Mr. Beat compares and contrasts Indiana and Illinois, two Midwestern states that have a lot in common.

Produced by Matt Beat. All images/video by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines.

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Special thanks to the AP Archive for footage for this video. It made a huge difference! AP Archive website: http://www.aparchive.com

Music by Francis Preve.

Creative commons photo credits:
Alexbaumgarner
David Wilson
Cntrlaltdel33t
Farragutful
Skubasteve834
Jim Simonson
Ben Jacobson
Tony Webster
Joe Lencioni

Sources/further reading:
https://statisticalatlas.com/state/Il...
https://statisticalatlas.com/state/In...
https://datausa.io/profile/geo/illinois
https://datausa.io/profile/geo/indiana
https://www.pewforum.org/religious-la...
https://www.pewforum.org/religious-la...
https://www.forbes.com/places/il/
https://www.forbes.com/places/in/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois
https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/unit...
https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/f...
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/b...
http://www.city-data.com/forum/city-v...
https://www.daily-journal.com/news/lo...
https://www.bestplaces.net/state/illi...
https://visitindiana.com/about-indian...
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-stat...
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-stat...
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illino...

Illinois and Indiana

Two bordering Midwestern states in these United States. Both also border Lake Michigan and the Ohio River.

And yes, both have a lot in common, starting with the fact that, according to some metrics, both share Chicagoland, or the Chicago metropolitan area. Well yeah, sure Chicagoland is mostly in Illinois, as is...well...Chicago, the third largest city in the country, but Northwest Indiana is also often lumped into the Chicago metro. Chicagoland makes up around 65% of the entire population of Illinois and 10% of the entire population of Indiana.

Both are part of the Rust Belt, a region of the country known for declining industry and run down factories. Even decades after most of these factories have shut down, several cities in both states continue to lose population each year.

And yet, manufacturing is still a major industry in both. Indiana is the country’s leading steel producer and second largest car manufacturing state. Illinois is known for making machinery, electrical equipment, transportation equipment, and food processing. Related to this, both rank towards the bottom of all 50 states in terms of pollution, although Illinois ranks better.

Other major industries in both include healthcare, retail, and education.

The average age of residents in both is the same. (38)

The biggest religion in both is Christianity, but of those more identify as Roman Catholic in Illinois and more identify as Evangelical Protestant in Indiana. Oh, and Illinois residents are more religious, overall.

Both have very similar climates. Specifically, a humid continental climate throughout most of the states, and humid subtropical climate in the southern portions. Basically, the further south you go in both states, the more precipitation and the more hot it gets in the summer and less cold it gets in the winter. Both get tornadoes, but flooding is definitely the most common natural disaster in both. For thousands of years, various American Indian tribes lived in the area.

Illinois gets its name from another French dude named René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who explored the area in the 1600s. He named a river after a group of American Indian tribes known collectively as the Illinois Confederation, or Illiniwek, which translates to “the best people.” A Philadelphia trading company promptly came out that way to make some money, and, long story short, ended up working out a deal to get some land out there. They called the area “Indiana,” or “Land of the Indians.” Wow, how creative.

#illinois #indiana #geography