State bird
Northern cardinal
Sources: Designation & background
Local timeIndianapolis ·
U.S. States / Midwest · Card 014
Indiana
The Hoosier State
Wind and waves along Lake Michigan created the dunes of northern Indiana.
Indiana and its surroundings
● State capital · Gold highlights Indiana.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
At a glance
- Capital
- Indianapolis
- Postal abbreviation
- IN
- Population
- 6,973,333July 1, 2025 · Census estimate
- Total area
- 94,326 km²36,420 square miles · land and water
- Statehood
- December 11, 1816State number 19
- Region
- Midwest
Sources: Census · population · Census · area
State symbols & traditions
State song
On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away
Sources: Designation & background
Geography & flag
01
Location
Neighboring states: Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio.
02
Landscape & places
Wind and waves along Lake Michigan created the dunes of northern Indiana. Behind the beach, wetlands, prairie and woods form a mosaic of habitats. The national park protects ecological variety within a relatively short stretch of shoreline.
03
Land and water
The total area includes 92,789 km² of land and 1,537 km² of water, according to Census area measurements.
State flag
A gold torch and stars on a blue field.
Sources: Census · geographic reference · Census · area measurements · National Park Service · Indiana Dunes
How the landscape works
Indiana Dunes demonstrates that a Great Lakes shoreline has more than beaches. Wind and waves move sand, while wetlands, woods, and prairie occur nearby. Small distances can contain major habitat differences. The dunes are landforms created and changed by physical processes, not permanent barriers that hold the shoreline in place forever.
History
How Indiana became a state
The Northwest Ordinance established a process through which territories could become states. After Indiana Territory met the conditions for admission, Congress passed an enabling act in April 1816, allowing its people to write a constitution and organize a state government.
Delegates met at Corydon and adopted Indiana’s first constitution. It divided government into legislative, executive and judicial branches and prohibited slavery, although equal political rights did not extend to everyone. Indiana entered the Union on December 11, 1816. Statehood replaced territorial government with a state government operating under its own constitution.
Read more: Historical source ↗
Why this mattered
Statehood required political steps, including drafting a constitution and obtaining admission to the Union. It was not simply the moment settlers first arrived or a population total was counted. Indiana’s 1816 constitution set out institutions for the new state. Reading the process as a sequence helps distinguish local settlement, territorial government, and state government.
Key dates
-
Indiana Territory created
-
Illinois Territory separated
-
Statehood · State number 19
Sources: Congressional Research Service · statehood · U.S. Census Bureau · historical geography · National Park Service
People and place
Indigenous history and communities today
The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s history includes homelands in the Great Lakes region, including Indiana. Its current governmental location is not a map of the full geographic reach of Miami history.
Continue with Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. This is one starting point, not a complete account of the peoples connected to this land.
Compare
Indiana and Illinois
| Measure | Indiana | Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2025) | 6,973,333 | 12,719,141 |
| Land area (km²) | 92,789 | 143,793 |
| People per km² of land | 75.2 | 88.5 |
Illinois has more people per square kilometer of land. Population density divides population by land area. It is an average across the whole jurisdiction, not a claim that residents are evenly spread out.
Calculated from the Census population series and land-area measurements used on these pages. Rounded figures; water area is excluded. Explore Illinois.
Economy
Main activities
In 2025, manufacturing was the largest of the broad industry groups compared here by current-dollar output. Other major groups included real estate and rental and leasing, professional and business services, and educational services, health care, and social assistance.
Total economic output was $545.2 billion in current dollars in 2025.
Largest industry groups · 2025
- Manufacturing: 24.0%
- Real estate and rental and leasing: 10.5%
- Professional and business services: 9.6%
- Educational services, health care, and social assistance: 9.6%
Share of total current-dollar GDP. These figures measure output, not employment.
Sources: BEA · annual GDP by state, SAGDP2
Production, jobs and wages answer different questions
The industry chart measures the value of production. It does not count workers. An industry with a large share of GDP need not employ the most people or pay the highest wages. Employment and wage data would be needed to answer those questions.
Population & economic trends
Population, 2020–2025
Millions of people6.972025 · millions of people
July 1 resident population estimates, using the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 series.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau
View data table
| Year | People |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 6,790,290 |
| 2021 | 6,814,223 |
| 2022 | 6,841,491 |
| 2023 | 6,881,373 |
| 2024 | 6,934,754 |
| 2025 | 6,973,333 |
Real GDP, 2010–2025
Billions of chained 2017 dollars422.442025 · billions of chained 2017 dollars
Real GDP measures economic output adjusted for inflation. The chart uses BEA’s chained 2017 dollars.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
View data table
| Year | Millions of chained 2017 dollars |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 320,731.8 |
| 2011 | 321,532.8 |
| 2012 | 323,876.2 |
| 2013 | 333,207.4 |
| 2014 | 343,827.8 |
| 2015 | 341,205.2 |
| 2016 | 348,439.2 |
| 2017 | 357,535.8 |
| 2018 | 368,762.9 |
| 2019 | 370,507.2 |
| 2020 | 359,963.6 |
| 2021 | 386,872.8 |
| 2022 | 393,481.5 |
| 2023 | 400,369.5 |
| 2024 | 412,003.4 |
| 2025 | 422,438.7 |
Read the trend, then ask what explains it
Indiana’s population increased by about 2.7% between 2020 and 2025 in this series. That shows the size of the change. The chart alone cannot tell us how much came from births, deaths or migration.
Real GDP adjusts for changes in prices, so it helps compare production over time. Current-dollar GDP includes price changes. Neither measure tells us how income is distributed among residents.
Representation
- Electoral votes
- 112024 & 2028 elections
- Voting U.S. House seats
- 92020 Census allocation
- U.S. Senate seats
- 2
Electoral votes equal the state’s U.S. House seats plus its two U.S. Senate seats. These allocations apply to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.
Practice
Test your knowledge
Use the explanations and data on this page to answer ten questions. Hints and links to the relevant sections are available throughout.
10 questions about Indiana
Show a hint
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Sources & notes
Narrative and quiz updated 5 October 2026. Statistical data prepared 27 September 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025, July 1 estimates for 2020–2025. Real GDP: BEA annual state accounts, SAGDP9, millions of chained 2017 dollars; industry shares: SAGDP2, current dollars. Data downloaded 27 September 2026. Area measurements include land and water.
Sources: Census · population estimates · BEA · state GDP · Census · area measurements · Natural Earth · map data
The capital clock shows current local time. Statistical figures are dated estimates and may be revised.
Updated 29 October 2026. Statistics retain the dated series shown in the charts; these are not live figures. Sources are linked beside each topic.