Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, the 19^th admitted to the Union. It is located in the Great Lakes region, and with approximately 6.3 million residents, is ranked 16^th in population and 17^th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38^th in land area, and is the smallest state in the continental US west of the Appalachian Mountains. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis, having the largest city proper population of any state capital east of the Mississippi River.

Indiana is a diverse state with one major city, several other urban areas, a number of smaller industrial cities, and many small towns. It is known nationally for its sports teams and athletic events: the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, the NBA's Indiana Pacers, the Indianapolis 500 motorsports race, the largest single-day sporting event in the world, and for a strong basketball tradition, often called Hoosier Hysteria.

Residents of Indiana are known as Hoosiers, though the etymology of the term is unknown. The state's name means "Land of the Indians", or simply "Indian Land". The name dates back to at least the 1768 Indiana Land Company, and was first used by Congress when Indiana Territory was created, at which time the territory was unceded Indian land. Angel Mounds State Historic Site, one of the best preserved prehistoric Native American sites in the United States, can be found in Southwestern Indiana near Evansville.

History

The first people to live in what is now Indiana were the Paleo-Indians, ingressing about 8000 BC after the melting of the glaciers at the conclusion of the Ice Age. Divided into small groups, the Paleo-Indians were nomads who hunted large game such as Mastodons. They created stone tools made out of chert by chipping, knapping and flaking. The subsequent phase of Indiana's Native American antiquity is called the Archaic period, which occurred between 5000 and 4000 BC. They differed from the Paleo-Indians in that they used new tools and techniques to prepare food. Such new tools included different types of spear points and knives, with various forms of notches. They also used ground stone tools such as stone axes, woodworking tools and grinding stones. During the latter part of the period, mounds and middens were created, indicating that their settlements were becoming more permanent. The Archaic period ended at about 1500 BC, although some Archaic people lived until 700 BC. Afterwards, the Woodland period took place in Indiana, where various new cultural attributes appeared. During this period, ceramics and pottery were created as well as the increase of usage in horticulture. An early Woodland period group named the Adena people had elegant burial rituals, featuring log tombs beneath earth mounds. In the middle portion of the Woodland period, the Hopewell people began exploration of long-range trade of goods. Nearing the end of the stage, an exhaustive cultivation and adaptation of agriculture to grow crops such as corn and squash. The Woodland period ended around 1000 AD. The incoming period afterwards was known as the Mississippian period, which lasted from 1000 to 1650 AD. During this stage, large settlements were created that had similarities to towns, such as the Angel Mounds. They had large public areas such as plazas and platform mounds, where instrumental individuals of the settlement lived or conducted rituals.

French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was the first European to cross into Indiana after reaching present-day South Bend at the Saint Joseph River in 1679. He returned the following year to gain knowledge of northern Indiana. French fur traders also came along and brought blankets, jewelry, tools, whiskey and weapons to trade for skins with the Native Americans. By 1732, the French had made three trading posts along the Wabash River with the efforts to control Native American trade routes from Lake Erie to the Mississippi River. In a period of a few years, the British arrived and contended against the French for management of the fruitful fur trade. Fighting between the French and British occurred throughout the 1750s as a result. Due to mistreatment from the British, the Native American tribes sided with the French during the French and Indian War. By the conclusion of the war in 1763, the French had lost all land west of the colonies, and control had been ceded to the British crown. Neighboring tribes in Indiana, however, did not give up and destroyed Fort Ouiatenon and Fort Miami during Pontiac's Rebellion. The royal proclamation of 1763 ceded the land west of the Appalachians for Indian use, and was thus labelled Indian territory. In 1775, the American Revolutionary War began as the colonists looked to free themselves from British rule. The majority of the fighting took place in the east, but military officer George Rogers Clark called for an army to help fight the British in the west. Clark's army won significant battles to overtake Vincennes and Fort Sackville on February 25, 1779. During the war, Clark managed to cut off British troops who were attacking the colonist from the west. His success is often credited for changing the course of the American Revolutionary War. At the end of the revolutionary war, through the treaty of Paris, the British crown ceded the land south of the great lakes to the newly formed United States. They did so without the input of the Indian tribes living in the area. The tribes were not party to the treaty. Some scholars argue that because of this lack of representation, Indians rights to the land were unfairly ceded to the US by the British Crown.

Present-day Indiana became part of the Northwest Territory in 1787. In 1800, Ohio was separated from the Northwest Territory by Congress, designating the rest of the land as the Indiana Territory. President Thomas Jefferson chose William Henry Harrison as the governor of the territory and Vincennes was established as the capital. After Michigan was separated and the Illinois Territory was formed, the size of Indiana was reduced to its current state. In 1810, Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa encouraged other tribes to resist European settlement into the territory. Supporters of Tecumseh formed Prophetstown while Harrison countered by building Fort Harrison nearby. The fort was often targeted by Prophetstown for attacks. Using the attacks as a reason to invade Prophetstown, Harrison went on the offensive and defeated the Native Americans in the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7, 1811. After the attack, Tecumseh, who was away during the battle, went to different tribes to encourage them to retaliate. For nearly two years, his followers killed and kidnapped settlers and burned their homes. Tecumseh was killed in 1813 during the Battle of Thames. After his death, while some Native Americans returned to their settlements, others fled the area or were forced to go further west.

