The state of Indiana can be divided into several distinct regions. •
Northwest (Hammond) – Lake, Porter, La Porte, Jasper, Starke, Newton, Pulaski •
North Central (South Bend) – St. Joseph, Elkhart, Kosciusko, Marshall, Fulton •
North East (Fort Wayne) – Allen, Noble, De Kalb, Lagrange, Huntington, Adams, Whitley, Steuben, Wells •
Lower Northwest (Lafayette) – Tippecanoe, Montgomery, Clinton, White, Carroll, Fountain, Benton, Warren •
Lower North Central (Kokomo) – Howard, Cass, Miami, Wabash, Tipton •
West Central (Terre Haute) – Vigo, Clay, Sullivan, Parke, Vermillion •
Central (Indianapolis) – Marion, Hamilton, Hendricks, Johnson, Hancock, Boone, Morgan, Shelby, Putnam •
East Central (Muncie) – Madison, Delaware, Grant, Wayne, Henry, Randolph, Fayette, Jay, Rush, Blackford, Union •
Central Southwest (Bloomington) – Monroe, Greene, Owen •
Central Southeast (Columbus) – Bartholomew, Dearborn, Jackson, Lawrence, Ripley, Jennings, Decatur, Franklin, Brown •
Southwest (Evansville) – Vanderburgh, Warrick, Dubois, Knox, Daviess, Gibson, Posey, Spencer, Perry, Pike, Martin •
Southeast (Jeffersonville / New Albany) – Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Jefferson, Washington, Scott, Orange, Crawford, Switzerland, Ohio
Northern Indiana Northern Indiana consists of 26 counties in the northern third of the state. The landscape is characterized physically by very flat to rolling terrain ranging from above sea level and is similar to central Indiana except for the presence of higher and hillier
terminal moraines and many glacial
kettle lakes in some areas. Sand dunes and sand ridges also exist along the Lake Michigan shoreline(some reaching near 200 feet in height) and inland around the
Kankakee River Basin. The
Saint Lawrence River Divide goes through Northern Indiana following the top of the
Valparaiso Moraine part of the way. Besides some
urban areas, much of Northern Indiana is farmland.
Heavy industry is as much a part of the economy in the eastern two thirds of Northern Indiana as agriculture, and, as a result, the region tends to be associated with the
Rust Belt. Northern Indiana as a whole is also the most ethnically diverse region in Indiana. The northwest corner of the state is part of the
Chicago metropolitan area and has nearly one million residents.
Gary, and the cities and towns that make up the northern half of
Lake,
Porter, and
La Porte Counties bordering on
Lake Michigan, are effectively commuter suburbs of Chicago. Porter and Lake counties are commonly referred to as "The Calumet Region". The name comes from the fact that the
Grand Calumet River and Little Calumet rivers run through the area. These counties are in the Central
Time Zone, the same as Chicago.
NICTD owns and operates the
South Shore Line, a commuter rail line that runs electric-powered trains between
South Bend and
Chicago. Sand dunes and heavy industry share the shoreline of Lake Michigan in northern Indiana. Along the shoreline of Lake Michigan in
Northern Indiana one can find many parks between the industrial areas. The
Indiana Dunes National Park and the
Indiana Dunes State Park are two natural landmarks of the area. Northwest Indiana is marked with
swell and
swale topography as it retreats South from Lake Michigan (which are remnants of the beaches of ancient Lake Michigan) and is one of the marshiest parts of the state. The ecology changes dramatically between swells, or on opposite sides of the same swell. Plants and animals adapted to marshes are generally found in the swales, while forests or even
prickly pear cactus and
six-lined racerunners are found in the dryer swells. . Much of Northern Indiana is considered part of
Amish Country and holds the nation's second largest population of such people. The
Kankakee River, which winds through northern Indiana, serves somewhat as a demarcating line between suburban northwest Indiana and the rest of the state. Before it was drained and developed for agriculture, the Kankakee Marsh was one of the largest freshwater marshes in the country. South of the Kankakee is a large area of
prairie, the eastern edge of the Grand Prairie that covers
Iowa and
Illinois. The
prairie chicken and
American bison were common in Indiana's pioneer era, but are now extinct as wild species within the state. The South Bend metropolitan area, in north central Indiana, is the center of commerce in the region better known as
Michiana. Other cities located within the area include
Elkhart,
Mishawaka,
Goshen, and
Warsaw.
