The the area comprising the five Great Lakes States was initially referred to as the "Northwest Territory." Now referring to this region as "Mid-west"; is certainly an improvement. read more
Mid-East is not used much anymore so Mid-west is the default phrase. That usually covers everything between the Costal states except for the areas at and below Oklahoma - which is usually called West. The area west of Texas along the boarder with Mexico and the state of California is usually called South-West. read more
So they called the other northwest the Pacific Northwest. In the meantime Texas was always called Texas and it was not until you got to New Mexico that you were in the Southwest. So the Northwest go further to the east than the Southwest. read more