In December 1813, Corydon was established as the capital of the Indiana Territory. Two years later, a petition for statehood was approved by the Indiana legislature and sent to Congress. Afterwards, an Enabling Act was passed to provide an election of delegates to write a constitution for Indiana. On June 10, 1816, delegates assembled at Corydon to write the constitution, which was completed in nineteen days. President James Madison approved Indiana's admission into the union as the nineteenth state on December 11, 1816. In 1825, the state capital was moved from Corydon to Indianapolis and 26 years later, a new constitution was adopted. Following statehood, the new government set out on an ambitious plan to transform Indiana from a wilderness frontier into a developed, well-populated, and thriving state to accommodate for significant demographic and economic changes. The state's founders initiated a program that led to the construction of roads, canals, railroads and state-funded public schools. The plans nearly bankrupted the state and were a financial disaster, but increased land and produce value more than fourfold.

During the American Civil War, Indiana became politically influential and played an important role in the affairs of the nation. As the first western state to mobilize for the war, Indiana's soldiers were present in all of the major engagements during the war. Indiana residents were present in both the first and last battles and the state provided 126 infantry regiments, 26 batteries of artillery and 13 regiments of cavalry to the cause of the Union. In 1861, Indiana was assigned a quota of 7,500 men to join the Union Army. So many volunteered in the first call that thousands had to be turned away. Before the war ended, Indiana contributed 208,367 men to fight and serve in the war. Casualties were over 35% among these men: 24,416 lost their lives in the conflict and over 50,000 more were wounded. The only Civil War battle fought in Indiana was the Battle of Corydon, which occurred during Morgan's Raid. The battle left 15 dead, 40 wounded, and 355 captured.

Following the American Civil War, Indiana industry began to grow at an accelerated rate across the northern part of the state leading to the formation of labor unions and suffrage movements. The Indiana Gas Boom led to rapid industrialization during the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, Indiana developed into a strong manufacturing state. The state also saw many developments with the construction of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the takeoff of the auto industry. During the 1930s, Indiana, like the rest of the nation, was affected by the Great Depression. The economic downturn had a wide-ranging negative impact on Indiana, such as the decline of urbanization. The situation was aggravated by the Dust Bowl, which caused an influx of migrants from the rural Midwestern United States. Governor Paul V. McNutt's administration struggled to build a state-funded welfare system to help the overwhelmed private charities. During his administration, spending and taxes were both cut drastically in response to the depression and the state government was completely reorganized. McNutt also ended Prohibition in the state and enacted the state's first income tax. On several occasions, he declared martial law to put an end to worker strikes. World War II helped lift the economy in Indiana, as the war required steel, food and other goods that were produced in Indiana. Roughly 10 percent of Indiana's population joined the armed forces while hundreds of industries earned war production contracts and began making war material. The effects of the war helped end the Great Depression.

With the conclusion of World War II, Indiana rebounded to levels of production prior to the Great Depression. Industry became the primary employer, a trend that continued into the 1960s. Urbanization during the 1950s and 1960s led to substantial growth in the state's urban centers. The auto, steel and pharmaceutical industries topped Indiana's major businesses. Indiana's population continued to grow during the years after the war, exceeding five million by the 1970 census. In the 1960s, the administration of Matthew E. Welsh adopted its first sales tax of two percent. Welsh also worked with the General Assembly to pass the Indiana Civil Rights Bill, granting equal protection to minorities in seeking employment. Beginning in 1970, a series of amendments to the state constitution were proposed. With adoption, the Indiana Court of Appeals was created and the procedure of appointing justices on the courts was adjusted. The 1973 oil crisis created a recession that hurt the automotive industry in Indiana. Companies like Delco Electronics and Delphi began a long series of downsizing that contributed to high unemployment rates in manufacturing in Anderson, Muncie, and Kokomo. The deindustrialization trend continued until the 1980s when the national and state economy began to diversify and recover.

Geography

With a total area of , Indiana ranks as the 38th largest state in size. The state has a maximum dimension north to south of and a maximum east to west dimension of . The state is bordered on the north by Michigan, on the east by Ohio and on the west by Illinois. The Ohio River separates Indiana from Kentucky on the southern border. Indiana is one of eight states that make up the Great Lakes region. The state includes two natural regions of the United States, the Central Lowland and the Interior Low Plateau. The average altitude of Indiana is about above sea level. The highest point in the state is Hoosier Hill, which is above sea level. Only have an altitude greater than and this area is enclosed within 14 counties. About have an elevation of less than .

The till plains make up the central allotment of Indiana. Much of its appearance is a result of elements left behind by glaciers. The area includes some low hills and the soil is comprised of glacial sands, gravel and clay, which results to exceptional farmland in central Indiana. The unglaciated segment of the state carries a different and off-balance surface, characterized in places by profound valleys and expeditious streams. A limited area in the southeastern area of the state possesses these types of characteristics. The soil is fertile in the valleys of Indiana, most notably Whitewater Valley which is known for its prodigious farming. In northwest Indiana, there are various sand hills and dunes, due in some measure to a former extension of the lake and wind action. In the basin of the Kankakee River there is an extensive scope of lakes, marshes and prairies. In northeastern Indiana there is a region of tall moraines, one of which is 200 to 500 feet (61 to 150 m) deep, wide and stretching across a distance of .

