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Ohio is one of the midwestern states of the United States. The midwest
is known for it's beautiful springs, mild summers, cool, gorgeous falls, and snowy winters. Nowhere in the United States do you get such
a dramatic experience of all four seasons during the year.
Ohio is located in the Great Lakes region of the United States. It is
bordered by Pennsylvania (NE) West Virginia (SE), Kentucky (S), Indiana (W), and Michigan and Lake Erie (N).
 Area, 41,222 sq mi (106,765 sq km).
Pop. (2000) 11,353,140, a 4.7% increase
since the 1990 census.
Capital and largest city, Columbus.
Motto,
With God, All Things Are Possible.
State bird, cardinal.
State
flower, scarlet carnation.
State tree, buckeye.
From the dunes on Lake Erie to the gorge-cut plateau along the Ohio
River, from which Ohio takes its name, the land is fairly flat, with some pleasant rolling country and, in the southeast, small
rugged hills leading to the mountains of West Virginia. Before the coming of settlers to the state, it was covered with miles of virgin forest, but today
only vestiges of the trees that helped to build the many cities remain. Columbus is the capital and largest city. Cleveland is the center of the state's
largest metropolitan area. Other major cities are Cincinnati , Toledo, and Akron .
In spite of massive industrial decline since the 1960s, which has made Ohio
the center of the “Rust Belt,” the state retains many manufacturing centers, with an emphasis on heavy industry. Leading products include
transportation equipment, primary and fabricated metals, and machinery.
Ohio is highly industrialized, yet it also continues to draw economic riches
from the earth. Among national leaders in the production of lime, clays, and salt, it is a historic center of ceramic and glass industries. Ohio's soil
supports rich farms, especially where it was improved ages ago by additions of glacier-ground limestone. Although most of the state's income is
derived from commerce and manufacturing, Ohio also has extensive farmland, and large amounts of corn, soybeans, hay, wheat, cattle, hogs, and
dairy items are produced, although the number of family farms is rapidly dwindling.
Ohio Climate
Lying in the humid continental zone, Ohio has a generally temperate climate. Winters are cold
and summers mild in the eastern highlands. The southern region has the warmest temperatures and longest growing season—198 days on the
average, compared with 150 to 178 days in the remainder of the state. More than half of the annual rainfall occurs during the growing season, from May
to October.
Among the major cities, Columbus, in the central region, has an annual mean temperature of
51°F (11°C), with a normal maximum of 61°F (16°C) and a normal minimum of 42°F (6°C). Cleveland, in the north, has an annual mean of 50°F (10°
C), with a normal maximum of 59°F (15°C) and minimum of 41°F (5°C). The mean temperature in Cincinnati, in the south, is 53°F (12°C), the normal
maximum 63°F (17°C), and the normal minimum 43°F (6°C). Cleveland has an average of 127 days per year in which the temperature drops to 32°
(0°C) or lower, Columbus 124 days, and Cincinnati 99 days. The record low temperature for the state is –39°F (–39°C), set at Milligan on 10 February
1899. The record high is 113°F (45°C), registered near Gallipolis on 21 July 1934.
*Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003.
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