The Manufacturing Belt, more commonly known as the Rust Belt, is an area in parts of the Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic States, and portions of the Upper Midwest. The region can be broadly defined as the region beginning west of the BosWash corridor and running west to eastern Wisconsin. The region extends southward to the beginnings of the coal mining regions of Appalachia, north to the Great Lakes and includes manufacturing regions of southern Ontario in Canada.
Economic activity in the Manufacturing Belt forms a significant part of the heavy industry and manufacturing sectors of the American economy. Contraction of manufacturing jobs has left many cities in this region in bad shape, forcing the area—the focal point on the continent for a recovering automobile industry—to diversify. Emerging technologies in this region (including hydrogen fuel cell development, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and information technology) have helped revitalize its economy.
