The Great Lakes region of North America is a bi-national Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario. Quebec is at times included as part of the region because, although it is not in a Great Lake watershed, it is in the St. Lawrence watershed which is part of a continuous hydrologic system that includes the Great Lakes and eventually discharges into the Atlantic Ocean. The region centers on the Great Lakes and forms a distinctive historical, economic, and cultural identity. A portion of the region also encompasses the Great Lakes Megalopolis.