Illinois ( ) is a
state in the
Midwestern
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Its largest metropolitan areas include 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 hi ...
, and the
Metro East section, of
Greater St. Louis
Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...
. Other smaller metropolitan areas include,
Peoria and
Rockford, as well
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
, its capital. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the
fifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP), the
sixth-largest population, and the
25th-largest land area.
Illinois has a highly diverse
economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
, with the
global city of Chicago in the northeast, major industrial and
agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
hubs in the north and center, and
natural resource
Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...
s such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south. Owing to its central location and favorable geography, the state is a major
transportation hub:
the Port of Chicago has access to the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
through the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
and
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...
and to the Gulf of Mexico from the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
via the
Illinois Waterway. Additionally, the Mississippi,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, and
Wabash rivers form parts of the state's boundaries. Chicago's
O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, ...
has been among the world's ten busiest airports for decades. Illinois has long been considered a
microcosm
Microcosm or macrocosm, also spelled mikrokosmos or makrokosmos, may refer to:
Philosophy
* Microcosm–macrocosm analogy, the view according to which there is a structural similarity between the human being and the cosmos
Music
* Macrocosm (alb ...
of the United States and a
bellwether in American culture, exemplified by the phrase ''
Will it play in Peoria?
''Will it play in Peoria?'' is an American English figure of speech that is traditionally used to ask whether a given product, person, promotional theme, or event will appeal to mainstream United States audiences or across a broad range of demo ...
''.
What is now Illinois was inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous cultures, including the advanced civilization centered in the
Cahokia region. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi River in the 17th century, in the region they called
Illinois Country, as part of the sprawling colony of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
. Following
U.S. independence in 1783, American settlers began arriving from
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. Illinois was part of the United States' oldest territory, the
Northwest Territory
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...
, and in 1818 it achieved
statehood
A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "sta ...
. The
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...
brought increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes, and the small settlement of Chicago became one of the fastest growing cities in the world, benefiting from its location as
one of the few natural harbors in southwestern
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
. The invention of the self-scouring
steel plow
A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
by Illinoisan
John Deere
Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...
turned the state's rich
prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting
immigrant
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
farmers from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. In the mid-19th century, the
Illinois and Michigan Canal
The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Po ...
and a sprawling railroad network greatly facilitated trade, commerce, and settlement, making the state a transportation hub for the nation.
By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities, and
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
mining in the central and southern areas, attracted immigrants from
Eastern and
Southern Europe
Southern Europe is the southern regions of Europe, region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countrie ...
. Illinois became one of America's most industrialized states and remains a major manufacturing center. The
Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans, particularly in Chicago, who founded the city's famous
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
cultures. Chicago became a leading cultural, economic, and population center and is today one of the world's major commercial centers; its
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
, informally referred to as
Chicagoland
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 ...
holds about 65% of the state's 12.8 million residents.
Three
U.S. presidents
The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term
Term may refer to:
* Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in pa ...
have been elected while living in Illinois:
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
,
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
, and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
; additionally,
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
was born and raised in the state. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan ''Land of Lincoln'', which has been displayed on its
license plates
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate ( Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificat ...
since 1954. The state is the site of the
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum documents the life of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, and the course of the American Civil War. Combining traditional scholarship with 21st-century showmanship techniques, the museum ...
in Springfield and the future home of the
Barack Obama Presidential Center
The Barack Obama Presidential Center is a planned architectural project in Chicago to commemorate the presidency of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. The center will include a museum and library and is headed by the nonprofi ...
in Chicago.
Etymology
"Illinois" is the modern spelling for the early
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
and explorers' name for the
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
Native Americans, a name that was spelled in many different ways in the early records.
American scholars previously thought the name ''Illinois'' meant 'man' or 'men' in the
Miami-Illinois language, with the original transformed via French into Illinois. This etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for "man" is , and plural of "man" is . The name has also been said to mean 'tribe of superior men', which is a
false etymology
A false etymology (fake etymology, popular etymology, etymythology, pseudo-etymology, or par(a)etymology) is a popular but false belief about the origin or derivation of a specific word. It is sometimes called a folk etymology, but this is also a ...
. The name ''Illinois'' derives from the Miami-Illinois verb 'he speaks the regular way'. This was taken into the
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...
, perhaps in the
Ottawa dialect
The Ottawa, also known as the Odawa dialect of the Ojibwe language is spoken by the Ottawa people in southern Ontario in Canada, and northern Michigan in the United States. Descendants of migrant Ottawa speakers live in Kansas and Oklahoma. Th ...
, and modified into (pluralized as ). The French borrowed these forms, spelling the ending as , a
transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
of that sound in the French of that time. The current spelling form, ''Illinois'', began to appear in the early 1670s, when French colonists had settled in the western area. The Illinois's name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was , of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms.
History
Pre-European
American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The
Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation.
Cahokia, the largest regional
chiefdom and
Urban Center of the
Pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern United States, Midwestern, Eastern United States, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from appr ...
, was located near present-day
Collinsville, Illinois. They built an urban complex of more than 100
platform and
burial mounds, a
plaza larger than 35 football fields,
and a woodhenge of sacred cedar, all in a planned design expressing the culture's cosmology.
Monks Mound
Monks Mound is the largest Pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas and the largest pyramid north of Mesoamerica. The beginning of its construction dates from 900–955 CE. Located at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsvil ...
, the center of the site, is the largest Pre-Columbian structure north of the
Valley of Mexico
The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...
. It is high, long, wide, and covers .
It contains about of earth.
It was topped by a structure thought to have measured about in length and in width, covered an area , and been as much as high, making its peak above the level of the plaza. The finely crafted ornaments and tools recovered by archaeologists at
Cahokia include elaborate ceramics, finely sculptured stonework, carefully embossed and engraved copper and
mica
Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...
sheets, and one funeral blanket for an important chief fashioned from 20,000 shell beads. These artifacts indicate that Cahokia was truly an urban center, with clustered housing, markets, and specialists in toolmaking, hide dressing, potting, jewelry making, shell engraving, weaving and salt making.
The civilization vanished in the 15th century for unknown reasons, but historians and archeologists have speculated that the people depleted the area of resources. Many indigenous tribes engaged in constant warfare. According to Suzanne Austin Alchon, "At one site in the central
Illinois River
The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...
valley, one third of all adults died as a result of violent injuries." The next major power in the region was the
Illinois Confederation or Illini, a political alliance. As the Illini declined during the
Beaver Wars
The Beaver Wars ( moh, Tsianì kayonkwere), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (french: Guerres franco-iroquoises) were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout t ...
era, members of the
Algonquian-speaking
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...
,
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Sauk, and other tribes including the Fox (
Meskwaki),
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
,
Kickapoo
Kickapoo may refer to:
People
* Kickapoo people, a Native American nation
** Kickapoo language, spoken by that people
** Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, a federally recognized tribe of Kickapoo people
** Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recog ...
,
Mascouten
The Mascouten (also ''Mascoutin'', ''Mathkoutench'', ''Muscoden,'' or ''Musketoon'') were a tribe of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans located in the Midwest. They are believed to have dwelt on both sides of the Mississippi River, adjacent to ...
,
Piankeshaw,
Shawnee
The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
,
Wea
The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami.
Today, the descendants of the ...
, and Winnebago (
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hoocągra or Winnebago (referred to as ''Hotúŋe'' in the neighboring indigenous Iowa-Otoe language), are a Siouan-speaking Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iow ...
) came into the area from the east and north around the Great Lakes.
European exploration and settlement prior to 1800
![Illinois 1718](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Illinois_1718.jpg)
French explorers
Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Igna ...
and
Louis Jolliet explored the
Illinois River
The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...
in 1673. Marquette soon after founded a mission at the
Grand Village of the Illinois
The Grand Village of the Illinois, also called Old Kaskaskia Village, is a site significant for being the best documented historic Native American village in the Illinois River valley. It was a large agricultural and trading village of Native A ...
in
Illinois Country. In 1680, French explorers under
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, ...
and
Henri de Tonti constructed a fort at the site of present-day
Peoria, and in 1682, a fort atop
Starved Rock
Starved Rock State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Illinois, characterized by the many canyons within its . Located just southeast of the village of Utica, in Deer Park Township, LaSalle County, Illinois, along the south bank of the ...
in today's Starved Rock State Park. French Empire
Canadiens came south to settle particularly along the Mississippi River, and Illinois was part of first
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
, and then of
La Louisiane until 1763, when it passed to the British with their defeat of France in the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
. The small French settlements continued, although many French migrated west to
Ste. Genevieve and
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, to evade British rule.
