The Gnat Line
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The Gnat Line is an invisible, yet well-defined line of demarcation near the latitude 32.8N which is known for two things: for being the point below which gnats (a kind of blood-sucking fly) live happily, and for being in The South1. Formally speaking, The South isn't bordered by the Gnat Line, but international, modern influences from Atlanta, Georgia, tend to purge Southernness from areas within 200km or so of the line. The South might range as far north as Kentucky, as far south as Northern Florida, and as far west as Louisiana, but the Gnat Line describes the southern border of the non-Southern sphere-of-influence.
1A blatant US-centric nomenclature, of course, but The South is a proper noun, so try to cope (if you care at all) with the idea that it's not likely to change.