Fort Wayne, the state's second largest city, is located in the northeastern part of the state where it serves the state as a transportation hub. Other cities located within the area include
Huntington and
Marion. East of Fort Wayne is an area of extremely flat land that, before development, was the westernmost reach of the
Great Black Swamp. Northeastern Indiana is home to a number of lakes, many of which are
kettle lakes, which were caused by the glaciers that covered Indiana thousands of years ago and
Glacial Lake Maumee. Some of these lakes include Lake James in
Pokagon State Park,
Lake Maxinkuckee,
Lake Wawasee and
Lake Tippecanoe. Lake Wawasee is the largest natural lake in Indiana, while Lake Tippecanoe is the deepest lake, reaching depths of over . Both lakes are located in
Kosciusko County.
Chain O' Lakes State Park, located in
Noble County, contains 11 lakes, 8 of which are connected by natural channels.
Michiana The center third of this region is known as the Indiana section of
Michiana.
South Bend is the cultural and economic center of the Michiana region.
Maumee Valley The eastern third of this region centers around the
Fort Wayne area and the
Maumee River basin.
Central Indiana Central Indiana comprises the 33 counties in the middle third of the state. However, many Hoosiers, or people living in Indiana, consider central Indiana as the
Indianapolis metropolitan area. The region's dominant city is
Indianapolis, the state capital and most populous city in Indiana. Other prominent cities include
Anderson,
Kokomo,
Lafayette,
Muncie,
Richmond, and
Terre Haute. Home to about 3.3 million people, Central Indiana is the most populous of the state's three regions. Physically, the land in Central Indiana is characterized primarily by low, gently rolling hills and shallow valleys. Some counties of the region, like
Howard County, are generally flat, while others, such as
Morgan County, are more rugged and hilly.
Tippecanoe County is trisected by the
Wabash River,
Tippecanoe River, and
Wildcat Creek, has perhaps the most diverse physiography of the region. Elevation ranges from
above sea level. Forests and farmland line Central Indiana's gently rolling plains and river valleys. The highest point in Indiana is
Hoosier Hill, at above sea level in northern
Wayne County. Rural areas in the central portion of the state are typically composed of a patchwork of
fields and
forested areas. The geography of Central Indiana consists of gently rolling hills and
sandstone ravines carved out by the retreating glaciers. Many of these ravines can be found in west-central Indiana, specifically along
Sugar Creek in
Turkey Run and
Shades state parks. Central Indiana's economy is primarily driven by health and education, agriculture, and manufacturing. Major universities include
Ball State University,
Butler University,
Purdue University,
Indiana State University,
Indiana University Indianapolis, and
Indiana Wesleyan University, among several other private liberal arts colleges, such as
DePauw,
Earlham,
Franklin, and
Wabash.
Southern Indiana Evansville, the third largest city in Indiana, is located in the southwestern corner of the state. It is located in a
tri-state area that includes Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. The southern cities of
Clarksville,
Jeffersonville, and
New Albany are part of the
Louisville metropolitan area and are in the area called Kentuckiana.
Bloomington, the home of Indiana University's main campus, and
Columbus, a small industrial city, are located in the northern part of this region called south-central Indiana.
Vincennes, founded by French traders in 1732 and the oldest settlement in the state, is located on the
Wabash River and served as the first capital of the Indiana Territory. Vincennes is also home of the
Pantheon Theatre. Indiana was settled from its southern periphery northward; many more of its oldest settlements, including its first capital,
Corydon, are in southern Indiana. Until 1950, the
United States Census found the
center of population to lie in southern Indiana. Southern Indiana is a mixture of farmland, forest and very hilly areas, especially near Louisville and in the south central lime hills areas, stretching from the Ohio River to as far north as
Greencastle, to the wide, flat valleys along the Wabash and Ohio rivers. The
Hoosier National Forest is a nature preserve in south-central Indiana. Southern Indiana's topography is more varied than that in the north and generally contains more hills and geographic variation than the northern portion, such as the
"Knobs", a series of hills that run parallel to the Ohio River in south-central Indiana. The largely flat and flood-prone bottomlands of Indiana, where the Wabash, White, and Ohio Rivers converge, hosts numerous plant and animal species normally found in the Lower Mississippi and Gulf Coast region of the United States.
Brown County is well known for its hills covered with colorful autumn foliage, the
former home of
T. C. Steele, and
Nashville, the county seat and shopping destination. Harrison and Crawford Counties boast three of the state's most popular commercial caves at
Wyandotte,
Marengo, and
Squire Boone Caverns. The
limestone geology of Southern Indiana has created numerous caves and one of the largest limestone quarry regions in the United States. Many of Indiana's official buildings, such as the
Indiana Statehouse, the downtown monuments, the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis, many buildings at
Indiana University Bloomington, and the
Indiana Government Center, are all examples of Indiana architecture made with Indiana limestone. Indiana limestone has also been used in many other famous structures in the United States, such as the
Empire State Building, the
Pentagon, and the
Washington National Cathedral. In addition, 35 of the 50 state capitols are made of Indiana limestone. ==Physiography==