pop (2000e) 11 353 000; area 107 040 km²/41 330 sq mi. State in E USA, divided into 88 counties; the Buckeye State; visited by La Salle in 1669 and settled by fur traders from 1685; 17th state to join the Union, 1803; capital, Columbus; other chief cities, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, Dayton; part of the Allegheny plateau; drained by the Muskingum, Scioto, and Great Miami Rivers which flow to meet the Ohio R and L Erie; grain, soybeans, vegetables, dairy cattle, livestock; coal (E and SE Appalachian coalfield), natural gas, stone, sand, gravel; major industrial centre, including steel, metal products, vehicles, paper, chemicals, rubber, clothing, electrical goods, foodstuffs.
background: none;">| Flag of Ohio | Seal of Ohio |
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Nickname(s): The Buckeye State, "Birthplace of Aviation" |
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| Motto(s): With God, all things are possible | |
| Official language(s) | None | |
| Capital | Columbus | |
| Largest city | Columbus | |
| Largest metro area | Cleveland | |
| Area | Ranked 34th | |
| - Total |
44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²) |
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| - Width | 220 miles (355 km) | |
| - Length | 220 miles (355 km) | |
| - % water | 8.7 | |
| - Latitude | 38°27'N to 41°58'N | |
| - Longitude | 80°32'W to 84°49'W | |
| Population | Ranked 7th | |
| - Total (2000) | 11,353,140 | |
| - Density |
277.26/sq mi 107.05/km² (9th) |
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| Elevation | ||
| - Highest point |
Campbell Hill 1,550 ft (472 m) |
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| - Mean | 853 ft (260 m) | |
| - Lowest point |
Ohio River 455 ft |
March 1, 1803, (17th, declared retroactively on August 7, 1953) |
| Governor | Bob Taft (R) | |
| U.S. Senators |
Mike DeWine (R) George V. Voinovich (R) |
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| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 | |
| Abbreviations | OH US-OH | |
| Web site | www.ohio.gov |
Ohio is a Midwestern state of the United States. Part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio is a cultural and geographical crossroads, which was settled by people from New England, the Middle States, Appalachia, and the upper south. Prior to 1984, the United States Census Bureau considered Ohio part of the North Central Region. Ohio is now in the East North Central States division.
Ohio was the first state admitted to the Union under the Northwest Ordinance.
The indigenous nations to inhabit Ohio in the historical period (most clearly after 1700), included the Miamis (a large confederation), Wyandots (made up of refugees, especially from the fractured Huron confederacy), Delawares (pushed west from their historic homeland in New Jersey), Shawnees (also pushed west, although they may be descended from the Fort Ancient people of Ohio), Ottawas (more commonly associated with the upper Great Lakes region), Mingos (like the Wyandot, a recently-formed composite of refugees from Iroquois and other societies) and Eries (gradually absorbed into the new, multi-ethnic "republics," namely the Wyandot). Following the Ohio Company, the Miami Company (also referred to as the "Symmes Purchase") claimed the southwestern section and the Connecticut Land Company surveyed and settled the Connecticut Western Reserve in present-day Northeast Ohio. As Ohio prepared for statehood, Indiana Territory was created, reducing the Northwest Territory to approximately the size of present-day Ohio plus the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula. Although Ohio's population numbered only 45,000 in December 1801, Congress determined that the population was growing rapidly and Ohio could begin the path to statehood with the assumption that it would exceed 60,000 residents by the time it would become a state. At a special session at the old state capital in Chillicothe, the Ohio state legislature approved a new petition for statehood that was delivered to Washington, D.C. On August 7, 1953 (the year of Ohio's 150th anniversary), President Eisenhower signed an act that officially declared March 1, 1803 the date of Ohio's admittance into the Union. While Ohio is only second as the birthplace of U.S. presidents (with seven), William Henry Harrison (born in Virginia) and his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, (who also lived part of his adult life in Indiana) settled in, led their political careers from and/or were buried in North Bend, Ohio on the family compound, founded by William's father-in-law John Cleves Symmes. Pennsylvania and Maryland fought Cresap's War over a border dispute a century earlier.)
Ohio's central position and its population gave it an important place during the Civil War, and the Ohio River was a vital artery for troop and supply movements, as were Ohio's railroads.
See also: :Category:History of OhioLaw and government
Ohio's capital is Columbus, located close to the center of the state. Ohio's southern border is defined by the Ohio River (with the border being at the 1793 low-water mark on the north side of the river), and much of the northern border is defined by Lake Erie.
Ohio's borders were defined by metes and bounds in the Enabling Act of 1802 as follows:
| Bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania line, on the south by the Ohio River, to the mouth of the Great Miami River, on the west by the line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami aforesaid, and on the north by an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east after intersecting the due north line aforesaid, from the mouth of the Great Miami until it shall intersect Lake Erie or the territorial line, and thence with the same through Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line aforesaid. |
Note that Ohio is bounded by the Ohio River, but the river itself belongs mostly to Kentucky and West Virginia.
The rugged southeastern quadrant of Ohio, stretching in an outward bow-like arc along the Ohio River from the West Virginia Panhandle to the outskirts of Cincinnati, forms a distinct socio-economic unit. Known somewhat erroneously as Ohio's "Appalachian Counties" (they are actually in the Allegheny Plateau), this area's coal mining legacy, dependence on small pockets of old manufacturing establishments, and even distinctive regional dialect set this section off from the rest of the state and, unfortunately, create a limited opportunity to participate in the generally high economic standards of Ohio. The rivers in the northern part of the state drain into the northern Atlantic Ocean via Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River, and the rivers in the southern part of the state drain into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and then the Mississippi. It should be noted that Ohio's canal-building projects were not the economic fiasco that similar efforts were in other states.