The Wabash River is the official river of Indiana. The 475 mile (764 km) long river bisects the state from northeast to southwest before flowing south, mostly along the Indiana-Illinois border. The river has given Indiana a few theme songs, such as On the Banks of the Wabash, The Wabash Cannonball and Back Home Again, In Indiana. The Wabash River is the longest free-flowing river east of the Mississippi. The Kankakee River goes through northern Indiana and serves as a demarcating line between suburban northwest Indiana and the rest of the state. There are over 1,000 lakes in Indiana. Tippecanoe Lake is the deepest lake in the state reaching depths at nearly . Lake Wawasee is the largest natural lake in Indiana.

Climate

Indiana has a humid continental climate, with cool winters and warm, irriguous summers. The extreme southern portion of the state is within the humid subtropical climate area and receives more precipitation than other parts of Indiana. Temperatures generally diverge from the north and south sections of the state, with the annual mean temperature being 49°F-58°F (9°C-12°C) in the north and 57°F (14°C) in the south. While temperatures can fall below 0°F (-18°C) in the winter, the average in January ranges between 17°F (-8°C) and 35°F (2°C). Average temperatures during July differentiate from 63°F (17°C) to 88°F (31°C). The record high temperature for the state was 116°F (47°C) set on July 14, 1936 at Collegeville. The record low was -36°F (-38°C) on January 19, 1994 at New Whiteland. The growing season typically spans from 155 days in the north and 185 days in the south. While droughts occasionally occur in the southern region, rainfall totals are administered equally throughout the year. Precipitation totals range from near Lake Michigan to along the Ohio River, with the state averages to . The annual snowfall in Indiana averages less than and the average wind speed in the state is . Indiana is one of the most tornado-prone states in the country, ranking sixth in a list by VorTek, an Alabama company. The city of South Bend was ranked the 14th most tornado-prone city in the country, ahead of cities such as Houston and Wichita. The same company also published a list of the most tornado prone cities and states in April, with Indiana coming in first and South Bend ranking 16th. Despite its vulnerability, Indiana is not a part of tornado alley.

Average Precipitation in Indiana
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annum
2.48	2.27	3.36	3.89	4.46	4.19	4.22	3.91	3.12	3.02	3.44	3.13	41.49

Demographics

Population

As of 2008, there were 6,376,792 people residing in the state. The population density was 169.5 persons per square mile. The racial makeup of the state was 88.0% White, 9.1% African American, 1.4% Asian, 1.2% from a biracial or multiracial background and 0.3% Native American. Hispanic or Latino of any race made up 5.2% of the population. The Hispanic population is Indiana’s fastest growing minority. In the state, 24.9% of the population are under the age of 18, 6.9% are under the age of five and 12.8% are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36.4 years. In 2005, 77.7% of Indiana residents lived in metropolitan counties, 16.5% lived in micropolitan counties and 5.9% lived in non-core counties.

German is the largest ancestry reported in Indiana, with 22.7% of the population reporting that ancestry in the Census. Persons citing American (12.0%) and English ancestry (8.9%) are also numerous, as are Irish (10.8%) and Polish (3.0%).

The center of population of Indiana is located in Hamilton County, in the town of Sheridan. Population growth since 1990 has been concentrated in the counties surrounding Indianapolis, with four of the top five fastest-growing counties in that area: Hamilton, Hendricks, Johnson, and Hancock. The other county is Dearborn County, which is near Cincinnati. Hamilton County has also been the fastest growing county in the area consisting of Indiana and its bordering states of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky and the 27th fastest growing county in the country.

In 2005, the median household income for Indiana residents was $43,993. Nearly 498,700 Indiana households had incomes from $50,000 to $74,999, accounting for 20% of all households. Hamilton County’s median household income is nearly $35,000 higher than the Indiana average. At $78,932, it ranks seventh in the country among counties with less than 250,000 people. The next highest median incomes in Indiana are also found in the Indianapolis suburbs; Hendricks County has a median of $57,538, followed by Johnson County at $56,251.

Religion

Although the largest single religious denomination in the state is Roman Catholic (836,009 members), most of the population are members of various Protestant denominations. The largest Protestant denomination by number of adherents in 2000 was the United Methodist Church with 288,308. A study by the Graduate Center found that 20 percent are Roman Catholic, 14 percent belong to different Baptist churches, 10 percent are other Christians, nine percent are Methodist, and six percent are Lutheran. The study also found that 16 percent are secular.

Indiana is the home to the St. Meinrad Archabbey, one of two archabbeys in the United States and one of 11 in the world. Two conservative denominations, the Free Methodist Church and the Wesleyan Church, have their headquarters in Indianapolis as does the Christian Church. The Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches maintains offices and publishing work in Winona Lake. (Registration needed) Huntington serves as the home to the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. (Registration needed) Anderson is home to the headquarters of the Church of God. The headquarters of the Missionary Church is located in Fort Wayne. (Registration needed) The Friends United Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, the largest branch of American Quakerism, is based in Richmond, which also houses the oldest Quaker seminary in the United States, the Earlham School of Religion. Indiana is home to an estimated 250,000 Muslims. The Islamic Society of North America is headquartered in Plainfield.

