INDIANA Hoosier a north central State of the United States (No. 19 in order of admission) bounded north by Michigan, south by Kentucky, east by Ohio, west by Illi nois; extreme length 276 miles, extreme breadth 177 miles; area (No. 34 in United States) 36, 350 square miles, 440 water; pop. 1910 (No. 8 in United States) 2,700,876, or 75.3 to the square mile (No. 11 in density). The State boundary in Lake Michigan is an east and west line 10 miles north of the extreme southern point of the lake. The Ohio River runs along the south ern boundary, but, by a provision of the Virginia cession of Northwest Territory, Indiana ex tends only to low-water mark on the north bank of the Ohio. In consequence all islands in the Ohio belong to Kentucky, the Supreme Court having recently held this as Green River Is land (Indiana v. Kentucky. 136 U. S.) which, although an island at the time of the cession, became connected with Indiana shore by allu vial deposits, and had been governed and taxed as of Indiana for many years.
The surface of the State is comparatively level, the highest point, in Ran dolph County, in the centre of the eastern tier of counties, being estimated at 1,285 feet above sea-level, and the lowest, at the southwest cor ner of the State, being 313 feet above sea-level. The Ohio at the southeast corner of the State is 436 feet above sea-level, and Lake Michigan at the northwest corner is 585 feet above sea level. From the table-land of the east central Part of the State, and western Ohio, radiate low water-sheds separating the drainage basins of Indiana. The northern part of the State is quite flat, the central part slightly rolling, and the southern part rather hilly on account of the valleys cut out by water. There are no moun tains, and no large lakes, but there are hun dreds of small lakes, chiefly in the northern part of the State.
River southern parts of the State are drained to the Ohio River by the Whitewater and smaller tributaries. The cen tral part of the State about four-fifths of its area — is drained by the Wabash and its tribu taries, the most important of which are the White, Tippecanoe, Eel, Salamonie and Missis sinewa Rivers, and Wild Cat Creek. The north
eastern corner of the State is drained by the Saint Joseph's and Saint Mary's Rivers ; these unite at Ft. Wayne to form the Maumee, which flows into Lake Erie. The extreme northern part of the State is drained by another Saint Joseph's, the Calumet and smaller streams, into Lake Michigan. A part of the northwestern section is drainedly the Kant:Owe dad its tribu taries to the Illinois River. The Wabash is navigated to a limited extent, by small boats, as high as Terre Haute, and also the lower part of White River. The remaining streams are not navigated.
Climate.— The Climate of Indiana is ranging from an average of 31° F. in the winter months to an average of 76° in sum mer. The mean temperature is 53°. The aver age annual rainfall is 43 inches, that in the ninthern part of the State being slightly in ex cess of that in the northern part. Serious droughts and destructive storms are rare. In earlier years parts of the State were malarial, but with the clearing of the forests and the drainage of lands this condition has almost 'wholly disappeared.
Geology.— The earliest geological forma tion that outcrops in Indiana is the Hudson and Trenton limestone, of the Silurian Age, which appears in the southeastern corner of the State, throughout the Whitewater Valley and the ad jacent region. West of this is a belt of Niagara limestone, which broadens at the north and ex tends entirely across the State, covering all of a dozen counties and large parts of as many more. On the west of this, and also extending to the State line on the north, are belts of Hamil ton limestone and sandstone of the Devonian Age. The remainder of the State— the south western corner and a broad belt to the north reaching beyond the Wabash — is of the sub carboniferous and carboniferous formations. The northern and central parts of the State are covered by glacial drift, which in some regions is of a depth of 400 feet.