Climate
The climate of all of Ohio is a humid continental climate, although in the extreme southern counties along the Ohio River where the climate begins to border on the humid subtropical climate of the Southeastern United States.
Important cities
Below are the 2003 population estimates for the nine largest cities in Ohio and the 2000 Census figures for their accompanying metropolitan areas:
Akron city 212,215, metropolitan area 694,960 Canton city 79,255, metropolitan area 406,934 Cincinnati city 317,361, metropolitan area 2,009,632 Cleveland city 461,324, metropolitan area 2,148,143 Columbus city 728,432, metropolitan area 1,612,694 Dayton city 161,696, metropolitan area 848,153 Springfield city 64,483, metropolitan area 144,742 Toledo city 308,973, metropolitan area 659,188 Youngstown city 79,271, metropolitan area 602,964Note: The Cincinnati metropolitan area extends into Kentucky and Indiana, and the Youngstown metropolitan area extends into Pennsylvania. Ohio today also has many aerospace, defense, and NASA parts and systems suppliers scattered throughout the state.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Ohio's gross state product in 2004 was $419 billion. Immigration from outside the United States contributed of a growth of 200,000 people, most coming from Asia, yet migration of native Ohioans within the country resulted in a decrease of 74,000 people. Although Ohio grows slowly, it grows faster than states such as New York or Michigan.
| Demographics of Ohio (csv) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By race | White | Black | AIAN | Asian | NHPI |
| AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | |||||
| 2000 (total population) | 86.83% | 12.18% | 0.67% | 1.41% | 0.06% |
| 2000 (hispanic only) | 1.70% | 0.19% | 0.05% | 0.02% | 0.01% |
| 2005 (total population) | 86.27% | 12.66% | 0.66% | 1.68% | 0.07% |
| 2005 (hispanic only) | 2.05% | 0.20% | 0.05% | 0.03% | 0.01% |
| Growth 2000-2005 (total population) | 0.32% | 4.98% | -1.57% | 20.32% | 9.32% |
| Growth 2000-2005 (non-hispanic only) | -0.11% | 4.97% | -1.96% | 20.48% | 11.15% |
| Growth 2000-2005 (hispanic only) | 22.11% | 5.70% | 3.04% | 10.81% | -0.26% |
As of 2004, Ohio's population included about 390,000 foreign-born (3.4%). Ohioans who cited American and British ancestry are present throughout the state as well, particularly in the south-central part of the state.
Political demographics and history
See also: U.S. Electoral College, Ohio Democratic Party, and Ohio Republican PartyPolitically, Ohio is considered a swing state. Ohio was a deciding state in the 2004 presidential election between George W. Truman defeated Republican Thomas Dewey (who had won the state four years earlier) and in the 1976 presidential election when Democrat Jimmy Carter defeated Republican Gerald Ford by a slim margin in Ohio and took the election.
Ohio's demographics cause many to consider the state as a microcosm of the nation as a whole. A Republican presidential candidate has never won the White House without winning Ohio, and Ohio has gone to the winner of the election in all but two contests since 1892, backing only losers Thomas E. Douglas Hurt, 'had a state made such a mark on national political affairs.'
Ohioans dominated national politics for seventy years, because Ohio was to a large extent a microcosm of the nation. Consequently, Ohio's politicians addressed constituencies that were the same as those across the nation.' Finally, the pragmatic and centrist character of Ohio politics, Hurt asserts, has made it 'job-oriented rather than issue oriented.'"
Education
Ohio's system of public education is outlined in the state constitution's Article VI and Ohio's Revised Code Title XXXIII. The Ohio Board of Regents governs and assists with Ohio's system of higher education, especially public colleges and universities.
Colleges and universities
13 state universities University of Akron, Akron, Ohio Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio Kent State University, Kent, Ohio Miami University, Oxford, Ohio Ohio University, Athens, Ohio Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio (Fairborn, Ohio) Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio (note: the University of Dayton is not one of Ohio's state universities; it is a private, Roman Catholic university run by the Society of Mary) 24 state university branch and regional campuses 46 liberal arts colleges and universities 6 free-standing state-assisted medical schools University of Toledo College of Medicine (formerly Medical University of Ohio) Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine 2 private medical schools Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine 15 community colleges 8 technical colleges over 24 independent non-profit collegesProfessional sports teams
Ohio is home to many professional sports teams, including six major professional sports league franchises. Ohio is currently the only state to have teams in each of the major leagues where no one city or metro area could lay claim to the "Grand Slam."
| Major League Baseball Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Indians National Football League Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns National Basketball Association Cleveland Cavaliers National Hockey League Columbus Blue Jackets Major League Soccer Columbus Crew Arena Football League Columbus Destroyers | Minor League Baseball Akron Aeros Chillicothe Paints Columbus Clippers Dayton Dragons Lake County Captains Mahoning Valley Scrappers Toledo Mud Hens Central Hockey League Youngstown Steelhounds East Coast Hockey League Dayton Bombers Toledo Storm Cincinnati Cyclones National Indoor Football League Cincinnati Marshals Dayton Bulldogs |
Transportation
Many major east-west transportation corridors go through Ohio. The arrival of the Lincoln Highway to Ohio was a major influence on the development of the state.
Ohio also is home to 228 miles of the Historic National Road
Ohio has a highly developed network of roads and interstate highways. Major east-west through routes include the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90) in the north, I-76 through Akron to Pennsylvania, U.S. 30 (the Lincoln Highway) a bit further south through Canton, Mansfield, Lima, and Van Wert, I-70 through Columbus and Dayton, and the Appalachian Highway (Ohio 32) running from West Virginia to Cincinnati.
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