Cities and towns

With a population of 795,458, Indianapolis is the largest city in Indiana and 13th largest in the United States. The only other cities in Indiana with a population greater than 100,000 are Fort Wayne (251,247), Evansville (116,253) and South Bend (104,069). Since 2000, Fishers has seen the largest population rise amongst the state’s 20 largest cities with an increase of 69.1 percent. Hammond and Gary have seen the largest population declines regarding the top 20 largest cities since 2000, with a decrease of -6.8 and -5.9 percent respectively. Other cities that have seen extensive growth since 2000 are Noblesville (39.4 percent), Greenwood (26.3 percent), Carmel (21.4 percent) and Lawrence (9.3 percent). Meanwhile, Evansville (-4.2 percent), Anderson (-4 percent) and Muncie (-3.9 percent) are cities that have seen the steepest decline in population in the state. Indianapolis has the largest metropolitan area in the state and 33rd largest in the country. It consist of Marion County and eight surrounding counties in central Indiana. Altogether there are 13 metropolitan areas in Indiana.

Law and government

The Governor of Indiana serves as the chief executive of the state and has the authority to manage the government as established in the Constitution of Indiana. The governor and the lieutenant governor are jointly elected to four-year terms. The governor may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The governor works with the Indiana General Assembly and the Supreme Court of Indiana to govern the state and has the authority to adjust the other branches. Special sessions of the General Assembly can be called upon by the governor as well as have the power to select and remove leaders of nearly all state departments, boards and commissions. Other notable powers include calling out the Indiana Guard Reserve or the Indiana National Guard in times of emergency or disaster, issuing pardons or commuting the sentence of any criminal offenders except in cases of treason or impeachment and possessing an abundant amount of statutory authority. The lieutenant governor serves as the President of the Senate and is responsible for ensuring that the senate rules are acted in accordance with by its constituents. The lieutenant governor can only vote to break ties. If the governor dies in office, becomes permanently incapacitated, resigns or is impeached, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. If both the governor and lieutenant governor positions are unoccupied, the Senate President pro tempore becomes governor.

The Indiana General Assembly is composed of a 50-member Senate and 100-member House of Representatives. The Senate is the upper house of the General Assembly and the House of Representatives is the lower house. The General Assembly has exclusive legislative authority within the state government. Both the Senate and House of Representatives can introduce legislation, with the exception that the Senate is not authorized to initiate legislation that will affect revenue. Bills are debated and passed separately in each house, but must be passed by both houses before they can submitted to the Governor. The legislature can nullify a veto from the governor with a majority vote of full membership in the Senate and House of Representatives. Each law passed by the General Assembly must be used without exception to the entire state. The General Assembly has no authority to create legislation that targets only a particular community. The General Assembly can manage the state's judiciary system by arranging the size of the courts and the bounds of their districts. It also can oversee the activities of the executive branch of the state government, has restricted power to regulate the county governments within the state, and has exclusive power to initiate the method to alter the Indiana Constitution.

The Indiana Supreme Court is made up of five judges with a Court of Appeals composed of 15 judges. The governor selects judges for the supreme and appeal courts from a group of applicants chosen by a special commission. After serving for two years, the judges must acquire the support of the electorate to serve for a 10-year term. In nearly all cases, the Supreme Court does not have original jurisdiction and can only hear cases that are petitioned to the court following being heard in lower courts. Local circuit courts are where the majority of cases begin with a trial and the consequence decided by the jury. The Supreme Court does has original and sole jurisdiction in certain specific areas including the practice of law, discipline or disbarment of Judges appointed to the lower state courts, and supervision over the exercise of jurisdiction by the other lower courts of the State.

The state is divided into 92 counties, which are led by a board of county commissioners. Most counties in Indiana have their own circuit court with judges that are elected for six-year terms. Approximately one-fourth of them have superior courts and a few of the densely populated counties have juvenile courts, criminal courts and probate courts. County officials that are elected to four-year terms include an auditor, recorder, treasurer, sheriff, coroner and clerk of the circuit court. All incorporated cities in Indiana have a mayor and council form of municipal government. Towns are governed by a town council and townships are governed by a township trustee and advisory board.

Politics

Presidential elections results

Year	Republican	Democratic
2008	48.91% 1,345,648	49.95% 1,374,039
2004	59.94% 1,479,438	39.26% 969,011
2000	56.65% 1,245,836	41.01% 901,980
1996	47.13% 1,006,693	41.55% 887,424
1992	42.91% 989,375	36.79% 848,420
1988	59.84% 1,297,763	39.69% 860,643
1984	61.67% 1,377,230	37.68% 841,481
1980	56.01% 1,255,656	37.65% 844,197
1976	53.32% 1,183,958	45.70% 1,014,714
1972	66.11% 1,405,154	33.34% 708,568

From 1880 to 1924, a resident of Indiana was included in all but one presidential election. Indiana Representative William Hayden English was nominated for Vice-President and ran with Winfield Scott Hancock in the 1880 election. In 1884, former Indiana Governor Thomas A. Hendricks was elected Vice-President of the United States. He served until his death on November 25, 1885, under President Grover Cleveland. In 1888, Indiana Senator Benjamin Harrison was elected President of the United States and served one term. He remains the only U.S. President from Indiana. Indiana Senator Charles W. Fairbanks was elected Vice-President in 1904, serving under President Theodore Roosevelt until 1913. Fairbanks made another run for Vice-President with Charles Evans Hughes in 1912, but they both lost to Woodrow Wilson and Indiana Governor Thomas R. Marshall, who served as Vice-President from 1913 until 1921. Not until 1989 did another presidential election involved a native of Indiana, when Senator Dan Quayle was elected Vice-President and served one term with George H. W. Bush.

