This Map Shows How America Is Divided Into 11 Nations

Remember when that crazy Russian professor said America would break up into several different nations?

He may not have been totally far off.

In a new article in Tufts Magazine, Colin Woodard, author of "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America", argues that the U.S. has long been divided into several different cultural entities that, with only a couple of notable exceptions, have somehow been able to coexist alongside one another.

He writes:

"The original North American colonies were settled by people from distinct regions of the British Isles—and from France, the Netherlands, and Spain—each with its own religious, political, and ethnographic traits. For generations, these Euro-American cultures developed in isolation from one another, consolidating their cherished religious and political principles and fundamental values, and expanding across the eastern half of the continent in nearly exclusive settlement bands. Throughout the colonial period and the Early Republic, they saw themselves as competitors—for land, capital, and other settlers—and even as enemies, taking opposing sides in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. There’s never been an America, but rather several Americas—each a distinct nation. There are eleven nations today.

Here's how that all breaks down (thanks to Tufts magazine for permission to run the map):

More