A few British soldiers were posted in Illinois, but few British or American settlers moved there, as the Crown made it part of the territory reserved for Indians west of the Appalachians, and then part of the
British Province of Quebec. In 1778,
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier during the Ame ...
claimed
Illinois County
Illinois County, Virginia, was a political and geographic region, part of the British Province of Quebec, claimed during the American Revolutionary War on July 4, 1778 by George Rogers Clark of the Virginia Militia, as a result of the Illinois C ...
for
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. In a compromise, Virginia (and other states that made various claims) ceded the area to the new United States in the 1780s and it became part of the
Northwest Territory
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...
, administered by the federal government and later organized as states.
19th century
Prior to statehood
![Kaskaskia Bell 3321](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Kaskaskia_Bell_3321.jpg)
The
Illinois-Wabash Company
The Illinois-Wabash Company, formally known as the United Illinois and Wabash Land Company, was a company formed in {{start date and age, 1779, p=y from the merger of the Illinois Company and the Wabash Company. The two companies had been establi ...
was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The
Illinois Territory
The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. Its ca ...
was created on February 3, 1809, with its capital at
Kaskaskia, an early French settlement.
During the discussions leading up to Illinois's
admission to the Union
Admission may refer to:
Arts and media
* "Admissions" (''CSI: NY''), an episode of ''CSI: NY''
* ''Admissions'' (film), a 2011 short film starring James Cromwell
* ''Admission'' (film), a 2013 comedy film
* ''Admission'', a 2019 album by Florida s ...
, the proposed northern boundary of the state was moved twice. The original provisions of the
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...
had specified a boundary that would have been tangent to the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Such a boundary would have left Illinois with no shoreline on Lake Michigan at all. However, as Indiana had successfully been granted a northern extension of its boundary to provide it with a usable lakefront, the original bill for Illinois statehood, submitted to Congress on January 23, 1818, stipulated a northern border at the same latitude as Indiana's, which is defined as 10 miles north of the southernmost extremity of Lake Michigan. However, the Illinois delegate,
Nathaniel Pope, wanted more, and lobbied to have the boundary moved further north. The final bill passed by Congress included an amendment to shift the border to 42° 30' north, which is approximately north of the Indiana northern border. This shift added to the state, including the
lead mining
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, l ...
region near
Galena
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...
. More importantly, it added nearly 50 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and the Chicago River. Pope and others envisioned a canal that would connect the Chicago and Illinois rivers and thus connect the Great Lakes to the Mississippi.
The State of Illinois prior to the Civil War
![United States 1818-12-1819-03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/United_States_1818-12-1819-03.png)
In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. The capital remained at Kaskaskia, headquartered in a small building rented by the state. In 1819,
Vandalia became the capital, and over the next 18 years, three separate buildings were built to serve successively as the capitol building. In 1837, the state legislators representing
Sangamon County, under the leadership of state representative Abraham Lincoln, succeeded in having the capital moved to
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
, where a
fifth capitol building was constructed. A
sixth capitol building was erected in 1867, which continues to serve as the Illinois capitol today.
Though it was ostensibly a "
free state", there was nonetheless
slavery in Illinois. The ethnic French had owned black slaves since the 1720s, and American settlers had already brought slaves into the area from Kentucky. Slavery was nominally banned by the Northwest Ordinance, but that was not enforced for those already holding slaves. When Illinois became a state in 1818, the Ordinance no longer applied, and about 900 slaves were held in the state. As the southern part of the state, later known as "Egypt" or "Little Egypt", was largely settled by migrants from the South, the section was hostile to free blacks. Settlers were allowed to bring slaves with them for labor, but, in 1822, state residents voted against making slavery legal. Still, most residents opposed allowing free blacks as permanent residents. Some settlers brought in slaves seasonally or as house servants. The Illinois Constitution of 1848 was written with a provision for exclusionary laws to be passed. In 1853,
John A. Logan
John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a stat ...
helped pass a law to prohibit all African Americans, including
freedmen
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...
, from settling in the state.
The
winter of 1830–1831 is called the "Winter of the Deep Snow"; a sudden, deep snowfall blanketed the state, making travel impossible for the rest of the winter, and many travelers perished. Several severe winters followed, including the "Winter of the Sudden Freeze". On December 20, 1836, a fast-moving cold front passed through, freezing puddles in minutes and killing many travelers who could not reach shelter. The adverse weather resulted in crop failures in the northern part of the state. The southern part of the state shipped food north, and this may have contributed to its name, "
Little Egypt", after the Biblical story of
Joseph in Egypt supplying grain to his brothers.
In 1832, the
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...
was fought in Illinois and present-day
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
between the United States and the
Sauk,
Fox (Meskwaki), and
Kickapoo
Kickapoo may refer to:
People
* Kickapoo people, a Native American nation
** Kickapoo language, spoken by that people
** Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, a federally recognized tribe of Kickapoo people
** Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recog ...
Indian tribes. It represents the end of Indian resistance to white settlement in the Chicago region. The Indians had been forced to leave their homes and move to
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
in 1831; when they attempted to return, they were attacked and eventually defeated by U.S. militia. The survivors were forced back to Iowa.
By 1839, the
Latter Day Saints had founded a
utopian
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...
city called
Nauvoo, formerly called Commerce. Located in
Hancock County along the Mississippi River, Nauvoo flourished and, by 1844, briefly surpassed Chicago for the position of the state's largest city. But in that same year, the
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
founder,
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
,
was killed in the
Carthage Jail
Carthage Jail is a historic building in Carthage, Illinois, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It was built in 1839 and is best known as the location of the 1844 killing of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint mov ...
, about 30 miles away from Nauvoo. Following a
succession crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a king dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession.
Examples include (see List of wars of succession):
*Multiple periods dur ...
,
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
led most Latter Day Saints out of Illinois in a
mass exodus to present-day
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
; after close to six years of rapid development, Nauvoo quickly declined afterward.
After it was established in 1833, Chicago gained prominence as a
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
port, and then as an
Illinois and Michigan Canal
The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Po ...
port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago was Illinois's largest city.
With the tremendous growth of mines and factories in the state in the 19th century, Illinois was the ground for the formation of
labor unions in the United States
Labor unions in the United States are organizations that represent workers in many industries recognized under US labor law since the 1935 enactment of the National Labor Relations Act. Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over w ...
.
In 1847, after lobbying by
Dorothea L. Dix, Illinois became one of the first states to establish a system of state-supported treatment of mental illness and disabilities, replacing local
almshouse
An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...
s. Dix came into this effort after having met J. O. King, a
Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,446 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the ...
businessman, who invited her to Illinois, where he had been working to build an asylum for the insane. With the lobbying expertise of Dix, plans for the Jacksonville State Hospital (now known as the
Jacksonville Developmental Center The Jacksonville Developmental Center was an institution for developmentally delayed clients, located in Jacksonville, Illinois. It was open from 1851 to November 2012. , the grounds was still owned by the State of Illinois.
History
Illinois ori ...
) were signed into law on March 1, 1847.
Civil War and after
![Embarkation of General McClernand's Brigade at Cairo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Embarkation_of_General_McClernand%27s_Brigade_at_Cairo.jpg)
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, Illinois ranked fourth in men who served (more than 250,000) in the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
, a figure surpassed by only New York,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, and
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. Beginning with President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, Illinois mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th to the 156th regiments. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also gathered, as well as two light artillery regiments. The town of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, at the southern tip of the state at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, served as a strategically important supply base and training center for the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
army. For several months, both General
Grant and Admiral
Foote had headquarters in Cairo.
During the Civil War, and more so afterwards, Chicago's population skyrocketed, which increased its prominence. The
Pullman Strike and
Haymarket Riot, in particular, greatly influenced the development of the American
labor movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
. From Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, the
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...
burned in downtown Chicago, destroying .
20th century
At the turn of the 20th century, Illinois had a population of nearly 5 million. Many people from other parts of the country were attracted to the state by employment caused by the expanding industrial base. Whites were 98% of the state's population.
Bolstered by continued
immigration from southern and eastern Europe, and by the African-American
Great Migration from the South, Illinois grew and emerged as one of the most important states in the union. By the end of the century, the population had reached 12.4 million.
The
Century of Progress World's fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
was held at Chicago in 1933. Oil strikes in
Marion County and
Crawford County led to a boom in 1937, and by 1939, Illinois ranked fourth in U.S. oil production. Illinois manufactured 6.1 percent of total United States military armaments produced during
World War II, ranking seventh among the 48 states. Chicago became an ocean port with the opening of the
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...
in 1959. The seaway and the
Illinois Waterway connected Chicago to both the Mississippi River and the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. In 1960,
Ray Kroc opened the first
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
franchise in
Des Plaines
Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situated on and is named after the ...
(which still exists as a museum, with a working McDonald's across the street).