Indiana has long been considered to be a Republican stronghold. The Cook Partisan Voting Index (CPVI) rates Indiana as a R+8. Indiana was one of only ten states to support Republican Wendell Willkie in 1940. On 14 occasions has the Republican candidate defeated the Democrat by a double digit margin in the state, including six times where a Republican won the state by more than 20%. In 2000 and 2004, George W. Bush won the state by a wide margin while the election was much closer overall. The state has only supported a Democrat for president five times since 1900. In 1912, Woodrow Wilson became the first Democrat to win the state with 43% of the vote. 20 years later, Franklin D. Roosevelt won the state with 55% of the vote over incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt won the state again in 1936. In 1964, 56% of voters supported Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson over Republican Barry Goldwater. 44 years later, Democrat Barack Obama narrowly won the state against John McCain 50% to 49%.

Statistically, Indiana is more of a stronghold for Republican presidential candidates than for candidates elected to state government. Where as only five Democratic presidential nominees have carried Indiana since 1900, 11 Democrats were elected governor during that time. Before Mitch Daniels became governor in 2005, Democrats had held the office for 16 consecutive years. Indiana elects two senators and nine representatives to Congress. The state has 11 electoral votes in presidential elections. Seven of the districts favor the Republican Party according to the CPVI rankings. However, there are five Democrats serving as representatives compared to four Republicans. Historically, Republicans have been strongest in the eastern and central portions of the state, while Democrats have been strongest in the northwestern part of the state. Occasionally, certain counties in the southern part of the state will vote Democratic. Marion County, Indiana's most populated county, supported the Republican candidates from 1968 to 2000, before backing the Democrats in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Indiana's second most populated county, Lake County, is a strong supporter of the Democratic party that has not voted for a Republican since 1972. In 2005, the Bay Area Center for Voting Research rated the most liberal and conservative cities in the United States on voting statistics in the 2004 presidential election, based on 237 cities with populations of more than 100,000. Five Indiana cities were mentioned in the study. On the liberal side, Gary was ranked second and South Bend came in at 83. Regarding conservative cities, Fort Wayne was 44th, Evansville was 60th and Indianapolis was 82nd on the list.

Economy

In 2000, Indiana had a work force of 3,084,100. The total gross state product in 2005 was US$214 billion in 2000 chained dollars. Indiana's per capita income, as of 2005, was US$31,150. A high percentage of Indiana's income is from manufacturing. The Calumet region of northwest Indiana is the largest steel producing area in the U.S. Indiana's other manufactures include pharmaceuticals and medical devices, automobiles, electrical equipment, transportation equipment, chemical products, rubber, petroleum and coal products, and factory machinery.

Despite its reliance on manufacturing, Indiana has been much less affected by declines in traditional Rust Belt manufactures than many of its neighbors. The explanation appears to be certain factors in the labor market. First, much of the heavy manufacturing, such as industrial machinery and steel, requires highly skilled labor, and firms are often willing to locate where hard-to-train skills already exist. Second, Indiana's labor force is located primarily in medium-sized and smaller cities rather than in very large and expensive metropolises. This makes it possible for firms to offer somewhat lower wages for these skills than would normally be paid. Firms often see in Indiana a chance to obtain higher than average skills at lower than average wages.

Indiana is home to the international headquarters of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, the state's largest corporation, as well as the world headquarters of Mead Johnson Nutritionals in Evansville. Overall, Indiana ranks fifth among all U.S. states in total sales and shipments of pharmaceutical products and second highest in the number of biopharmaceutical related jobs.

The state is located within the Corn Belt. The state has a feedlot-style system raising corn to fatten hogs and cattle. Soybeans are also a major cash crop. Its proximity to large urban centers, such as Indianapolis and Chicago, assure that dairying, egg production, and specialty horticulture occur.Other crops include melons, tomatoes, grapes, mint, popping corn, and tobacco in the southern counties. Most of the original land was not prairie and had to be cleared of deciduous trees. Many parcels of woodland remain and support a furniture-making sector in the southern portion of the state.

Indiana's economy is considered to be one of the most business-friendly in the U.S. This is due in part to its conservative business climate, low business taxes, relatively low union membership, and labor laws. The doctrine of at-will employment, whereby an employer can terminate an employee for any or no reason, is in force.

Indiana has a flat state income tax rate of 3.4%. Many Indiana counties also collect income tax. The state sales tax rate is 7%. Property taxes are imposed on both real and personal property in Indiana and are administered by the Department of Local Government Finance. Property is subject to taxation by a variety of taxing units (schools, counties, townships, cities and towns, libraries), making the total tax rate the sum of the tax rates imposed by all taxing units in which a property is located. However, a "circuit breaker" law enacted on March 19, 2008 limits property taxes to one percent of assessed value for homeowners, two percent for rental properties and farmland and three percent for businesses.

