The physiographic regions of the contiguous United States comprise 8 divisions, 25 provinces, and 85 sections. The system dates to Nevin Fenneman's report Physiographic Divisions of the United States, published in 1916. The map was updated and republished by the Association of American Geographers in 1928. The map was adopted by the United States Geological Survey by publication in 1946.

The classification hierarchy used in the 1916 publication of the American Association of Geographers was division/province/section/subsection. The use of province in this hierarchy undoubtedly confounded the effort to develop a physiographical map consistent across the North American continent since Canada used province as the term for its first-level political subdivision. Province in Canada is a loose analogy for state in the US, and obviously would create great confusion if the same word was used in two vastly different geographical classifications. As late as 1914, the terminology used by an AAG publication used the term "natural region" as the basic denomination of physiography. That work showed 22 examples of how geographers had published works classifying North America into what had been defined as natural regions. Most included all of North America without regard to political subdivision.

Fenneman expanded and presented a derivative of this system more fully in two books, Physiography of western United States (1931), and Physiography of eastern United States (1938).

Physiographic divisions

Division ProvinceSection I. Laurentian Upland1. Superior Upland II. Atlantic Plain2. Continental Shelf (not on map)3. Coastal Plain3a. Embayed section3b. Sea Island section3c. Floridian section3d. East Gulf Coastal Plain3e. Mississippi Alluvial Plain3f. West Gulf Coastal Plain III. Appalachian Highlands4. Piedmont4a. Piedmont Upland4b. Piedmont Lowlands5. Blue Ridge province5a. Northern section5b. Southern section6. Valley and Ridge province 6a. Tennessee section6b. Middle section6c. Hudson Valley7. St. Lawrence Valley 7a. Champlain section (dividing line undefined in 1946 map)7b. Northern section (dividing line undefined in 1946 map)8. Appalachian Plateaus province 8a. Mohawk section8b. Catskill section8c. Southern New York section8d. Allegheny Plateau section8e. Kanawha section8f. Cumberland Plateau section8g. Cumberland Mountain section9. New England Province9a. Seaboard Lowland section9b. New England Upland section9c. White Mountain section9d. Green Mountain section9e. Taconic section10. Adirondack province IV. Interior Plains11. Interior Low Plateaus11a. Highland Rim11b. Lexington Plain11c. Nashville Basin12. Central Lowland12a. Eastern Lake12b. Western Lake12c. Wisconsin Driftless12d. Till Plains12e. Dissected Till Plains12f. Osage Plains13. Great Plains13a. Missouri Plateau (glaciated)13b. Missouri Plateau (unglaciated)13c. Black Hills13d. High Plains13e. Plains Border13f. Colorado Piedmont13g. Raton section13h. Pecos Valley13i. Edwards Plateau13j. Central Texas V. Interior Highlands14. Ozark Plateaus14a. Springfield-Salem plateaus14b. Boston Mountains15. Ouachita province15a. Arkansas Valley15b. Ouachita Mountains VI. Rocky Mountain System16. Southern Rocky Mountains17. Wyoming Basin18. Middle Rocky Mountains19. Northern Rocky Mountains VII. Intermontane Plateaus20. Columbia Plateau20a. Walla Walla Plateau20b. Blue Mountain section20c. Payette section20d. Snake River Plain20e. Harney section21. Colorado Plateaus21a. High Plateaus of Utah21b. Uinta Basin21c. Canyon Lands21d. Navajo section21e. Grand Canyon section21f. Datil section22. Basin and Range Province22a. Great Basin section22b. Sonoran Desert22c. Salton Trough22d. Mexican Highland22e. Sacramento section VIII. Pacific Mountains23. Cascade-Sierra Mountains23a. Northern Cascade Mountains23b. Middle Cascade Mountains23c. Southern Cascade Mountains23d. Sierra Nevada24. Pacific Border province24a. Puget Trough24b. Olympic Mountains24c. Oregon Coast Range24d. Klamath Mountains24e. California Trough24f. California Coast Ranges24g. "Los Angeles Ranges—(Transverse Ranges)"25. Lower California province—(Peninsular Ranges)

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