Westphalia is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of 7.9 million inhabitants. The region is identical with the Province of Westphalia, a part of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1918 and the Free State of Prussia from 1918 to 1946. In 1946, Westphalia merged with the Northern Rhineland, another former part of Prussia, to form the newly created state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1947, the state with its two historic parts was joined by a third one: Lippe, a former principality and free state. All of the seventeen districts and nine independent cities of Westphalia and Lippe's only district are members of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association. Previous to the formation of Westphalia as a province of Prussia and state part of North Rhine-Westphalia, the term "Westphalia" was applied to different territories of different sizes such as a part of the ancient Duchy of Saxony, the Duchy of Westphalia or the Kingdom of Westphalia.

The Westphalian language, a variant of the German language, spreads beyond Westphalia's borders into southwestern Lower Saxony and northwestern Hesse. Being a part of the North German Plain, most of Westphalia's north is flat. In the south the German Central Uplands emerge. Westphalia is divided into the following landscapes. Flat to hilly: East Westphalia, Münsterland, eastern Ruhr Metropolitan Area, Tecklenburg Land, Westphalian Hellweg Hilly to mountainous: Westphalian part of the Sauerland, Wittgenstein Westphalia is the region in between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located both north and south of the Ruhr River. Other important rivers are the Lippe; the Langenberg and the Kahler Asten in the Sauerland part of the Rothaar Mountains are Westphalia's and North Rhine-Westphalia's highest mountains. The term "Westphalia" contrasts with the much less used term "Eastphalia", which covers the southeastern part of the present-day state of Lower Saxony, western Saxony-Anhalt and northern Thuringia.

Westphalia is divided into three governmental districts. These are subdivided into independent cities. All districts and independent cities of the governmental districts of Arnsberg and Münster are considered to be a part of Westphalia as a historic region; the District of Lippe as successor of the Free State of Lippe in the Governmental District of Detmold is rather considered to be a separate historic region. The traditional symbol of Westphalia is the Westphalian Steed: a white horse on a red field, it is derived from the Saxon Steed in the coat of arms of the medieval Duchy of Saxony which most of today's Westphalia was part of. In official contexts the coat of arms of Westphalia is being used by the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association, which represents these two historic parts of North Rhine-Westphalia; the coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia uses the Westphalian Steed to represent Westphalia as one of its parts alongside the Lippish Rose representing Lippe and the Rhine River representing the Northern Rhineland.

Prussia used the Westphalian Steed in the coat of arms of its Province of Westphalia. The coat of arms of Lower Saxony uses a different version of the Saxon Steed since the state covers large parts of the Old Saxons' duchy; the colors of Westphalia are red. The flag of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association uses these colors with the Westphalian coat of arms in its center; the flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is a combination of the Northern Rhineland's colors green/white and the Westphalian white/red. The flag of the Prussian Province of Westphalia displayed the colors white and red; the flag of Lower Saxony shows the colors of the Saxon Steed. Composed in Iserlohn in 1886 by Emil Rittershaus, the Westfalenlied is an unofficial anthem of Westphalia. While the Northern Rhineland and Lippe are different historic territories of today's North Rhine-Westphalia, the old border between the former Rhine Province and the Province of Westphalia is a language border. While in Westphalia and Lippe, people tend to speak West Low German dialects and the Westphalian variant of the Low German language, Central German and Low Franconian dialects are being spoken in the Northern Rhineland.

These different regional identities are being emphasized by different majorities of denomination between Roman Catholics and Lutheran Protestants. The different majorities date back to the days of the territorial fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire which existed until 1806; the Münsterland and the region around Paderborn for instance are still Catholic regions because of the former existence of the prince-bishoprics of Münster and Paderborn. The Lutheran Lippe was able to retain its independence as a small state within Germany in the form of a principality until 1918 and as a free state until 1946; this continues to influence the identity of its people who distinguish themselves from neighboring regions such as East Westphalia. In addition to these historic and religious aspects, there are some regional differences in culture and mentality; that is why many of the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia rather see themselves either as "Rhinelanders", "Westphalians" or "Lippers" rather than as "North Rhine-Westphalians".

Westphalia is known for the 1648 Peace of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years' War, as the two treaties were signed in Münster and Osnabrück. It is one of the regions that were part of all incarnations of the German state since the Early

Naemia seriata known as the seaside lady beetle, is a large coccinellid beetle native to North America. It is found in coastal areas such as beaches, salt marshes, bay islands on the Atlantic and Pacific coast; this beetle is light brown, orange, or red in color, with large black spots connected along the sides. The pronotum has one large central black spot, split into two spots; the body of this species is elongately oval in shape, between 4 and 6.7mm in length. The two subspecies can be distinguished by markings on the head, with the head of N. seriata seriata being black, while the head of N. seriata litigiosa has a pale triangular marking. Naemia seriata seriata is distributed across Eastern North America, while N. seriata litigiosa is restricted to the American Southwest. The seaside lady beetle may be confused for the spotted pink ladybeetle, Coleomegilla maculata, much more common, is not restricted to coastal areas; the apical pair of spots on the elytra as well as the pronotum markings are merged in N. seriata, distinctly separate in C. maculata

Kimberly Nicole Morgan is an American singer and pageant titleholder. Morgan was crowned Miss Mississippi on July 14, 2007, becoming just the second African American woman to win that title. Morgan was a Top 16 semi-finalist at the 2008 Miss America pageant, she is an alumna of Alcorn State University. Born in Oxford and raised in the small community of Taylor, who grew up with a severe hearing disability, was a music teacher at Madison S. Palmer High School in Marks, Mississippi prior to her becoming Miss Mississippi. After her one-year reign she has returned to the field of education. Morgan is a graduate of Alcorn State University and was'Miss ASU' 2004-2005. In 2005, while a student in college, she performed as part of the Alcorn State University Concert Choir at the inaugural ceremony of President George W. Bush, she is a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. Morgan's platform as Miss Mississippi was G. O. T. M. I. L. K.!, a fifty-five-minute-per-week after-school program of music instructions. Morgan participated in the TLC reality show Miss America: Reality Check.

Footage of Kimberly Morgan's crowning as Miss Mississippi 2007 Complete biographical information Photo gallery Miss America 2008 delegate information Miss Mississippi to participate in reality show 12/27/07