South Carolina commonly is divided into four regions: Upstate, Midlands, Pee Dee and Lowcountry.
The Upstate, or Upcountry, is a mountainous region at the top of the state. The Blue Ridge Mountains stretch toward Georgia and West Virginia. The region is also called Piedmont, which is French for “foot of the mountain,” but it is Scottish and Irish settlers that initially settled the mountain region. The major city in this region is Greenville.
The Midlands is the middle of the state. It is home to Columbia, the state capital. The Midlands is also called the Sand Hills, the upper region of the coastal plain that goes westward toward Georgia and Virginia. The name derives from the fact that ocean levels used to rise all the way up to Columbia. The part of the Midlands that extends to the Savannah River and the border with Georgia is called the Central Savannah River Area or CSRA. At the upper edge of the Midlands is the town of Rock Hill by the North Carolina border.
The Pee Dee region makes up northeastern South Carolina and includes the cities of Myrtle Beach and Florence. The name Pee Dee came from the Native American tribe that once dominated the land. The Pee Dee Tribe has lived near the Pee Dee River for generations. Where the Pee Dee region reaches the coast is the Grand Strand, an arc of beach land on the Atlantic Ocean extending more than 60 miles from Little River to Winyah Bay.
The Lowcountry region is the lowest point of the state. This region is the South Carolina coastal plains, running from Beaufort to Hilton Head Island to Charleston. The Central Coast is from the coast inland between Hilton Head Island and Charleston.