State Budget

Indiana doesn't have a legal requirement to balance the state budget either in law or its constitution. Instead, Indiana has a constitutional ban on assuming debt.Indiana has a Rainy Day Fund and for healthy reserves proportional to spending.Indiana is one of the few states in the U.S. which do not to allow a line-item veto. Indiana does not use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Energy

Indiana's power production chiefly consists of the consumption of fossil fuels, mainly coal. Indiana has 24 coal power plants, including the largest coal power plant in the United States, Gibson Generating Station, located across the Wabash River from Mount Carmel, Illinois. While Indiana has made commitments to increasing use of renewable resources such as wind, hydroelectric, biomass, or solar power, however, progress has been very slow, mainly because of the continued abundance of coal in Southern Indiana. Most of the new plants in the state have been coal gasification plants. Another source is hydroelectric power.

Solar power and wind power are being investigated, and geothermal power is being used commercially. New estimates in 2006 raised the wind capacity for Indiana from 30 MW at 50 m turbine height to 40,000 MW at 70 m, which could double at 100 m, the height of newer turbines. As of the end of June 2008, Indiana has installed 130 MW of wind turbines and has under construction another 400 MW.

Sources of energy (2009) See below Navbox for individual facilities.

Fuel	Capacity	Percent of Total Consumed	Percent of Total Production	Number of Plants/Units
Coal	22,190.5 MW	63.0000 %	88.5000 %	28 Plants
Natural Gas	2,100 MW	29.0000 %	10.5000 %	15 Facilities *Often used in Peaking Stations
Coal Gasification	600 MW	?	?	1 Facility under Construction
Petroleum	575 MW	7.5000 %	1.5000 %	10 Units
Wind	530.5 MW 885.5 MW when Fowler Ridge is complete	?	?	2 Farms/531 Towers (1 additional farm half complete)
Hydroelectric	64 MW	0.0450 %	0.0100 %	1 Plant
Biomass	28 MW	0.0150 %	0.0020 %	1 Facility
Wood & Waste	18 MW	0.0013 %	0.0015 %	3 Units
Geothermal and/or Solar	0 MW	0.0 %	0.0	No Facilities at this time
Nuclear	0 MW	0.0 %	0.0	1 facility never completed
Total	22,797.5 MW * only includes top number of wind	100%	100%	46 Generating Facilities

Transportation

Airports

Indianapolis International Airport serves the greater Indianapolis area and has just finished constructing a new passenger terminal. The new airport opened in November 2008 and offers a new midfield passenger terminal, concourses, air traffic control tower, parking garage, and airfield and apron improvements.

Other major airports include Evansville Regional Airport, Fort Wayne International Airport (which houses the 122d Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard), and South Bend Regional Airport. A long-standing proposal to turn the under-utilized Gary Chicago International Airport into Chicago's third major airport received a boost in early 2006 with the approval of $48 million in federal funding over the next ten years.

The Terre Haute International Airport has no airlines operating out of the facility but is used for private flying. Since 1954, the 181st Fighter Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard has been stationed at the airport. However, the BRAC Proposal of 2005 stated that the 181st would lose its fighter mission and F-16 aircraft, leaving the Terre Haute facility as a general-aviation only facility.

The southern part of the state is also served by the Louisville International Airport across the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky.The southeastern part of the state is served by the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport also across the Ohio River in Florence Kentucky.Many residents of northwestern Indiana use the two Chicago airports, O'Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport.

Highways

The major U.S. Interstate highways in Indiana are I-64, I-164, I-65, I-265, I-465, I-865, I-69, I-469, I-70, I-74, I-80, I-90, I-94 and I-275. The various highways intersecting in and around Indianapolis, along with its historical status as a major railroad hub, and the canals that once crossed Indiana, are the source of the state's motto, the Crossroads of America.

There are also many state highways maintained by the Indiana Department of Transportation. These are numbered according to the same convention as U.S. Highways.

County roads

Most Indiana counties use a grid-based system to identify county roads; this system replaced the older arbitrary system of road numbers and names, and (among other things) makes it much easier to identify the sources of calls placed to the 9-1-1 system. Such systems are easier to implement in the glacially flattened northern and central portions of the state. Rural counties in the southern third of the state are less likely to have grids and more likely to rely on unsystematic road names (e.g., Crawford, Harrison, Perry, Scott, and Washington Counties); there are also counties in the northern portions of the state that have never implemented a grid, or have only partially implemented one. Some counties are also laid out in an almost diamond-like grid system (e.g. Clark, Floyd, Gibson, Knox, and Vanderburgh Counties). Such a system is also almost useless in those situations as well. Knox County once operated two different grid systems for county roads because the county was laid out using two different survey grids, but has since decided to use road names and combine roads instead.

Notably, the county road grid system of St. Joseph County, whose major city is South Bend, uses perennial (tree) names (i.e. Ash, Hickory, Ironwood, etc.) in alphabetical order for North-South roads and Presidential and other noteworthy names (i.e. Adams, Edison, Lincoln Way, etc.) in alphabetical order for East-West roads. There are exceptions to this rule in downtown South Bend and Mishawaka.

