Appalachia is a region of the eastern United States containing portions of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, and all of West Virginia. Over 20 million people live in the region, which is one of the poorest in the country despite huge coal reserves. President Lyndon B. Johnson attempted to relieve poverty in the area as part of his "War on Poverty," but was far from successful.