| Indiana
is bounded on the north by Lake Michigan and the state of Michigan; on the
east by Ohio; on the south by Kentucky, with which it shares the Ohio
River as a border; and on the west by Illinois. Indiana is one of the
Great Lakes states. The 475 mile (764 km) long Wabash River bisects the
state from northeast to southwest and has given Indiana two theme songs. One
is the state song "On the Banks of the Wabash" as well as "The Wabash
Cannonball". The White River (a tributary of the Wabash, which is a
tributary of the Ohio) runs through central Indiana. Indianapolis and
Muncie are large cities on this river. Evansville, the third largest city
in Indiana, is located on the Ohio River, which forms the entirity of the
Indiana-Kentucky border. Most of northern Indiana is very flat farmland
dotted with small towns, such as North Manchester. Northern Indiana is
mostly farmland; however, the northwest corner of the state is part of the
greater metropolitan area of Chicago and is therefore more densely
populated. Gary, a city on Lake Michigan, is effectively a suburb of
Chicago, even though it is in Indiana. South Bend (home to Notre Dame),
Mishawaka, Elkhart and Goshen have become a single metropolitan area over the past 20 years
(spanning two counties). The Kankakee River, which winds through northern
Indiana, serves somewhat as a demarcating line between rural and suburban
northwest Indiana. Southern Indiana is a mixture of farmland and forest.
The Hoosier National Forest is a 200,000 acre (80,900 ha) nature preserve
near Bedford. Southern Indiana generally contains more hills and
geographic variation than the northern portion. |
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