Illinois had a prominent role in the emergence of the
nuclear age
The Atomic Age, also known as the Atomic Era, is the period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear weapon, The Gadget at the ''Trinity'' test in New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, during World War II. Although nuclear chain reaction ...
. In 1942, as part of the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
, the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
conducted the first sustained
nuclear chain reaction
In nuclear physics, a nuclear chain reaction occurs when one single nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more subsequent nuclear reactions, thus leading to the possibility of a self-propagating series of these reactions. The specific nu ...
. In 1957,
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...
, near
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, activated the first experimental nuclear power generating system in the United States. By 1960, the first privately financed nuclear plant in the United States,
Dresden 1, was dedicated near
Morris. In 1967,
Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been operat ...
, a national nuclear research facility near
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
, opened a
particle accelerator, which was the world's largest for over 40 years. With eleven plants currently operating, Illinois leads all states in the amount of electricity generated from nuclear power.
In 1961, Illinois became the first state in the nation to adopt the recommendation of the
American Law Institute
The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. ...
and pass a comprehensive criminal code revision that repealed the law against
sodomy
Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sodo ...
. The code also abrogated
common law crimes and established an
age of consent
The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim ...
of 18. The state's
fourth constitution was adopted in 1970, replacing the 1870 document.
The first
Farm Aid concert was held in
Champaign to benefit American farmers, in 1985. The worst
upper Mississippi River
The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, at the confluence of its main tributary, the Missouri River.
History
In terms of geologic and hydrographic history, the Upper ...
flood of the century, the
Great Flood of 1993, inundated many towns and thousands of acres of farmland.
21st century
On August 28, 2017, Illinois Governor
Bruce Rauner
Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. Prior to his election, he was the chairman of R8 Capital Partners and chai ...
signed a bill into law that prohibited state and local police from arresting anyone solely due to their immigration status or due to federal detainers. Some fellow Republicans criticized Rauner for his action, claiming the bill made Illinois a
sanctuary state
Sanctuary city (; ) refers to municipal jurisdictions, typically in North America, that limit their cooperation with the national government's effort to enforce immigration law. Leaders of sanctuary cities say they want to reduce fear of deport ...
.
Geology
During the early part of the
Paleozoic Era, the area that would one day become Illinois was submerged beneath a shallow sea and located near the Equator. Diverse marine life lived at this time, including
trilobite
Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...
s,
brachiopods, and
crinoids. Changing environmental conditions led to the formation of large
coal swamps in the
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
.
Illinois was above sea level for at least part of the
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...
, but by its end was again submerged by the
Western Interior Seaway. This receded by the
Eocene Epoch.
During the
Pleistocene Epoch
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
, vast ice sheets covered much of Illinois, with only the
Driftless Area remaining exposed. These
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
s carved the basin of
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
and left behind traces of ancient glacial lakes and
moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...
s.
Geography
Illinois is located in the
Midwest region of the United States and is one of the eight states in the
Great Lakes region of North America (which also includes
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada).
Boundaries
Illinois's eastern border with
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
consists of a north–south line at 87° 31′ 30″ west longitude in
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
at the north, to the
Wabash River
The Wabash River ( French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows fro ...
in the south above
Post Vincennes. The Wabash River continues as the eastern/southeastern border with Indiana until the Wabash enters the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
. This marks the beginning of Illinois's southern border with
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
, which runs along the northern shoreline of the Ohio River. Most of the western border with
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
and
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
is the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
; Kaskaskia is an
exclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
of Illinois, lying west of the Mississippi and reachable only from Missouri. The state's northern border with
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
is fixed at 42° 30′ north latitude. The northeastern border of Illinois lies in
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
, within which Illinois shares a water boundary with the state of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, as well as Wisconsin and Indiana.
Topography
![Looking eastward at Charles Mound, the highest point in Illinois](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Looking_eastward_at_Charles_Mound%2C_the_highest_point_in_Illinois.jpg)
Though Illinois lies entirely in the
Interior Plains
The Interior Plains is a vast Physiographic province, physiographic region that spreads across the Laurentia, Laurentian craton of central North America, extending along the east flank of the Rocky Mountains from the Gulf Coast region to the Arcti ...
, it does have some minor variation in its elevation. In extreme northwestern Illinois, the
Driftless Area, a region of unglaciated and therefore higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state.
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 United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...
includes the hilly areas around the
Shawnee National Forest.
Charles Mound
Charles Mound is a gentle, high hill located in Scales Mound Township, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States. It is northeast of the small town of Scales Mound, and northeast of Galena. Despite its name, Charles Mound is a naturally occ ...
, located in the Driftless region, has the state's highest natural elevation above sea level at . Other highlands include the
Shawnee Hills
The Shawnee Hills is a region of southern Illinois that rests mainly in an east-west arc roughly following the outline of the southern end of the Illinois Basin. Whereas Mississippian and Pennsylvania Age rock layers are deep beneath the soil su ...
in the south, and there is varying topography along its rivers; the
Illinois River
The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...
bisects the state northeast to southwest. The floodplain on the Mississippi River from
Alton
Alton may refer to:
People
*Alton (given name)
*Alton (surname)
Places Australia
*Alton National Park, Queensland
*Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne
Canada
* Alton, Ontario
* Alton, Nova Scotia
New Zealand
* Alton, New Zealand, ...
to the
Kaskaskia River is known as the
American Bottom.
Divisions
![Cairo Ohio River Bridge at sunset](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Cairo_Ohio_River_Bridge_at_sunset.jpg)
Illinois has three major geographical divisions.
Northern Illinois is dominated by
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 hi ...
, or Chicagoland, which is the city of Chicago and its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolis is expanding. As defined by the federal government, the Chicago metro area includes several counties in Illinois,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, and
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, and has a population of over 9.8 million. Chicago itself is a cosmopolitan city, densely populated, industrialized, the transportation hub of the nation, and settled by a wide variety of ethnic groups. The city of
Rockford, Illinois's third-largest city and center of the state's fourth largest metropolitan area, sits along Interstates
39 and
90 some northwest of Chicago. The
Quad Cities region, located along the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
in northern Illinois, had a population of 381,342 in 2011.
The midsection of Illinois is the second major division, called
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 ...
. Historically
prairie, it is now mainly agricultural and known as the Heart of Illinois. It is characterized by small towns and medium–small cities. The western section (west of the Illinois River) was originally part of the
Military Tract of 1812 and forms the conspicuous western bulge of the state. Agriculture, particularly
corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
and
soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses.
Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...
s, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently in Central Illinois. Cities include
Peoria;
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
, the state capital;
Quincy;
Decatur;
Bloomington-Normal; and
Champaign-
Urbana __NOTOC__
Urbana can refer to:
Places Italy
*Urbana, Italy
United States
*Urbana, Illinois
**Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois
*Urbana, Indiana
* Urbana, Iowa
*Urbana, Kansas
* Urbana, Maryland
*Urbana, ...
.
The third division is
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 United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...
, comprising the area south of
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...
, including
Little Egypt, near the juncture of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
and
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
. Southern Illinois is the site of the ancient city of
Cahokia, as well as the site of the first state capital at
Kaskaskia, which today is separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River.
This region has a somewhat warmer winter climate, different variety of crops (including some cotton farming in the past), more rugged topography (due to the area remaining unglaciated during the
Illinoian Stage
The Illinoian Stage is the name used by Quaternary geologists in North America to designate the period c.191,000 to c.130,000 years ago, during the middle Pleistocene, when sediments comprising the Illinoian Glacial Lobe were deposited. It precedes ...
, unlike most of the rest of the state), as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The Illinois suburbs of
St. Louis, such as
East St. Louis
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
, are located in this region, and collectively, they are known as the
Metro-East
Metro East is a region in southern Illinois that contains eastern and northern suburbs and exurbs of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It encompasses five Southern Illinois counties (and parts of three others) in the St. Louis Metropolitan Stati ...
. The other somewhat significant concentration of population in Southern Illinois is the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area centered on
Carbondale and
Marion Marion may refer to:
People
*Marion (given name)
*Marion (surname)
*Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion"
*Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992)
Places Antarctica
* Mari ...
, a two-county area that is home to 123,272 residents.
A portion of southeastern Illinois is part of the extended
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
, Metro Area, locally referred to as the Tri-State with Indiana and Kentucky. Seven Illinois counties are in the area.
In addition to these three, largely latitudinally defined divisions, all of the region outside the Chicago metropolitan area is often called "
downstate" Illinois. This term is flexible, but is generally meant to mean everything outside the influence of the Chicago area. Thus, some cities in ''Northern'' Illinois, such as
DeKalb, which is west of Chicago, and
Rockford—which is actually north of Chicago—are sometimes incorrectly considered to be 'downstate'.
