Search results
The climate of Ohio is a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa/Dfb) throughout most of the state, except in the extreme southern counties of Ohio's Bluegrass region section, which are located on the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and Upland South region of the United States. Summers are typically hot and humid throughout the state, while ...
Jan 22, 2024 · Ohio, from northwest to southeast, is divisible into two primary geographic regions: The Central Lowland is the geographical region that covers most of the northern part of Ohio. Within this region, the Huron-Erie Lake Plains stretch along the Lake Erie shoreline, providing Ohio with approximately 312 miles (502 kilometers) of coastline, which is the state's only direct access to major bodies ...
- Columbus
- State of Ohio
- US-OH
- Overview
- Land
- Relief
- Drainage
- Soils
Ohio, constituent state of the United States of America, on the northeastern edge of the Midwest region. Lake Erie lies on the north, Pennsylvania on the east, West Virginia and Kentucky on the southeast and south, Indiana on the west, and Michigan on the northwest. Ohio ranks 34th in terms of total area among the 50 states, and it is one of the smallest states west of the Appalachian Mountains. The state ranks near the top, however, in population. Ohio’s capital, after being located in Chillicothe and Zanesville during the early years of statehood, was finally established in newly founded and centrally located Columbus in 1816. The state takes its name from the Ohio River, which in turn traces its name to an Iroquoian word meaning “great water.”
The first state to be carved from the Northwest Territory, Ohio became the 17th member of the union on March 1, 1803. In many respects, Ohio has come to reflect the urbanized, industrialized, and ethnically mixed United States that developed from an earlier agrarian period. The pattern of its life is so representative of the country as a whole that it is often used to test attitudes, ideas, and commercial products. Significantly, Ohio has supplied by birth or residence eight U.S. presidents—William H. Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William H. Taft, and Warren G. Harding.
The state’s accessibility has been perhaps the key factor in its growth. Its location between the Eastern Seaboard and the heart of the Midwest and its lack of natural barriers to movement made it a corridor for east-west travel. In addition, the state lies in the heart of the country’s old industrial belt, close to major resources of raw materials and labour and to the markets of the East, Midwest, and South.
Area 44,826 square miles (116,098 square km). Population (2020) 11,799,448; (2023 est.) 11,785,935.
Britannica Quiz
U.S. State Capitals Quiz
The physiographic features of Ohio have strongly influenced its patterns of human settlement and land use. In most of the state, the topography, river systems, groundwater, and soils are the products of glacial activity.
Ohio straddles two major subregions of the Interior Lowlands physiographic region of the United States: the Appalachian Plateau on the east and the Central Lowland on the west. These two subregions divide the state almost in half. The Appalachian Plateau, reaching westward from Pennsylvania and West Virginia, stretches along Ohio’s eastern border, roughly from Lake Erie in the north to the Ohio River in the south. The northeast is only partially glaciated, while the southeast is unglaciated terrain. Throughout the plateau the land is dissected by rivers winding among steep hills, and many areas reach elevations of some 1,300 feet (395 metres).
Exclusive academic rate for students! Save 67% on Britannica Premium.
Learn More
The Central Lowland reaches westward from the Appalachian Plateau. The Lake Plains section of the lowland extends along Lake Erie and across the northwestern segment of the state to the Michigan border, before stretching irregularly to the south. It then levels to become slightly rolling terrain that was once under water; the swampiness of the northwest, around Toledo, posed obstacles to settlement before drainage made the land more arable. The Central (or Till) Plains, which extend westward toward the Mississippi River, include parts of western and southwestern Ohio and provide a deep soil. That region contains the state’s highest and lowest points: Campbell Hill, the highest point, at 1,549 feet (472 metres), is located near Bellefontaine; the lowest point, at 433 feet (132 metres), lies at the confluence of the Miami and Ohio rivers, near Cincinnati.
The principal water sources are rain-fed streams, lakes, and reservoirs. Floods, once prevalent, have generally been brought under control by state and federal dams and other conservation measures. Groundwater is used widely for public supplies, though the industrial and population centres have limited access to these resources. Huge stores of these waters are buried in preglacial valleys in central and south-central Ohio.
Lake Erie, with an average depth of only 62 feet (19 metres), is the shallowest of the Great Lakes. It is also the most tempestuous, with frontal storms often roaring across it from Canada, and the most liable to shoreline erosion, harbour silting, and filling of its bed. Its shallowness, coupled with the concentration of population, farms, and industrial plants in its watersheds, led to severe pollution by the mid-20th century. Subsequent attempts to abate pollution in Lake Erie have shown signs of success, however. Fish returned to previously uninhabitable waters, a revival of sport fishing and recreational activity stimulated economic growth along the shoreline, and urban water supplies were protected.
Most of Ohio’s soils are well suited to agriculture. The naturally fertile Central Plains soils contain glacial limestone, and they also are rich in phosphates—one of the principal ingredients in fertilizer. Lake Plains soils also are highly productive. The sandstone-based soils of central and northeastern Ohio are best adapted to pasturelands, whi...
www.ohio.gov. Ohio is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads. At the time of European contact and in the years which followed, Native Americans in present day Ohio include the Iroquois, Miamis, and Wyandot. Beginning in the 1700s, the area was ...
Till Plains. The Till Plains are located south of the Lake Erie Plains in western Ohio. It is a gently rolling landscape and is one of the most fertile farming regions in the United States. The Till Plains is the beginning of the Corn Belt. The highest point in Ohio is Campbell Hill (1,550 feet above sea level) is in Logan County.
- Campbell Hill1,549 ft.
- 850 ft.
- Ohio River455 ft.
Ohio is a state comprised of 44,825 square miles in the Midwest region of the United States. It is bordered on the north by Michigan and Lake Erie, on the east by Pennsylvania, on the southeast by West Virginia, on the south by Kentucky, and on the west by Indiana. Geographical center: Centerburg, Knox County (40°18’16” N, 82°41’44” W)
People also ask
Where is Ohio located?
Is Ohio a state?
What is the central lowland region of Ohio?
What states border Ohio?
What is the topography of Ohio?
Where is the northern border of Ohio?
The Ohio Country (Ohio Territory, [a] Ohio Valley[b]) was a name used for a loosely defined region of colonial North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and south of Lake Erie. Control of the territory and the region's fur trade was disputed in the 17th century by the Iroquois, Huron, Algonquin, other Native American tribes, and France.