Where is the South?

Class Maledictorian has asks Where is the South? Be sure to check out the comments. My comments were;
My family has been in Virginia since 1609. So I consider myself a Southerner. I think that should be the defining characterstic of the South. It is where the people call themselves Southerners. That is why people in southern Virginia call NoVa, "occupied Virginia." The people there aren't from there and those that are don't consider themselves Southerners.