Climate
![IL koppen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Illinois_K%C3%B6ppen.svg)
Illinois has a climate that varies widely throughout the year. Because of its nearly 400-mile distance between its northernmost and southernmost extremes, as well as its mid-continental situation, most of Illinois has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Dfa''), with hot, humid summers and cold winters. The southern part of the state, from about
Carbondale southward, has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(Koppen ''Cfa''), with more moderate winters. Average yearly precipitation for Illinois varies from just over at the southern tip to around in the northern portion of the state. Normal annual snowfall exceeds in the Chicago area, while the southern portion of the state normally receives less than .
[Illinois State Climatologist Office](_blank)
. Retrieved April 22, 2006. The all-time high temperature was , recorded on July 14, 1954, at
East St. Louis
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
, and the all-time low temperature was , recorded on January 31, 2019, during the
January 2019 North American cold wave
January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...
at a weather station near
Mount Carroll
Mount Carroll is a city in Carroll County, Illinois, United States. It is the Carroll County seat. The population was 1479 at the 2020 census.
Due to its elevation and northwesterly location, Mount Carroll is subject to unusually cold winter wea ...
,
and confirmed on March 5, 2019.
This followed the previous record of recorded on January 5, 1999, near
Congerville.
Prior to the Mount Carroll record, a temperature of was recorded on January 15, 2009, at
Rochelle, but at a weather station not subjected to the same quality control as official records.
Illinois averages approximately 51 days of
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
activity a year, which ranks somewhat above average in the number of thunderstorm days for the United States. Illinois is vulnerable to tornadoes, with an average of 35 occurring annually, which puts much of the state at around five tornadoes per annually.
[Annual average number of tornadoes, 1953–2004]
", NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved October 24, 2006. While tornadoes are no more powerful in Illinois than other states, some of
Tornado Alley
Tornado Alley is a loosely defined area of the central United States where tornadoes are most frequent. The term was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to study severe weather in areas of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, So ...
's deadliest tornadoes on record have occurred in the state. The
Tri-State Tornado
On March 18, 1925, one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in recorded history generated at least twelve significant tornadoes and spanned a large portion of the midwestern and southern United States. In all, at least 751 people were ki ...
of 1925 killed 695 people in three states; 613 of the victims died in Illinois.
Demographics
![Illinois counties by race](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Illinois_counties_by_race.svg)
The
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
found that the population of Illinois was 12,812,508 in the
2020 United States census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, moving from the fifth-largest state to the sixth-largest state (losing out to Pennsylvania). Illinois' population slightly declined in 2020 from the
2010 United States census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
by just over 18,000 residents and the overall population was quite higher than recent census estimates.
Illinois is the most populous state in the
Midwest region. Chicago, the
third-most populous city in the United States, is the center 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 hi ...
or Chicagoland, as this area is nicknamed. Although the Chicago metropolitan area comprises only 9% of the land area of the state, it contains 65% of the state's residents. The losses of population anticipated from the 2020 census results do not arise from the Chicago metro area; rather the declines are from the Downstate counties.
2019 American Community Survey
According to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Illinois's population was 71.4%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
(60.7% Non-Hispanic White), 5.6%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.2% Some Other Race, 13.9% Black or
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.1%
Native Americans and
Alaskan Native, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
and 2.0% from
two or more races
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many culture ...
.
The White population continues to remain the largest racial category in Illinois as Hispanics primarily identify as White (61.1%) with others identifying as Some Other Race (32.0%), Multiracial (4.3%), Black (1.4%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (0.2%), Asian (0.1%), and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (0.1%).
By ethnicity, 17.5% of the total population is
Hispanic-Latino (of any race) and 82.5% is Non-Hispanic (of any race). If treated as a separate category, Hispanics are the largest minority group in Illinois.
The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 83.5% in 1970 to 60.90% in 2018.
, 49.4% of Illinois's population younger than age 1 were minorities (Note: Children born to white Hispanics or to a sole full or partial minority parent are counted as minorities).
At the 2007 estimates from the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, there were 1,768,518 foreign-born inhabitants of the state or 13.8% of the population, with 48.4% from Latin America, 24.6% from Asia, 22.8% from Europe, 2.9% from Africa, 1.2% from Canada, and 0.2% from Oceania. Of the foreign-born population, 43.7% were
naturalized U.S. citizens, and 56.3% were not U.S. citizens.
In 2007, 6.9% of Illinois's population was reported as being under age 5, 24.9% under age 18 and 12.1% were age 65 and over. Females made up approximately 50.7% of the population.
According to the 2007 estimates, 21.1% of the population had
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
ancestry, 13.3% had
Irish ancestry, 8% had
British ancestry, 7.9% had
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
ancestry, 6.4% had
Italian ancestry, 4.6% listed themselves as
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
, 2.4% had
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
ancestry, 2.2% had
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
ancestry, other than
Basque, 1.6% had
Dutch ancestry, and 1.4% had
Norwegian ancestry.
Illinois also has large numbers of
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
and Latinos (mostly
Mexicans
Mexicans ( es, mexicanos) are the citizens of the United Mexican States.
The most spoken language by Mexicans is Spanish language, Spanish, but some may also speak languages from 68 different Languages of Mexico, Indigenous linguistic groups ...
and
Puerto Ricans
Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants.
Overview
The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...
).
Chicago, along the shores of Lake Michigan, is the nation's third largest city. In 2000, 23.3% of Illinois's population lived in the city of Chicago, 43.3% in Cook County, and 65.6% in the counties 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 hi ...
: Will, DuPage, Kane, Lake, and McHenry counties, as well as Cook County. The remaining population lives in the smaller cities and rural areas that dot the state's plains. As of 2000, the state's
center of population
In demographics, the center of population (or population center) of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to different geogr ...
was at , located in
Grundy County, northeast of the village of
Mazon Mazon may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Mazon, Illinois, a village
* Mazon Creek fossils
* Mazon River
* Mazon station, Mazon, Illinois
* Mazon Township, Grundy County, Illinois
Organizations
* MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a no ...
.
Birth data
''Births do not add up, because Hispanics are counted both by ethnicity and by race.''
*Since 2016, data for births of
White Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in one ''Hispanic'' group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
Urban areas
Chicago is the largest city in the state and the
third-most populous city in the United States, with its 2020 population of 2,746,388. The
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
currently lists seven other cities with populations of over 100,000 within Illinois. Based upon the U.S. Census Bureau's official 2010 population:
Aurora, a Chicago
satellite town that eclipsed
Rockford for the title of second-most populous city in Illinois; its 2010 population was 197,899. Rockford, at 152,871, is the third-largest city in the state, and is the largest city in the state not located within the Chicago suburbs.
Joliet, located in metropolitan Chicago, is the fourth-largest city in the state, with a population of 147,433.
Naperville
Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city.
Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was established by the banks of the DuPage river, ...
, a suburb of Chicago, is fifth with 141,853. Naperville and Aurora share a boundary along
Illinois Route 59
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 ...
.
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
, the state's capital, comes in as sixth-most populous with 117,352 residents.
Peoria, which decades ago was the second-most populous city in the state, is seventh with 115,007. The eighth-largest and final city in the 100,000 club is
Elgin, a northwest suburb of Chicago, with a 2010 population of 108,188.
The most populated city in the state south of
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
is
Belleville, with 44,478 people at the
2010 census. It is located in the Illinois portion of
Greater St. Louis
Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...
(often called the
Metro-East
Metro East is a region in southern Illinois that contains eastern and northern suburbs and exurbs of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It encompasses five Southern Illinois counties (and parts of three others) in the St. Louis Metropolitan Stati ...
area), which has a rapidly growing population of over 700,000.
Other major urban areas include the
Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area, which has a combined population of almost 230,000 people, the Illinois portion of the
Quad Cities area with about 215,000 people, and the
Bloomington-Normal area with a combined population of over 165,000.
Languages
The
official language
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
of Illinois is
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, although between 1923 and 1969, state law gave official status to "the American language". Nearly 80% of people in Illinois speak English natively, and most of the rest speak it fluently as a second language. A number of dialects of
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
are spoken, ranging from
Inland Northern American English and
African-American English around Chicago, to
Midland American English in Central Illinois, to
Southern American English
Southern American English or Southern U.S. English is a regional dialect or collection of dialects of American English spoken throughout the Southern United States, though concentrated increasingly in more rural areas, and spoken primarily by Wh ...
in the far south.
Over 20% of Illinoians speak a language other than English at home, of which
Spanish is by far the most widespread, at more than 12% of the total population.
A sizeable number of
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
speakers is present in 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 hi ...
.
