diff --git a/src/main/java/com/netflix/simianarmy/basic/BasicSimianArmyContext.java b/src/main/java/com/netflix/simianarmy/basic/BasicSimianArmyContext.java
index 4733c1f9..712e4d5d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/netflix/simianarmy/basic/BasicSimianArmyContext.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/netflix/simianarmy/basic/BasicSimianArmyContext.java
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 import com.amazonaws.ClientConfiguration;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.DefaultAWSCredentialsProviderChain;
+import com.amazonaws.regions.Region;
+import com.amazonaws.regions.Regions;
 
 import com.netflix.simianarmy.CloudClient;
 import com.netflix.simianarmy.Monkey;
@@ -126,7 +128,15 @@ protected BasicSimianArmyContext(String... configFiles) {
         account = config.getStr("simianarmy.client.aws.accountKey");
         secret = config.getStr("simianarmy.client.aws.secretKey");
         accountName = config.getStrOrElse("simianarmy.client.aws.accountName", "Default");
-        region = config.getStrOrElse("simianarmy.client.aws.region", "us-east-1");
+        
+        String defaultRegion = "us-east-1";
+        Region currentRegion = Regions.getCurrentRegion();
+        
+        if (currentRegion != null) {
+            defaultRegion = currentRegion.getName();
+        }
+        
+        region = config.getStrOrElse("simianarmy.client.aws.region", defaultRegion);
         GLOBAL_OWNER_TAGKEY = config.getStrOrElse("simianarmy.tags.owner", "owner");
 
         // Check for and configure optional proxy configuration
diff --git a/src/main/resources/client.properties b/src/main/resources/client.properties
index cc6cfb4c..35129f1c 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/client.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/client.properties
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 ### see: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSdkDocsJava/latest/DeveloperGuide/java-dg-roles.html
 #simianarmy.client.aws.accountKey = fakeAccount
 #simianarmy.client.aws.secretKey  = fakeSecret
+### Comment out the following line to detect the AWS region where the instance is running
 simianarmy.client.aws.region = us-west-1
 
 ### Common account name to make it easier to identify emails by subject