Rail

Indiana has over 4,255 railroad route miles, of which 91 percent are operated by Class I railroads, principally CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway. Other Class I railroads in Indiana include the Canadian National Railway and Soo Line Railroad, a Canadian Pacific Railway subsidiary, as well as Amtrak. The remaining miles are operated by 37 regional, local, and switching & terminal railroads. The South Shore Line is one of the country's most notable commuter rail systems extending from Chicago to South Bend. Indiana is currently implementing an extensive rail plan that was prepared in 2002 by the Parsons Corporation.

Ports

Indiana annually ships over 70 million tons of cargo by water each year, which ranks 14th among all U.S. states. More than half of Indiana's border is water, which includes of direct access to two major freight transportation arteries: the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway (via Lake Michigan) and the Inland Waterway System (via the Ohio River). The Ports of Indiana manages three major ports which include Burns Harbor, Jeffersonville, and Mount Vernon.

Education

Indiana's 1816 constitution was the first in the country to implement a state-funded public school system. It also allotted one township for a public university. However, the plan turned out to be far too idealistic for a pioneer society, as tax money was not accessible for its organization. In the 1840s, Caleb Mills pressed the need for tax-supported schools, and in 1851 his advice was included in the new state constitution. Although the growth of the public school system was held up by legal entanglements, many public elementary schools were in use by 1870. Most children in Indiana attend public schools, but nearly 10 percent attend private and parochial schools. About one-half of all college students in Indiana are enrolled in state-supported four-year schools. The largest institution is Indiana University, which was sanctioned as Indiana Seminary in 1820. Purdue University was commission as a land-grant college in 1865. The three other state universities are Indiana State University, Ball State University and the University of Southern Indiana. Many of the private colleges and universities in Indiana are affiliated with religious groups. The University of Notre Dame is a highly regarded Roman Catholic school. Schools affiliated with Protestant denominations are DePauw University, Earlham College and Valparaiso University.

Sports

Professional sports

Indiana has an extensive history with auto racing. Indianapolis hosts the Indianapolis 500 mile race over Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway every May. The name of the race is usually shortened to "Indy 500" and also goes by the nickname "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." The race attracts over 250,000 people every year making it the largest single day sporting event in the world. The track also hosts the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (NASCAR) and the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix (MotoGP). From 2000 to 2007, it hosted the United States Grand Prix (Formula One). Indiana is also host to two major unlimited hydroplane racing power boat race circuits in the major H1 Unlimited league: Thunder on the Ohio (Evansville, Indiana) and the Madison Regatta (Madison, Indiana).

Indiana has a rich basketball heritage that reaches back to the formative years of the sport itself. Although James Naismith developed basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891, Indiana is where high school basketball was born. In 1925, Naismith visited an Indiana basketball state finals game along with 15,000 screaming fans and later wrote "Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport." The 1986 film Hoosiers is based on the story of the 1954 Indiana state champions Milan High School.

Club	Sport	League
Elkhart Express	Basketball	International Basketball League
Evansville IceMen	Ice hockey	All American Hockey League
Evansville Otters	Baseball	Frontier League
FC Indiana	Soccer	Women's Premier Soccer League
Fort Wayne Fever	Soccer	USL Premier Development League
Fort Wayne Flash	Football	Women's Football Alliance
Fort Wayne Freedom	Arena football	Continental Indoor Football League
Fort Wayne Komets	Ice hockey	International Hockey League
Fort Wayne Mad Ants	Basketball	NBA Development League
Fort Wayne Pistons (now Detroit Pistons)	Basketball	National Basketball Association
Fort Wayne TinCaps	Baseball	Midwest League
Gary SouthShore RailCats	Baseball	Northern League
Gary Steelheads	Basketball	International Basketball League
Indiana Fever	Basketball	Women's National Basketball Association
Indiana Ice	Ice hockey	United States Hockey League
Indiana Pacers	Basketball	National Basketball Association, formerly, the American Basketball Association
Indiana Invaders	Soccer	USL Premier Development League
Indiana Speed	Football	Women's Professional Football League
Indianapolis Colts	Football	National Football League
Indianapolis Indians	Baseball	International League
South Bend Silver Hawks	Baseball	Midwest League
Chi Town Shooters	Hockey	All American Hockey League

College sports

Indiana has had great sports success at the collegiate level. Notably, Indiana University has won five NCAA basketball championships, six swimming and diving NCAA championships, and seven NCAA soccer championships and Notre Dame has won 11 football championships. Schools fielding NCAA Division I athletic programs include:

Ball State Cardinals Butler Bulldogs Evansville Purple Aces Indiana Hoosiers Indiana State Sycamores

IPFW Mastodons IUPUI Jaguars Notre Dame Fighting Irish Purdue Boilermakers Valparaiso Crusaders

Other sports

The Hilly Hundred is a bicycle tour that attracts 5,000 cycling enthusiasts each year. The course runs through Greene, Monroe and Owen counties.

The Bands of America and ISSMA marching band competitions take place here and have many finalist bands including Avon High School (ranked seven years in a row), Lawrence Central High School (two-time grand national champion), Carmel High School, Ben Davis High School, Castle High School, Knox High School (Bands of America Class A Grand Champion) and Center Grove High School.

Miscellaneous

Military installations

Indiana used to be home to two major military installations, Grissom Air Force Base near Peru (realigned to an Air Force Reserve installation in 1994) and Fort Benjamin Harrison near Indianapolis, now closed, though the Department of Defense continues to operate a large finance center there.