Illinois Country French
Missouri French (french: français du Missouri) or Illinois Country French (french: français du Pays des Illinois) also known as , and nicknamed "Asimina, Paw-Paw French" often by individuals outside the community but not exclusively, is a vari ...
has mostly gone extinct in Illinois, although it is still celebrated in the
French Colonial Historic District
The French Colonial Historic District is a historic district that encompasses a major region of 18th-century French colonization in southwestern Illinois. The district is anchored by Fort de Chartres and Fort Kaskaskia, two important French sett ...
.
Religion
Christianity
Roman Catholics constitute the single largest religious denomination in Illinois; they are heavily concentrated in and around Chicago and account for nearly 30% of the state's population. However, taken together as a group, the various Protestant denominations comprise a greater percentage of the state's population than do Catholics. In 2010, Catholics in Illinois numbered 3,648,907. The largest Protestant denominations were the
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...
with 314,461 members and the
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...
with 283,519. Illinois has one of the largest concentrations of
Missouri Synod Lutherans
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to th ...
in the United States.
![Bahai Wilmette Alt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Bahai_Wilmette_Alt.jpg)
Illinois played an important role in the early
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
, with Nauvoo becoming a gathering place for Mormons in the early 1840s. Nauvoo was the location of the
succession crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a king dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession.
Examples include (see List of wars of succession):
*Multiple periods dur ...
, which led to the separation of the Mormon movement into
several Latter Day Saint sects.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
, the largest of the sects to emerge from the Mormon schism, has more than 55,000 adherents in Illinois today.
Other Abrahamic religious communities
A significant number of adherents of other
Abrahamic faiths
The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran.
Jewish tradition ...
can be found in Illinois. Largely concentrated in 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 hi ...
, followers of the
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
,
Baháʼí, and
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
religions all call the state home.
Muslims constituted the largest non-Christian group, with 359,264 adherents.
Illinois has the largest concentration of Muslims by state in the country, with 2,800 Muslims per 100,000 citizens.
The largest and oldest surviving
Baháʼí House of Worship
A Baháʼí House of Worship or Baháʼí temple is a place of worship of the Baháʼí Faith. It is also referred to by the name ''Mashriqu'l-Adhkár'', which is Arabic for "Dawning-place of the remembrance of God". Baháʼí Houses of Worship ...
in the world is located on the shores of
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
in
Wilmette, Illinois, one of eight continental
Baháʼí House of Worship
A Baháʼí House of Worship or Baháʼí temple is a place of worship of the Baháʼí Faith. It is also referred to by the name ''Mashriqu'l-Adhkár'', which is Arabic for "Dawning-place of the remembrance of God". Baháʼí Houses of Worship ...
. It serves as a space for people of all backgrounds and religions to gather, meditate, reflect, and pray, expressing the
Baháʼí principle of the
oneness of religions. The Chicago area has a very large Jewish community, particularly in the suburbs of
Skokie,
Buffalo Grove
Buffalo Grove, officially the Village of Buffalo Grove, is a village in Lake and Cook County, Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 Census, Buffalo Grove has a population of 43,212. It tota ...
,
Highland Park, and surrounding suburbs. Former Chicago Mayor
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...
was the Windy City's first Jewish mayor.
Other religions
Chicago is also home to a very large population of
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
,
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
s,
Jains
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
, and
Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
.
Economy
The dollar
gross state product for Illinois was estimated to be billion in 2019. The state's 2019
per capita gross state product was estimated to be around $72,000.
As of February 2019, the unemployment rate in Illinois reached 4.2%.
Illinois's
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
will rise to $15 per hour by 2025, making it one of the highest in the nation.
Agriculture
Illinois's major agricultural outputs are
corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses.
Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...
s,
hogs,
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
,
dairy product
Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in th ...
s, and wheat. In most years, Illinois is either the first or second state for the highest production of soybeans, with a harvest of 427.7 million bushels (11.64 million
metric tons
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United States ...
) in 2008, after Iowa's production of 444.82 million bushels (12.11 million metric tons). Illinois ranks second in U.S. corn production with more than 1.5 billion bushels produced annually.
With a production capacity of 1.5 billion gallons per year, Illinois is a top producer of ethanol, ranking third in the United States in 2011.
Illinois is a leader in food manufacturing and meat processing.
[Facts About Illinois Agriculture](_blank)
, Illinois Department of Agriculture. Accessed online April 16, 2012 Although Chicago may no longer be "
Hog Butcher for the World
Hog may refer to:
Animals
* Pig
** Usually referring to the domestic pig
** Sometimes referring to other animals in the family Suidae, including:
*** Warthog
*** Red river hog
*** Giant forest hog
* groundhog
* hedgehog
* hog (sheep), a yearling s ...
", the Chicago area remains a global center for
food manufacture and meat processing,
with many plants, processing houses, and distribution facilities concentrated in the area of the former
Union Stock Yards
The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a central ...
. Illinois also produces
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
, and the state is home to two
American viticultural area
An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...
s. In the area of The Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway, peaches and apples are grown. The German immigrants from agricultural backgrounds who settled in Illinois in the mid- to late 19th century are in part responsible for the profusion of fruit orchards in that area of Illinois. Illinois's universities are actively researching alternative agricultural products as alternative crops.
Manufacturing
Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders, boasting annual value added productivity by manufacturing of over $107 billion in 2006. , Illinois is ranked as the 4th-most productive manufacturing state in the country, behind California, Texas, and Ohio. About three-quarters of the state's manufacturers are located in the Northeastern Opportunity Return Region, with 38 percent of Illinois's approximately 18,900 manufacturing plants located in Cook County. As of 2006, the leading manufacturing industries in Illinois, based upon value-added, were chemical manufacturing ($18.3 billion), machinery manufacturing ($13.4 billion), food manufacturing ($12.9 billion), fabricated metal products ($11.5 billion), transportation equipment ($7.4 billion), plastics and rubber products ($7.0 billion), and computer and electronic products ($6.1 billion).
Services
By the early 2000s, Illinois's economy had moved toward a dependence on high-value-added services, such as financial trading, higher education, law, logistics, and medicine. In some cases, these services clustered around institutions that hearkened back to Illinois's earlier economies. For example, the
Chicago Mercantile Exchange
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) (often called "the Chicago Merc", or "the Merc") is a global derivatives marketplace based in Chicago and located at 20 S. Wacker Drive. The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, an a ...
, a trading exchange for global
derivatives
The derivative of a function is the rate of change of the function's output relative to its input value.
Derivative may also refer to:
In mathematics and economics
* Brzozowski derivative in the theory of formal languages
* Formal derivative, an ...
, had begun its life as an agricultural
futures market
A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or fi ...
. Other important non-manufacturing industries include publishing, tourism, and energy production and distribution.
Investments
Venture capitalists funded a total of approximately $62 billion in the U.S. economy in 2016. Of this amount, Illinois-based companies received approximately $1.1 billion. Similarly, in FY 2016, the federal government spent $461 billion on contracts in the U.S. Of this amount, Illinois-based companies received approximately $8.7 billion.
Energy
Illinois is a net importer of fuels for energy, despite large coal resources and some minor oil production. Illinois exports electricity, ranking fifth among states in electricity production and seventh in electricity consumption.
[Illinois in the Global Energy Marketplace]
, Robert Finley
Robert Finley (1772 – November 3, 1817) was an American Presbyterian clergyman and educator who is known as one of the founders of the American Colonization Society, which established the colony of Liberia in West Africa as a place for free Af ...
, 2001. Illinois State Geological Survey publication.
Coal
The coal industry of Illinois has its origins in the middle 19th century, when entrepreneurs such as
Jacob Loose
Jacob Leander Loose (June 17, 1850 – September 18, 1923) was an American businessman who founded Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company.
Biography
Jacob Loose was born in Greencastle, Indiana on June 17, 1850. He attended high school in Decatur, Illino ...
discovered coal in locations such as
Sangamon County.
Jacob Bunn
:''This article concerns John Whitfield Bunn, Jacob Bunn, and the entrepreneurs who were interconnected with the Bunn brothers through association or familial and genealogical connection.''
John Whitfield Bunn (June 21, 1831 – June 7, 1920)Ill ...
contributed to the development of the Illinois coal industry, and was a founder and owner of the
Western Coal & Mining Company of Illinois. About 68% of Illinois has coal-bearing strata of the
Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to:
* A person or thing from Pennsylvania
* Pennsylvanian (geology)
The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesca ...
geologic period. According to the Illinois State Geological Survey, 211 billion tons of
bituminous coal
Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...
are estimated to lie under the surface, having a total heating value greater than the estimated oil deposits in the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
. However, this coal has a high
sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
content, which causes
acid rain
Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid ...
, unless special equipment is used to reduce
sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...
emissions
Emission may refer to:
Chemical products
* Emission of air pollutants, notably:
**Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue
** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion
** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...
.
