangladesh
No.

I’m assuming it was named that way because “the west” was basically anything past Oklahoma from the perspective of the east coast, where most of the population existed.

Everything past the Ohio Valley was considered the west.
I had thought it was because we are on the "western" continent, and this is the middle (ish) of thst.
yeah population wise the middle of America would be way more towards the east, making this indeed the mid west

Did Canada take back the top bit at some point?
- Ceded by treaty: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_1818

Put the center of the compass in NY and it all works.

This. Our country was originally established on the east coast. Anything off the coastline was considered "west." But knowing just how massive our country is now, we have the true west (left half of the country) and then the mid-west (anything not on the east coast, but not on the left half of the country).

Our basis for cardinal locations is centered around the concept of our nation slowly expanding "out west" from the east coast.
- You can also kinda see it in how we refer to regions directionally. Back east, down south, up north, out west while they're kind of relics these terms subtly show how folks view the US.

It was the west before the entire Continent was explored. For you youngsters there was a time when they didn't know where the other side of the landmass was.

And by "they", we mean invaders from Europe, specifically.
- I highly doubt that Native Americans from the east coast knew where the west coast was, either.

My favorite throwaway joke in Anchorman is Brick saying something like "and then the weather pattern will move over the Middle East" while gesturing to the Midwest and, oooh, chef's kiss

You think this is BS?

West Virginia isn't even the furthest west Virginia... And there are only 2 of them.

Yeah as a Kansan I always just assumed I was Midwest since… well… I’m as mid as it gets…

I recognize that I’m Central and not west though , feels like Midwest should really be Colorado/Nevada etc. Certainly doesn’t make any sense for those northeastern states to be called Midwest though.

Colorado and Nevada fall under the west category, same as Kansas. Anything west of Ohio River Valley is the west and the states shown above are midway to the west. The states you call northeastern are still west of the east coast and therefore part of the west.

I wonder how it would look in one of those maps that are stretched by population. Since the population density is so low between the Mississippi and the west coast, it might actually be mid...west

Minus Iowa and Missouri, "Great Lakes Region".

Remember how the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds were in the Western Division of the National League? I remember it sticking out like a sore thumb. Same division teams, ATL vs LA or SD or SF on opposite ends of four, count 'em, four timezones.

EDIT: Then the Chicago Cubs were on the Eastern Division of the National League, while the White Sox were on the Western Division of the American.

It was really strange. Thankfully things were slightly better by the 90s when the central division was added, but that still had weird groupings like Houston/Pittsburgh (or Miami/Montreal).

I'm not from the US and this thread is the first time I've understood why the phrase "the Midwest" never seemed to match up with where I thought "the Midwest" should be.

Once upon a time the USA promised various tribes we would not start settling their lands to the west so the "midwestern USA" did match that space until we violated treaties and later seized CA.

Basically we had more land that wasn't ours to the west when the midwest got it's name.