Chicago metropolitan area in Illinois 1950-2010

Downstate Illinois refers to the part of the U.S. state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...

south of the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hint ...

, which is in the northeast corner of the state and has been dominant in American history, politics, and culture. It is defined as the part of the state that lies west of Chicago and its suburbs but at the same or greater latitude. Prior to the issuance of 2000 Census results, when it became part of the Chicago metropolitan area, even DeKalb (located 65 miles west of Chicago) was often considered to be "downstate". Downstate Illinois is divided into several subregions:

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...

Central Illinois Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the ''Heart of Illinois'', it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agri ...

, and

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Mi ...

, which in turn are divided into more subregions. The term has been part of the northern Illinois residence lingo for decades, and is commonly used by the media. The

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818 ...

regularly uses the term in the titles of bills it passes.

Definition

Downstate Illinois lacks a precise definition. Various boundaries that have been used are the Chicago city limits, the boundaries of Cook County, the

collar counties Collar counties is a colloquialism for DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, the five counties of Illinois that border Cook County, which is home to Chicago. The collar counties are part of the Chicago metropolitan area and compr ...

, all of Illinois not contained in the Chicago media market,

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

, and Bloomington.

Major cities

Most of the state's largest cities (six of the top ten) are concentrated in and around the Chicago area, but several mid-sized cities exist in the downstate area as well.

References

{{Coord, display=title, 40, N, 89, W, region:US-IL_type:adm1st_scale:3000000 Regions of Illinois

Definition

Major cities

See also

References