Regional definitions vary from source to source. The states shown in dark red are usually included, while all or portions of the striped states may or may not be considered part of the Mountain States.

The Mountain States (also known as the Mountain West) form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the [United States Census Bureau].

The division consists of eight states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Together with the Pacific States of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, the Mountain States constitute the broader region of the West, one of the four regions the United States Census Bureau formally recognizes (the Northeast, South and Midwest being the other three). The word "Mountain" refers to the Rocky Mountains, which run north-south throughout the division, and also to Mountain Standard Time, which is observed in the entire division except Nevada in its entirety (aside from the stateline city of West Wendover) and the Idaho panhandle; in addition, Arizona is one hour behind the other Mountain States (but for the aforementioned exceptions) from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November, because daylight saving time is not observed in Arizona.^[1] Phoenix is the largest city in the mountain states followed by Denver in second place.

In their geopolitical book The Day America Told The Truth, James Patterson and Peter Kim place most of the territory found within the Mountain States in a moral region they label Marlboro Country, with the division's eastern and southern salients being slotted into their Granary and L.A.-Mex regions respectively.

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