Indiana
Indiana is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. Indiana is one of eight states that make up the Great Lakes Region. Indiana is bordered on the north by Michigan, on the east by Ohio, and on the west by Illinois.
- ABBREVIATION: IN
- NICKNAME: The Hoosier State
- POPULATION: 6,570,902 (2013 est.)
- CAPITAL: Indianapolis
- STATE BIRD: Cardinal
- STATE FLOWER: Peony
- AREA: 36,418 sq. mi.
- TIME ZONE: Most of state Eastern (80 Counties), -12 Counties are Central
- ENTERED UNION: Dec. 11, 1816
- ALTITUDE: High, 1,257 ft. Hoosier Hill
- CLIMATE: Hot, humid summers, cold winters; moderate rainfall.
From the shores of Lake Michigan in the north to the curves of the Ohio River to the south, Indiana is a gentle land. The northern parts of the state were slow to bloom, for they lay off the westward route of the pioneers. Throughout its history Indiana was a battleground: Indians fought each other and fought the British; Indians and British fought French and Americans. It was not until 1811 that Indiana’s territorial governor, William Henry Harrison, finally managed to put down the rebellious tribes at the battle of Tippecanoe, near what is now Lafayette.
It was a useful victory not only for Harrison (in 1840 he won the Presidency for himself and running mate John Tyler with the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too”) but for Indiana as well. With the Indians pacified, farmers poured into the rich prairies. The railroads came in the 1840’s. In time, steel men took advantage of cheap transport routes and the state’s strategic location between iron and coal sources, and built the town of Gary on Lake Michigan. Today Indiana is the largest producer of steel in the United States.
Indiana remains essentially a quiet, rural state. Like many Midwestern states, Indiana has achieved an enviable economic balance. It produces heavy machinery, steel, and chemicals, yet 65% of its land is devoted to farmland, rich with corn, soybeans and oats.
FUN FACTS:
- Indiana has more miles of interstate highway for each square mile of territory than any other state, and more major interstate highways intersect in Indiana than anywhere else in the country.
- Between 1900 and 1920, more than 200 different kinds of cars, including Duesenburgs, Auburns, Stutzes, and Maxwells, were manufactured in Indiana.
- During the great Depression of the 1930’s in southern Indiana unemployment was as high as 50 percent.
- John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, is buried in Archer Park in Fort Wayne. Every year Fort Wayne hosts the Johnny Appleseed Festival to commemorate the man who planted apple orchards from Pennsylvania to Illinois.
- In 1880 Wabash became the first city in the country to be lighted by electric lights.
- The first Raggedy Ann doll was created by Marcella Gruelle in Indianapolis in 1914.