Blank Indiana map

What the outline shows

The outline is the boundary only. The northern edge with Michigan is a straight line, broken at the northwest corner where about 45 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline curves in. The east edge with Ohio is a straight meridian. The south edge is the Ohio River, meandering west from the Ohio state line to the Wabash. The west edge with Illinois is straight in its upper part and follows the Wabash River in its lower part. No county borders, no cities, no interstates. Capital puts a dot at Indianapolis, almost exactly in the geographic centre, which makes it one of the easiest capitals to place. Most of the state is on Eastern time; the northwest corner near Chicago and the southwest corner near Evansville are on Central time.

Portrait or landscape

Indiana is about 270 miles from north to south and about 140 miles east to west. The shape is close to a 2:1 rectangle, so portrait is clearly the better fit; in landscape the outline shrinks to fill only the middle of the page. Portrait also keeps the Ohio River's loops along the bottom readable. If space for a written key is needed, place it in the margins to either side rather than switching to landscape.

Five classroom exercises

1. Trace the Ohio River along the entire southern border and mark Kentucky across it, including the point near Evansville where the river turns north for a stretch.
2. Draw the Wabash River from the Ohio line in the east, flowing west past Lafayette and then south to form the lower Illinois border.
3. Shade the two Central time zone areas, the northwest corner around Gary and the southwest corner around Evansville, and leave the rest as Eastern.
4. Place Indianapolis at the centre and then Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend and Gary in their corners; check the directions with the answer key.
5. Mark the short Lake Michigan shore at the northwest corner and the Indiana Dunes along it.

How to recognise the Indiana outline

• A tall rectangle with a wavy bottom edge (the Ohio River).
• The top-left corner is clipped by a curve where Lake Michigan reaches in.
• The bottom-left corner is rounded and follows the Wabash rather than a straight line.
• A sharp straight right edge and a straight top edge.

Answer key and related maps

• Indiana map — the labeled version with capital, cities and borders; use it as the answer key.
• Printable Indiana map — the same outline with cities, county lines and the capital printed on.
• Indiana county map — all 92 counties with their seats.
• Indianapolis — capital and largest city, at the centre of the state.
• Neighbours: Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois blank maps.
• Ohio River, Eastern and Central time zones.
• All blank state maps and the printable US maps index.