Southern Oregon is a region of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
south of
Lane County and generally west of the
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...
, excluding the southern
Oregon Coast. Counties include
Douglas,
Jackson,
Klamath, and
Josephine. It includes the
Southern Oregon American Viticultural Area, which consists of the
Umpqua and
Rogue River drainages. As of 2015, the population in the four counties is about 471,000, and in the greater, seven-county definition, it is about 564,000.
Counties
Always included:
* Jackson County: population 212,567[
* Josephine County: population 84,745][
* Klamath County: population 66,016][
Total population: 471,013
Sometimes included:
* Coos County: population 63,121][
* Curry County: population 22,483][
* Lake County: population 7,829][
Total seven-county population: 564,446
]
Cities
Politics
Southern Oregon generally supports candidates of the Republican Party in both state and federal elections, but some liberal outliers such as Ashland and Port Orford mean Democrats are usually able to win larger shares of the vote in this region compared to Eastern Oregon. Other than Jackson County, which is considered a swing county, no Democrat has won any county of Southern Oregon in presidential elections since 1996 using the seven-county definition, or since 1964 using the four-county definition. Josephine County has not supported a Democrat for president since 1936.
See also
* Southern Oregon Land Conservancy
* Southeastern Oregon
References
{{Coord, 42.8, -122.9, type:adm2nd_region:US-OR, display=title
Regions of Oregon