Current active installations include Air National Guard fighter units at Fort Wayne, and Terre Haute airports (to be consolidated at Fort Wayne under the 2005 BRAC proposal, with the Terre Haute facility remaining open as a non-flying installation). The Army National Guard conducts operations at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Indiana and helicopter operations out of Shelbyville Airport. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division is in the southwest of the state and the Army's Newport Chemical Depot, which is currently heavily involved in neutralizing dangerous chemical weapons stored there, is in the western part of the state. Also, Naval Operational Support Center Indianapolis is home to several Navy Reserve units, a Marine Reserve unit, and a small contingent of active and full-time-support reserve personnel.

Time zones

Indiana is one of thirteen U.S. states that is divided into more than one time zone. Indiana's time zones have fluctuated over the past century. At present most of the state observes Eastern Time; six counties near Chicago and six near Evansville observe Central Time. Debate continues on the matter.

Before 2006, most of Indiana did not observe daylight saving time (DST). Some counties within this area, particularly Floyd, Clark, and Harrison counties near Louisville, Kentucky, and Ohio and Dearborn counties near Cincinnati, Ohio, unofficially observed DST by local custom. Since April 2006 the entire state observes DST. Although DST is supposed to save energy, a 2008 study of billing data before and after the change in 2006 concluded that residential electricity consumption had increased by 1% to 4%, primarily due to extra afternoon cooling.

See also

• Index of Indiana-related articles
• List of people from Indiana

References

1. States ranked by population density
2. Brill, p. 31-32.
3. Brill, p. 33.
4. Brill, p. 35.
5. Brill, pp. 36-37.
6. Funk, pp. 23-24,163
7. Gray (1995), p. 156
8. Funk, p. 3-4
9. Gray (1995), p. 202.
10. Gray (1995), p. 13.
11. Brill, p. 47.
12. Pell, p. 31.
13. Gray (1995), p. 350.
14. Gray (1995), p. 382
15. Gray (1995), pp. 391-392
16. Moore p. 11
17. Logan, Cumings, Malott, Visher, Tucker & Reeves, p. 70
18. Logan, Cumings, Malott, Visher, Tucker & Reeves, p. 82
19. Pell, p. 56
20. Moore, p. 13
21. Moore, pp. 11-13
22. http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/state/18_2000.asp
23. Bodenhamer, Barrows and Vanderstel, p. 696
24. Bodenhamer, Barrows and Vanderstel, p. 416
25. Indiana State Chamber of Commerce (2007), p. 10
26. Indiana State Chamber of Commerce (2007), p. 13
27. Indiana State Chamber of Commerce (2005), p. 11
28. Indiana State Chamber of Commerce (2005), p. 14
29. Gray (1977), p. 23
30. Gray (1977), p. 82
31. Gray (1977), p. 118
32. Gray (1977), p. 162
33. Bureau of Economic Analysis: Gross State Product
34. Bureau of Economic Analysis: Annual State Personal Income
35. WNDU-TV: News Story: Bayer is leaving Elkhart - November 16, 2005
36. Indiana's Renewable Energy Resources Retrieved 20 August 2008
37. U.S. Wind Energy Projects - Indiana Retrieved 20 August 2008
38. Matthew J. Kotchen; Laura E. Grant (2008-02-08). "Does daylight saving time save energy? evidence from a natural experiment in Indiana" (PDF) in Environmental and Energy Economics Program Meeting. Preliminary Program, National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.

Bibliography

• Indiana Writer's Project. Indiana: A Guide To The Hoosier State: American Guide Series (1937), famous WPA Guide to every location; strong on history, architecture and culture; reprinted 1973
• Carmony, Donald Francis. Indiana, 1816 to 1850: The Pioneer Era (1998)
• Jackson, Marion T., editor. The Natural Heritage of Indiana. © 1997, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana. ISBN 0-2533-3074-2.* James H. Madison. The Indiana Way: A State History (1990)
• Skertic, Mark and Watkins, John J. A Native's Guide to Northwest Indiana (2003)
• Taylor, Robert M., ed. The State of Indiana History 2000: Papers Presented at the Indiana Historical Society's Grand Opening (2001)
• Taylor, Robert M., ed. Indiana: A New Historical Guide (1990), highly detailed guide to cities and recent history

External links

Directory

Government

• Indiana's Official Website
• Indiana General Assembly
• Indiana Judicial System
• Indiana Chamber of Commerce
• Indiana Constitution
• Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
• Indiana Department of Transportation

Culture and history

• Indiana State Emblems
• Indiana Historical Society
• Road to Indiana Statehood
• Indiana Arts Council
• Indiana Historical Bureau

Tourism and recreation

• Indiana's Official Travel Planning Source
• Indiana Travel and Tourism Information
• Indiana Department of Tourism
• Indiana Recreation Guide
• Indiana State Parks

Geography

• USGS Scientific Resources of Indiana
• Indiana State Facts from USDA
• Historic Indiana Atlases
• Historic Indiana Maps
• Historic Guides to the Communities of Indiana
• Indiana State Climate Office
• Indiana Geography and Geology Facts

International community and business resources

• Indiana District Export Council
• Indiana Foreign Trade Offices
• Nationalities Council of Indiana
• Ports of Indiana
• U.S. Export Assistance Center
• World Trade Club of Indiana