Is Southern Illinois a Part of the Ozarks? It Depends Who You Ask

The internet is debating something that I had never thought about. Is the southern part of Illinois a part of the Ozarks? The ongoing discussion proves that the answer you get will depend on who you ask.

I saw this fun discussion start on the Illinois sub-Reddit. The question asked was "Do you consider southern Illinois to be part of the Ozarks?"

Do you consider southern Illinois to be part of the Ozarks?
byu/HBTD-WPS inillinois

Here are some of my favorite and wildly different responses:

• "I don’t know but there were plenty of Ozark Ike type characters when I lived in Southern Illinois"
• "I've read that biologically, it is part of the Ozarks ecosystem."
• "Nah. But it’s like an hour away"
• "No I consider it to be part of Kentucky"

While the Kentucky and Alabama comments on Reddit made me laugh, I think the real answer is somewhere in-between the answer about the Ozarks ecosystem and just being an hour away.

Let's face it. Before America had state lines, the caves and geology in what is now southern Illinois were obviously a continuation of what you'll find in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. Culturally, there are also similarities with the people that live in southern Illinois and southern Missouri. But, I rarely hear anyone say that southern Illinois is a part of the Ozarks. Should it though? Again, that depends on who you ask.