Ohio is a state in the United States. Historically a part of the Midwest, Ohio is a cultural and geographical crossroads, which was settled by people from New England, the Middle States, Appalachia, and the upper south.
Akron Alliance Amherst Ashland Ashtabula Athens Aurora Austinburg Austintown Avon Beachwood Beavercreek Bellefontaine Bellevue Bellville Berlin Blue Ash Bluffton Boardman Bolivar Boston Heights Bowling Green Brook Park Brooklyn Brunswick Bryan Buckeye Lake Bucyrus Caldwell Cambridge Canal Winchester Canfield Canton Carrollton Celina Chillicothe Cincinnati Circleville Cleveland Clyde Columbus Concord Conneaut Copley Coshocton Cuyahoga Falls Dayton Defiance Delaware Delphos Dover Dublin East Liverpool Eastlake Elyria Englewood Euclid Fairborn Fairfield Fairlawn Fairview Park Findlay Fostoria Franklin Fremont Gallipolis Geneva Girard Greenville Grove City Harrison Heath Hebron Hilliard Hillsboro Holland Hubbard Huber Heights Huron Independence Jackson Jeffersonville Kent Kenton Kings Island Lakewood Lancaster Lebanon Lima Lisbon Logan London Macedonia Mansfield Marblehead Marietta Marion Marysville Mason Maumee Mayfield Heights Medina Mentor Miamisburg Middleburg Heights Middletown Milan Milford Millbury Millersburg Monroe Montpelier Mount Gilead Mount Orab Mount Vernon Napoleon New Paris New Philadelphia Newark Newcomerstown Newton Falls Niles North Canton North Lima North Olmsted North Randall North Ridgeville Northwood Norwalk Norwood Oberlin Obetz Oregon Oxford Perrysburg Pickerington Piketon Piqua Poland Port Clinton Portsmouth Put In Bay Reynoldsburg Richfield Rossford Sandusky Seaman Seville Sharonville Sidney Solon Springboro Springdale Springfield Steubenville Stow Strasburg Streetsboro Strongsville Sunbury Swanton Sylvania Tiffin Tipp City Toledo Troy Twinsburg Uhrichsville Uniontown Upper Sandusky Urbana Vandalia Wadsworth Wapakoneta Warren Warrensville Heights Washington Court House Wauseon Waverly West Chester Westerville Westlake Wheelersburg Wickliffe Willard Willoughby Wilmington Wooster Worthington Xenia Youngstown Zanesville
"This slice of the mid-west contains a bit of everything American—part north-eastern and part southern, part urban and part rural, part hardscrabble poverty and part booming suburb," notes The Economist. Prior to 1984, the United States Census Bureau considered Ohio part of the North Central Region. That region concept was renamed "Midwest" and split into two divisions. Ohio is now in the East North Central States division.
Ohio was the first state admitted to the Union under the Northwest Ordinance. Its U.S. postal abbreviation is OH; its old-style abbreviation is O. Ohio is an Iroquois word meaning "good river." The name refers to the Ohio River that forms its southern border.
The United States Navy has named several ships USS Ohio in honor of this state.
Ohio's geographic location has proved to be an asset for economic growth and expansion. Because Ohio links the Northeast to the Midwest, much cargo and business traffic passes through its borders on its well-developed highways. Ohio has the nation's 10th largest highway network, and is within a one-day drive of 50% of North America's population and 70% of North America's manufacturing capacity. To the North, Lake Erie gives Ohio 312 miles (502 km) of coastline, which allows for numerous seaports. 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. It borders Pennsylvania on the east, Michigan in the northwest near Toledo, Ontario, Canada across Lake Erie to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, and West Virginia on the southeast.
Much of Ohio features glaciated plains, with an exceptionally flat area in the northwest being known as the Great Black Swamp. This glaciated region in the northwest and central state is bordered to the east and southeast first by a belt known as the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, and then by another belt known as the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Most of Ohio is of low relief, but the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau features rugged hills and forests.
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.
Significant rivers within the state include the Cuyahoga River, Great Miami River, Maumee River, Muskingum River, and Scioto River. 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.
Grand Lake St. Marys in the west central part of the state was constructed as a supply of water for canals in the canal-building era of 1820–1850. For many years this body of water, over 20 square miles (52 km˛), was the largest artificial lake in the world. It should be noted that Ohio's canal-building projects were not the economic fiasco that similar efforts were in other states. Some cities, such as Dayton, owe their industrial emergence to location on canals, and as late as 1910 interior canals carried much of the bulk freight of the state.
Many major east-west transportation corridors go through Ohio. One of those pioneer routes, known in the early 1900's as "Ohio Market Route 3", was chosen in 1913 to become part of the historical Lincoln Highway which was America's first transcontinental road, connecting New York City to San Francisco. In Ohio, the Lincoln Highway linked many towns and cities together, including Canton, Mansfield, Lima, and Van Wert. The arrival of the Lincoln Highway to Ohio was a major influence on the development of the state. Upon the advent of the federal numbered highway system in 1926, the Lincoln Highway through Ohio became U.S. Highway 30.
Going on a trip? Why not browse some of the luggage at eBags.com (external source)
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. Major north-south routes include I-75 in the west through Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati, I-71 through the middle of the state from Cleveland through Columbus and Cincinnati into Kentucky, and I-77 in the eastern part of the state from Cleveland through Akron, Canton, New Philadelphia and Marietta down into West Virginia.
Your vacation. A time to lose yourself. And sometimes your luggage, too. Need Travel Insurance? Why not try Travel Guard (external source)
Known as the "Mother of Presidents", eight U.S. presidents hailed from Ohio at the time of their elections. In comparison, the State of Virginia is similarly known as the "Birthplace of Presidents" with eight U.S. presidents born there. 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.
In 1835, Ohio fought a mostly bloodless boundary war with Michigan over the Toledo Strip known as the Toledo War. Congress intervened and, as a condition for admittance as a state of the Union, Michigan was forced to accept the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula in exchange for giving up its claim to the Toledo Strip.
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.
In 1912 a Constitutional Convention was held with Charles B. Galbreath as Secretary. The result reflected the concerns of the Progressive Era. It introduced the initiative and the referendum, allowed the General Assembly to put questions on the ballot for the people to ratify laws and constitutional amendments originating in the Legislature as well. Under the Jeffersonian principle that laws should be reviewed once a generation, the constituation provided for a recurring question to appear on Ohio's general election ballots every 20 years. The question asks whether a new convention is required. Although the question has appeared in 1932, 1952, 1972, and 1992, it has never been approved. Instead constitutional amendments have been proposed by petition and the legislature hundreds of times and adopted in a majority of cases.
Lonely Planet Maps (external source)
Lonely Planet Language Guides (external source)
* This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Source wikipedia.