Many Illinois
power plants are not equipped to burn high-sulfur coal. In 1999, Illinois produced 40.4 million tons of coal, but only 17 million tons (42%) of Illinois coal was consumed in Illinois. Most of the coal produced in Illinois is exported to other states and countries. In 2008, Illinois exported three million tons of coal, and was projected to export nine million in 2011, as demand for energy grows in places such as China, India, and elsewhere in Asia and Europe. , Illinois was ranked third in recoverable coal reserves at producing mines in the nation.
Most of the coal produced in Illinois is exported to other states, while much of the coal burned for power in Illinois (21 million tons in 1998) is mined in the
Powder River Basin of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
.
Mattoon was chosen as the site for the
Department of Energy's
FutureGen project, a 275-megawatt experimental
zero emission coal-burning power plant that the DOE just gave a second round of funding. In 2010, after a number of setbacks, the city of Mattoon backed out of the project.
Petroleum
Illinois is a leading refiner of petroleum in the American
Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
, with a combined crude oil distillation capacity of nearly . However, Illinois has very limited crude oil proved reserves that account for less than 1% of the U.S. total reserves. Residential heating is 81% natural gas compared to less than 1%
heating oil
Heating oil is any petroleum product or other oil used for heating; a fuel oil. Most commonly, it refers to low viscosity grades of fuel oil used for furnaces or boilers use for home heating and in other buildings. Home heating oil is often a ...
. Illinois is ranked 14th in
oil production among states, with a daily output of approximately in 2005.
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
Petroleum Profile: Illinois
. Retrieved April 4, 2006.
Nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
arguably began in Illinois with the
Chicago Pile-1
Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the world's first artificial nuclear reactor. On 2 December 1942, the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated in CP-1, during an experiment led by Enrico Fermi. The secret development of t ...
, the world's first artificial self-sustaining
nuclear chain reaction
In nuclear physics, a nuclear chain reaction occurs when one single nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more subsequent nuclear reactions, thus leading to the possibility of a self-propagating series of these reactions. The specific nu ...
in the world's first
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...
, built on the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
campus. There are six operating
nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
s in Illinois:
Braidwood,
Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
,
Clinton
Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...
,
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
,
LaSalle, and
Quad Cities. With the exception of the single-unit Clinton plant, each of these facilities has two reactors. Three reactors have been permanently shut down and are in various stages of decommissioning:
Dresden-1
Dresden Generating Station (also known as Dresden Nuclear Power Plant or Dresden Nuclear Power Station) is the first privately financed nuclear power plant built in the United States. Dresden 1 was activated in 1960 and retired in 1978. Operati ...
and
Zion-1 and 2. Illinois ranked first in the nation in 2010 in both nuclear capacity and nuclear generation. Generation from its nuclear power plants accounted for 12 percent of the nation's total.
In 2007, 48% of Illinois's electricity was generated using nuclear power.
The
Morris Operation The Morris Operation in Grundy County, Illinois, United States, is the location of the only permanent (the rest are temporary) ''de facto'' high-level radioactive waste storage site in the United States and holds 772 tons of spent nuclear fuel. It ...
is the only de facto high-level
radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...
storage site in the United States.
Wind power
Illinois has seen growing interest in the use of
wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
for electrical generation. Most of Illinois was rated in 2009 as "marginal or fair" for wind energy production by the
U.S. Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States. ...
, with some western sections rated "good" and parts of the south rated "poor". These ratings are for wind turbines with hub heights; newer wind turbines are taller, enabling them to reach
stronger winds farther from the ground. As a result, more areas of Illinois have become prospective wind farm sites. As of September 2009, Illinois had 1116.06
MW of installed wind power
nameplate capacity with another 741.9 MW under construction.
Illinois ranked ninth among U.S. states in installed wind power capacity, and sixteenth by potential capacity.
Large
wind farm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...
s in Illinois include
Twin Groves,
Rail Splitter,
EcoGrove, and
Mendota Hills.
As of 2007, wind energy represented only 1.7% of Illinois's energy production, and it was estimated that wind power could provide 5–10% of the state's energy needs. Also, 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 181 ...
mandated in 2007 that by 2025, 25% of all electricity generated in Illinois is to come from
renewable resource
A renewable resource, also known as a flow resource, is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion resource depletion, depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a ...
s.
Biofuels
Illinois is ranked second in
corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
production among U.S. states, and Illinois corn is used to produce 40% of the
ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
consumed in the United States.
The
Archer Daniels Midland
The Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, commonly known as ADM, is an American multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation founded in 1902 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company operates more than 270 plants and 42 ...
corporation in
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...
, is the world's leading producer of ethanol from corn.
The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC), the world's only facility dedicated to researching the ways and means of converting corn (maize) to ethanol is located on the campus of
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...
.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is one of the partners in the
Energy Biosciences Institute
The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) is an organization dedicated to developing new sources of energy and reducing the impact of energy consumption. It was created in 2007 to apply advanced knowledge of biology to the challenges of responsible ...
(EBI), a $500 million biofuels research project funded by petroleum giant
BP.
Taxes
Tax is collected by the
Illinois Department of Revenue. State
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
is calculated by multiplying
net income
In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, a ...
by a
flat rate
A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Less commonly, the term may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of us ...
. In 1990, that rate was set at 3%, but in 2010, the General Assembly voted for a temporary increase in the rate to 5%; the new rate went into effect on January 1, 2011; the personal income rate partially sunset on January 1, 2015, to 3.75%, while the corporate income tax fell to 5.25%. Illinois failed to pass a budget from 2015 to 2017, after the 736-day
budget impasse
A budget crisis is an informal name for a situation in which the legislative and the executive in a presidential system deadlock and are unable to pass a budget. In presidential systems, the legislature has the power to pass a budget, but the exe ...
, a budget was passed in Illinois after lawmakers overturned Governor Bruce Rauner's veto; this budget raised the personal income rate to 4.95% and the corporate rate to 7%. There are two rates for state
sales tax
A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...
: 6.25% for general merchandise and 1% for qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances. The
property tax
A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
is a major source of tax revenue for local government taxing districts. The property tax is a local—not state—tax, imposed by local government taxing districts, which include counties,
townships, municipalities,
school district
A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations.
North America United States
In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...
s, and special taxation districts. The property tax in Illinois is imposed only on
real property
In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or affixe ...
.
On May 1, 2019, the Illinois Senate voted to approve a
constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...
that would have stricken language from the
Illinois Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...
requiring a flat state income tax, in a 73–44 vote. If approved, the amendment would have allowed the state legislature to impose a graduated income tax based on annual income. The governor,
J.B. Pritzker, approved the bill on May 27, 2019. It was scheduled for a 2020 general election ballot vote
and required 60 percent voter approval to effectively amend the state constitution.
The amendment was not approved by Illinoisans, with 55.1% of voters voting "No" on approval and 44.9% voting "Yes."
As of 2017 Chicago had the highest state and local sales tax rate for a U.S. city with a populations above 200,000, at 10.250%. The state of Illinois has the second highest rate of real estate tax: 2.31%, which is second only to New Jersey at 2.44%.
Toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
s are a ''de facto'' user tax on the citizens and visitors to the state of Illinois. Illinois ranks seventh out of the 11 states with the most miles of toll roads, at 282.1 miles. Chicago ranks fourth in most expensive toll roads in America by the mile, with the
Chicago Skyway
Interstate 90 (I-90) in the US state of Illinois runs roughly northwest-to-southeast through the northern part of the state. From the Wisconsin state line at South Beloit, it heads south to Rockford before heading east-southeast to the ...
charging 51.2 cents per mile. Illinois also has the 11th highest gasoline tax by state, at 37.5 cents per gallon.
Culture
Museums
Illinois has numerous museums; the greatest concentration of these are in Chicago. Several museums in Chicago are ranked as some of the best in the world. These include the
John G. Shedd Aquarium, the
Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...
, the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
, the
Adler Planetarium, and the
Museum of Science and Industry.
The modern
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum documents the life of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, and the course of the American Civil War. Combining traditional scholarship with 21st-century showmanship techniques, the museum ...
in Springfield is the largest and most attended
presidential library
A presidential library, presidential center, or presidential museum is a facility either created in honor of a former president and containing their papers, or affiliated with a country's presidency.
