Culturally, the Bootheel is considered more Southern than Midwestern. It was settled largely by people from the South, both black and white. It is considered part of the Mid-South, a region centered on the Memphis metropolitan area; it is also included in the area of the Upper South. Definitions of the Mid-South vary but in general include west Tennessee and Kentucky, north Mississippi, northeast Arkansas, and the Missouri Bootheel. The locations of the region's television stations had reflected this until the early 21st century prior to smaller, but closer cities obtaining local stations and before the digital transition in 2009: