A., in the S. part of
the state, about 62 m. E. of St Louis. Pop. (1890) 4763; (1900) 6721
(571 foreign-born); (1910) 9680. The city is served by the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy, the Illinois Central, the Illinois Southern, and
the Southern railways; the first two have repair shops here. Centralia
is situated in the central part of southern Illinois, popularly known as
"Egypt." Among its manufactures are window glass, envelopes, cigars,
concrete blocks and flour. In and near the city coal is mined, and
apples, strawberries and other fruits are raised, and the city is a
shipping point for coal and fruit. Centralia was first settled in 1853,
and was first chartered as a city in 1859.

CENTRAL INDIA, a collection of native states in India forming a separate
agency, which must not be confounded with the Central Provinces. The
Central India agency was formed in 1854, when Sir R. Hamilton was
appointed agent to the governor-general. It lies between 21 Deg. 24' and
26 Deg. 52' N. and between 74 Deg. 0' and 83 Deg. 0' E., and may be said
to consist of two large detached tracts of country which, with Jhansi as
a pivot, spread outwards east and west into the peninsula, reaching
northward to within some 30 m. of Agra, and southward to the valley of
the Nerbudda and the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The total area is
78,772 sq. m. It is bounded on the N. and N.E. by the United Provinces,
on the W. and S.W. by Rajputana, some native states of the Bombay
presidency, and Khandesh. The Central Provinces and the Bengal district
of Chota Nagpur enclose it on the S. and E., while the Jhansi district
of the United Provinces separates the two tracts.

Central India may be divided into three great natural divisions: the
highlands of the Malwa plateau, with a mean elevation of some 1500 ft.
above sea-level; the low-lying country some 600 ft. above sea-level,
comprising the greater part of the eastern section of the agency; and
the hilly tracts, which lie mostly to the south. The Malwa plateau
consists of great undulating plains, separated by flat-topped hills,
whose sides are boldly terraced, with here and there a scarp rising
above the general level; it is covered with long grass, stunted trees
and scrub, which owing to the presence of deciduous plants is of a
uniform straw colour, except in the rains. The foundation of this
plateau is a bed of sandstone and shales belonging to the Vindhyan
series. This bed, which stretches east and we