In the United States
* The presidential libr ...
in the country. The Illinois State Museum boasts a collection of 13.5 million objects that tell the story of Illinois life, land, people, and art. The ISM is among only 5% of the nation's museums that are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Other historical museums in the state include the
Polish Museum of America
The Polish Museum of America is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown neighborhood of Chicago. It is home to numerous Polish artifacts, artwork, and embroidered folk costumes in its growing collection. Founded in ...
in
Chicago
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;
Magnolia Manor in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
;
Easley Pioneer Museum
Easley Pioneer Museum is located at the corner of Mills Street and West Broadway in Ipava, Illinois. (40°21'11.05"N 90°19'37.73"W) The museum is privately owned by a descendant of the original Easley family. The Easley family founded the town o ...
in
Ipava; the
Elihu Benjamin Washburne;
Ulysses S. Grant Home
The Ulysses S. Grant Home in Galena, Illinois is the former home of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general and later 18th President of the United States. The home was designed by William Dennison[Galena
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...]
; and the Chanute Air Museum, located on the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul.
The Chicago metropolitan area also hosts two zoos: The
Brookfield Zoo
Brookfield Zoo, also known as the Chicago Zoological Park, is a zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. It houses around 450 species of animals in an area of . It opened on July 1, 1934, and quickly gained international recogni ...
, located about ten miles west of the city center in suburban
Brookfield, contains more than 2,300 animals and covers . The
Lincoln Park Zoo is located in
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...
on Chicago's North Side, approximately north of the
Loop
Loop or LOOP may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live
* Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets
* Loop Mobile, an ...
. The zoo accounts for more than of the park.
Vandalia-Courthouse.jpg, Vandalia State House State Historic Site
The Vandalia State House, built in 1836, is the fourth capitol building of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is also the oldest capitol building in Illinois to survive, as the first, second, and third capitol buildings have all disappeared. The brick ...
in Vandalia
460955752 a95ede20a4 o.jpg, The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago
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, image_map =
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Magnolia Manor.jpg, Magnolia Manor is a Victorian period
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
in Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
.
Lincoln Home 1.jpg, Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves the Springfield, Illinois home and related historic district where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1844 to 1861, before becoming the 16th president of the United States. The presidential memorial inclu ...
in Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
20070822 Polish Museum.JPG, The Polish Museum of America
The Polish Museum of America is located in West Town, in what had been the historical Polish Downtown neighborhood of Chicago. It is home to numerous Polish artifacts, artwork, and embroidered folk costumes in its growing collection. Founded in ...
in Chicago
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, image_map =
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CBQ 1926 20050716 Illinois Railway Museum.jpg, A Railway Post Office
In Canada and the United States, a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly tr ...
preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum
The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago.
Overview
Histo ...
in Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
Music
Illinois is a leader in music education, having hosted the
Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference since 1946, as well being home to the Illinois Music Educators Association (ILMEA, formerly IMEA), one of the largest professional music educator's organizations in the country. Each summer since 2004,
Southern Illinois University Carbondale has played host to the Southern Illinois Music Festival, which presents dozens of performances throughout the region. Past featured artists include the
Eroica Trio The Eroica Trio is an American piano trio consisting of Erika Nickrenz, piano; Sara Parkins, violin; and Sara Sant'Ambrogio, cello.
The trio take their name from Beethoven's Eroica Symphony. They have toured and recorded widely, and released si ...
and violinist
David Kim.
Chicago
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, image_map =
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, in the northeast corner of the state, is a
major center for music in the
midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
where distinctive forms of blues (greatly responsible for the future creation of
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
), and
house music
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...
, a genre of electronic dance music, were developed.
The
Great Migration of poor black workers from the South into the industrial cities brought traditional
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and
blues music
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
to the city, resulting in
Chicago blues and "Chicago-style"
Dixieland jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
. Notable blues artists included
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
,
Junior Wells,
Howlin' Wolf and both
Sonny Boy Williamsons; jazz greats included
Nat King Cole,
Gene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and ...
,
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...
, and
Bud Freeman. Chicago is also well known for its
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
.
In the early 1930s,
Gospel music
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
began to gain popularity in Chicago due to
Thomas A. Dorsey
Thomas Andrew Dorsey (July 1, 1899 – January 23, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and Evangelism, Christian evangelist influential in the development of early blues and 20th-century gospel music. He penned 3,000 songs, a third of them ...
's contributions at
Pilgrim Baptist Church.
In the 1980s and 1990s,
heavy rock,
punk, and
hip hop also became popular in Chicago.
Orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
s in Chicago include the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...
, the
Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the
Chicago Sinfonietta
The Chicago Sinfonietta is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is nationally and internationally acclaimed as a cultural leader and a powerful advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and is renowned for its groundbreaking, d ...
.
Movies
John Hughes, who moved from
Grosse Pointe to
Northbrook, based many films of his in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, and its suburbs.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off,
Home Alone
''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Hear ...
,
The Breakfast Club
''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The film t ...
, and all his films take place in the fictional Shermer, Illinois (the original name of Northbrook was Shermerville, and Hughes's High School,
Glenbrook North High School, is on Shermer Road). Most locations in his films include Glenbrook North, the former
Maine North High School
Maine North High School (officially was known as Maine Township High School North) was a public four–year high school in Des Plaines, Illinois, United States, located northwest of Chicago. Maine North was located in unincorporated Maine Townshi ...
, the
Ben Rose House
The Ben Rose House is a private residence designed by modernist architect A. James Speyer, a student of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and built in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois in 1953.
History and description
The property sits "s ...
in Highland Park, and the famous Home Alone house in
Winnetka, Illinois
Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second- ...
.
Sports
Major league sports
As one of the United States' major metropolises, all
major sports leagues have teams headquartered in Chicago.
*Two
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
teams are located in the state. The
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
of the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
play in the second-oldest major league stadium,
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...
, and went the longest length of time without a championship in all of major American sport, from 1908 to 2016, when they won the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
. The
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
of the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
won the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
in 2005, their first since 1917. They play on the city's south side at
Guaranteed Rate Field
Guaranteed Rate Field is a baseball stadium located on the South Side, Chicago, South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It serves as the home stadium of the Chicago White Sox, one of the city's two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, and i ...
.
*The
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
football team has won nine total
NFL Championships
Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
, the last occurring in
Super Bowl XX on January 26, 1986.
*The
Chicago Bulls of the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
is one of the most recognized
basketball teams
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
in the world, largely as a result of the efforts of
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
, who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s.
*The
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...
of the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
began playing in
1926
Events January
* January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece.
* January 8
**Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.
** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...
, and became a member of the
Original Six
The Original Six () are the teams that comprised the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1942 and 1967. The six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs ...
once the NHL dropped to that number of teams during World War II. The Blackhawks have won six
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
s, most recently in
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
.
*
Chicago Fire FC
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, subdivision_name ...
is a member of
MLS and has been one of the league's most successful and best-supported clubs since its founding in 1997, winning one league and four
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...
s in that timespan. The team played in
Bridgeview
Bridgeview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately southwest of the Chicago Loop. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 17,027.
History
The earliest settlement in Bridgeview occurred in the ...
, adjacent to Chicago from 2006 to 2019. The team now plays at Soldier Field in Chicago.
*The
Chicago Red Stars have played at the top level of U.S. women's soccer since their formation in 2009, except in the 2011 season. The team currently plays in the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
, playing at
SeatGeek Stadium
SeatGeek Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, about twelve miles southwest of downtown Chicago. It is the home stadium of the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League, Chicago Fire FC II of the MLS Next P ...
, the Bridgeview venue it formerly shared with Fire FC.
*The
Chicago Sky have played in the
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...
(WNBA) since 2006. The Sky won their first WNBA Championship in 2021. They play at
Wintrust Arena
Wintrust Arena at McCormick Square, previously referred to as DePaul Arena or McCormick Place Events Center, is a 10,387-seat sports venue in the Near South Side community area of Chicago that opened in 2017. It is the current home court for ...
in Chicago.
*The
Chicago Bandits
The Chicago Bandits were a women's professional softball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. Since the 2005 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). The Bandits won the 2008 NPF championship, defeating the Washington Gl ...
of the
NPF, a women's softball league; have won four league titles, most recently in 2016. They play at
Parkway Bank Sports Complex
Parkway Bank Sports Complex, also known as the Ballpark at Rosemont, is an outdoor baseball park used for fastpitch softball and baseball located in the American city of Rosemont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It hosted the National Pro Fastpi ...
in
Rosemont, Illinois
Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,202. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that. Whi ...
in the Chicago area.
Minor league sports
Many
minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
teams also call Illinois their home. They include:
*The
Bloomington Edge
The Bloomington Edge was a professional indoor football team based in Bloomington, Illinois. While it was in operation, the team hosted home games at Grossinger Motors Arena. Originally named the Bloomington Extreme, the team was a member of Unit ...
of the
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
*The
Bloomington Flex
The Bloomington Flex were a professional minor league basketball team based in Bloomington, Illinois. The Flex last played in the Midwest Professional Basketball Association (MPBA) in 2015.
