The Federal Reserve System is divided into 12 districts, each served by one of the Federal Reserve district banks, located in
the following cities: Boston, MA; New York, N.Y.; Philadelphia, PA; Washington, D.C.; Richmond, VA; Atlanta, GA; St. Louis, MO; Dallas, TX; Cleveland, OH; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; Kansas City, MO; and San Francisco, CA. Today, the U.S. population is centered just west of the Mississippi River long dash that is, about half of the population is either to the west or the east of a line running roughly just west of this river. The current locations of Fed districts and banks are structured this way because