The Midwestern United States (or Midwest) is a name for the north-central states of the United States of America. The Midwest is composed of East Minnesota, East Iowa, the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin and West Pennsylvania. Sometimes, however, people include the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri in the Midwestern United States. If this was true, then the Midwest would include the geographic centre of the 48 connected US states (which is situated in Kansas) as well as the population centre of the United States (in Missouri).The word "Midwest" has been in common use since the late 19th century. Other names for the area are no longer used. These names include the "Northwest" or "Old Northwest", "Mid-America," or "the Heartland".