Indiana, “The Crossroads of America,” is near the center of the Midwest. Indiana is bordered on the north by Michigan and Lake Michigan, while the Ohio River separates it from Kentucky on the south. The Wabash River forms much of Indiana’s border with its western neighbor, Illinois. Its eastern neighbor is Ohio.
About seven eighths of Indiana was once forested. Settlers harvested trees for the timber industry and cleared forests for farmland. Today, Indiana is often described as a land of corn and limestone.
From Lake Michigan in the north to the Ohio River, Indiana’s landscapes vary widely. The state can be roughly divided into three regions—the northern lake plain, central till plain, and southern hills and lowland region.
Although manufacturing has become very important, Indiana remains a part of the “Corn Belt,” which stretches westward across Illinois and Iowa. Most of Indiana’s farms sprawl across the fertile soils of the central part of the state. This region is called the central till plain for the till, or jumbled earth materials, left by melting glaciers. It is mainly level, broken in places by low hills and shallow valleys.
The southern hills and lowlands is Indiana’s most scenic region. In the west are the Wabash lowlands, a generally flat, fertile farming area. The central portion of this region was untouched by Ice Age glaciers. Easily dissolved by rain, limestones have been eroded into scenic knobs and deep valleys. The region is riddled with numerous sinkholes, underground rivers, caves and mineral springs.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
