Abstract
The term Appalachian describes people born in the Appalachian mountain range and their descendants who live in or near Appalachia. Appalachia comprises 25 million people in 420 counties in 13 states—Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. Thus, one can see the tremendous diversity that exists is such a large region. Most of the region is rugged, mountainous terrain that is partially responsible for its residents’ values and traditions. Substandard secondary and tertiary roads as well as limited public bus, rail, and airport facilities prevent easy access to much of the area. Although the region includes several large cities, most Appalachians live in small, isolated settlements that preserve their unique identity. German, Scots-Irish, Welsh, French, and English are the primary groups who settled the region between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries.
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Purnell, L.D., Fenkl, E.A. (2019). People of Appalachian Heritage. In: Handbook for Culturally Competent Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21946-8_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21946-8_7
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