THE APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSION AND POVERTY IN APPALACHIA By Brent M. Pergram, Master of Arts in Sociology Appalachia, as defined in the legislation from which the Appalachian Region Commission derives its authority, is a 200,000 square mile region that follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from south New York to northern Mississippi. Appalachia includes all of West Virginia and parts of twelve other states, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Almost 22 million people live in the 406 co