Indiana

Smallest state of Midwestern USA, bordered to the northeast by Michigan, to the east by Ohio, to the south and southeast by Kentucky, and to the west by Illinois; area 92,895 sq km/35,867 sq mi; population (2006) 6,313,500; capital Indianapolis. It is situated in the Central Lowlands of the USA, with lakes and low hills in the north and wide expanses of fertile agricultural land in the centre. In the northwest, Indiana has a 72 km-/45 mi-long shoreline on Lake Michigan, and there are steep hills and limestone caverns in the south. Mining and manufacturing, especially coal and steel production, make significant contributions to the economy of the region, and car manufacture is a particularly important industry. Indiana's agricultural output includes corn (particularly popcorn), soybeans, apples, and hogs. The principal cities are Fort Wayne, Gary, Evansville, and South Bend. Rapid industrial development after the American Civil War led to Indiana becoming one of the leading industrial states at the beginning of the 20th century, a position helped by the state's early association with car and machinery manufacture. Indiana was admitted to the Union in 1816 as the 19th US state.