Ohio Facts
Ohio is one of the most important states in the USA. It’s a center of industry and many great names in American history and even pop culture call Ohio home. Learn more with these 70 Ohio facts.
- 01Ohio covers an estimated total area of 116,000 km².
- 02Water makes up an estimated 10,000 km² or 9% of the state’s area.
- 03An estimated 11.8 million people live in the state today.
- 04Ohio has an estimated population density of 109 people for every km².
- 05At its lowest point on the Ohio River, Ohio has an estimated elevation of 139 meters above sea level.
Ohio has distinctive geography.
For starters, its position has turned into crossroads for trade and movement between the American Northeast and the Midwest. Pennsylvania is to the east, West Virginia is to the southeast, Kentucky is to the south, Indiana is to the west, and Michigan is to the northwest. Lake Erie defines Ohio’s northern border, further expanding the state’s trading capacity, in particular, through the port cities of Cleveland and Toledo.
The Ohio River similarly defines the state’s southern border and also expands its trading capacity through river trade and transport. Ironically, following a US Supreme Court ruling in 1980, most of the Ohio River legally belongs to Kentucky and West Virginia. Ohio itself owns only the portion of the river between the modern high-water mark and a 1792 low-water mark.
Earthquakes regularly erupt in the state.
Ohio actually forms part of the Southern Great Lakes Seismic Zone and even has a seismic zone of its own, the Western Ohio Seismic Zone. Scientists have actually recorded an estimated 200 earthquakes in Ohio since 1776. That said, most of them barely register to the state’s residents, with the strongest quake recorded taking place in 1937. With its epicenter in Western Ohio, the quake had a magnitude of 5.4 and shook the village of Anna in Shelby County.
Other major quakes in Ohio include the 1884 Lima Earthquake, which had a magnitude of 4.8. There’s also the magnitude 4.1 Portsmouth Earthquake of 1901, and the 1986 LeRoy Earthquake. The LeRoy Earthquake had a magnitude of 5 and triggered aftershocks of up to magnitude 2.4 for the next two months.
Campbell Hill makes up the state’s highest point.
Located in the city of Bellefontaine, Campbell Hill rises up to a height of 472 meters. In 1951, during the Cold War, the US Air Force opened Bellefontaine Air Force Station on the hill. There they based an early-warning radar for the 664th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron. The formation of NORAD in 1958 led to a shift in military strategy, and the US Air Force closed Bellefontaine Air Force Station in 1969.
Today, the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center occupies the hill and has done so since 1974. More recently, a petition to rename the hill after former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin arrived before the White House in 2015.
Ohio has a largely uniform climate.
Most of Ohio enjoys a humid continental climate, featuring hot and humid summers as well cool to cold winters. Southern Ohio makes up the exception, instead having a humid subtropical climate featuring hot and humid summers with mild winters. Temperatures in the state can get as high as 45 degrees Celsius in summer, and as low as 39 degrees below zero Celsius in winter.
Tornadoes also sometimes strike the state, but Ohio itself does not form part of North America’s Tornado Alley. Severe snowstorms also regularly strike Ohio’s shores along Lake Erie in winter, giving the area the local nickname of the Snowbelt.