History
Formed in 2011 as the Central Illinois Drive, ...
of the
Midwest Professional Basketball Association
The Midwest Professional Basketball Association (MPBA) was a professional men's basketball league that began play in January 2015. The six charter members were: Bloomington Flex, Champaign Swarm, Chicago Force, Gateway Steam, St. Louis RiverShark ...
*The
Chicago Dogs
The Chicago Dogs are an independent professional baseball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. They began play in 2018 and p ...
of the
American Association of Professional Baseball
The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...
*
Chicago Fire FC II of
MLS Next Pro
*The
Chicago Wolves
The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...
are an
AHL team playing in the suburb of
Rosemont
*The
Gateway Grizzlies of the
Frontier League in
Sauget, Illinois
*The
Kane County Cougars
The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ho ...
of the
American Association American Association may refer to:
Baseball
* American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891
* American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997
* American Association of Profe ...
*The Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League
*The Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League
*The Peoria Rivermen (SPHL), Peoria Rivermen are an Southern Professional Hockey League, SPHL team
*The Rockford Aviators of the Frontier League
*The Rockford IceHogs of the AHL
*The Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League
*The Southern Illinois Miners based out of
Marion Marion may refer to:
People
*Marion (given name)
*Marion (surname)
*Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion"
*Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992)
Places Antarctica
* Mari ...
in the Frontier League
*The Windy City Bulls, playing in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, Hoffman Estates, of the NBA G League
*The Windy City ThunderBolts of the Frontier League
College sports
The state features 13 athletic programs that compete in NCAA Division I, the highest level of U.S. college sports.
The two most prominent are the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats, both members of the Big Ten Conference and the only ones competing in one of the so-called "Power Five conferences". The Fighting Illini football team has won five national championships and three Rose Bowl Games, whereas the men's basketball team has won 17 conference seasons and played five Final Fours. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have won eight football conference championships and one Rose Bowl Game.
The Northern Illinois Huskies from DeKalb, Illinois compete in the Mid-American Conference winning four conference championships and earning a bid in the Orange Bowl along with producing Heisman candidate Jordan Lynch at quarterback. The Huskies are the state's only other team competing in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of NCAA football.
Four schools have football programs that compete in the second level of Division I football, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Illinois State Redbirds (Normal, adjacent to Bloomington) and Southern Illinois Salukis (representing Southern Illinois University's main campus in Carbondale) are members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) for non-football sports and the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The Western Illinois Leathernecks (Macomb) are full members of the Summit League, which does not sponsor football, and also compete in the MVFC. The Eastern Illinois Panthers (Charleston) are members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).
The city of Chicago is home to four Division I programs that do not sponsor football. The DePaul Blue Demons, with main campuses in Lincoln Park and the Loop, are members of the Big East Conference. The Loyola Ramblers, with their main campus straddling the Edgewater and Rogers Park community areas on the city's far north side, compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The UIC Flames, from the Near West Side next to the Loop, are in the MVC. The Chicago State Cougars, from the city's south side, are one of only two NCAA Division I independent schools#Full independents, all-sports independents in Division I after leaving the Western Athletic Conference in 2022.
Finally, two non-football Division I programs are located downstate. The Bradley Braves (Peoria) are MVC members, and the SIU Edwardsville Cougars (in the Metro East region across the Mississippi River from St. Louis) compete in the OVC.
Former Chicago sports franchises
=Folded teams
=
The city was formerly home to several other teams that either failed to survive or belonged to leagues that folded.
*The Chicago Blitz, United States Football League 1983–1984
*The Chicago Sting, North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League 1975–1984 and Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), Major Indoor Soccer League
*The Chicago Cougars, World Hockey Association 1972–1975
*The Chicago Rockers, Continental Basketball Association
*The Las Vegas Rattlers, Chicago Skyliners, American Basketball Association (2000–present), American Basketball Association 2000–01
*The Chicago Bruisers, Arena Football League (1987–2008), Arena Football League 1987–1989
*The Chicago Power, National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001), National Professional Soccer League 1984–2001
*The Chicago Blaze (basketball), Chicago Blaze, National Women's Basketball League
*The Rochester Rattlers, Chicago Machine, Major League Lacrosse
*The Chicago Whales of the Federal Baseball League, a rival league to Major League Baseball from 1914 to 1916
*The Chicago American Giants of the Negro league baseball, Negro baseball league, 1910–1952
*The Chicago Bruins of the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League, 1939–1942
*The Chicago Studebaker Flyers of the National Basketball League (United States), NBL, 1942–43
*The Chicago American Gears of the NBL, 1944–1947
*The Chicago Stags of the Basketball Association of America, 1946–1950
*The Chicago Majors of the American Basketball League, 1961–1963
*The Chicago Express of the ECHL
*The Chicago Enforcers of the XFL (2001), XFL pro football league
*The Chicago Fire (WFL), Chicago Fire, World Football League 1974
*The Chicago Winds, World Football League 1975
*The Chicago Hustle, Women's Professional Basketball League 1978–1981
*The Chicago Mustangs (1967–68), Chicago Mustangs, North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League 1966–1967
*The Chicago Rush, Arena Football League 2001–2013
*The Chicago Storm (professional softball team), Chicago Storm, men's professional softball leagues, American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL), 1977-1978
*The Chicago Nationwide Advertising (professional softball team), Chicago Nationwide Advertising, men's professional softball leagues, North American Softball League (NASL), 1980
=Relocated teams
=
The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, who currently play in the Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, played in Chicago as the History of the Chicago Cardinals, Chicago Cardinals, until moving to St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri after the 1959 season. An NBA expansion team known as the Chicago Packers in 1961–1962, and as the Chicago Zephyrs the following year, moved to Baltimore after the 1962–1963 season. The franchise is now known as the Washington Wizards.
Professional sports teams outside Chicago
The Peoria Chiefs are a High-A minor league baseball team affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Schaumburg Boomers, Southern Illinois Miners,
Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers and Windy City ThunderBolts all belong to the Independent baseball league, independent
Frontier League. Additionally, the
Kane County Cougars
The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ho ...
play in the
American Association American Association may refer to:
Baseball
* American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891
* American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997
* American Association of Profe ...
and the Lake County Fielders were members of the former North American League (baseball), North American League.
In addition to the Chicago Wolves, the AHL also has the Rockford IceHogs serving as the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. The second incarnation of the Peoria Rivermen (SPHL), Peoria Rivermen plays in the Southern Professional Hockey League, SPHL.
Motor racing
Motor racing oval tracks at the Chicagoland Speedway in
Joliet, the Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Illinois, Cicero and the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, Madison, near St. Louis, have hosted NASCAR, Champ Car, CART, and Indy Racing League, IRL races, whereas the Sports Car Club of America, among other national and regional road racing clubs, have visited the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, the Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit, Illinois, South Beloit and the former Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville, Illinois, Carpentersville. Illinois also has several Short track motor racing, short tracks and dragstrips. The dragstrip at Gateway International Raceway and the Route 66 Raceway, which sits on the same property as the Chicagoland Speedway, both host NHRA drag races.
Golf
Illinois features several golf courses, such as Olympia Fields Country Club, Olympia Fields, Medinah Country Club, Medinah, Midlothian Country Club, Midlothian, Cog Hill Golf & Country Club, Cog Hill, and Conway Farms Golf Club, Conway Farms, which have often hosted the BMW Championship (PGA Tour), BMW Championship, Western Open, and Women's Western Open.
Also, the state has hosted 13 editions of the U.S. Open (golf), U.S. Open (latest at Olympia Fields in 2003), six editions of the PGA Championship (latest at Medinah in 2006), three editions of the U.S. Women's Open (latest at The Merit Club), the 2009 Solheim Cup (at Rich Harvest Farms), and the 2012 Ryder Cup (at Medinah).
The John Deere Classic is a regular PGA Tour event played in the Quad Cities since 1971, whereas the Encompass Championship is a Champions Tour event since 2013. Previously, the LPGA State Farm Classic was an LPGA Tour event from 1976 to 2011.
Parks and recreation
The Illinois state parks system began in 1908 with what is now Fort Massac State Park, becoming the first park in a system encompassing more than 60 parks and about the same number of recreational and wildlife areas.
Areas under the protection of the National Park Service include: the Illinois and Michigan Canal, Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor near Lockport, Illinois, Lockport, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves the Springfield, Illinois home and related historic district where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1844 to 1861, before becoming the 16th president of the United States. The presidential memorial inclu ...
in Springfield, the Mormon Trail, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, the Trail of Tears, Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, the American Discovery Trail, and the Pullman National Monument. The federal government also manages the
Shawnee National Forest and the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
Law and politics
In a 2020 study, Illinois was ranked as the 4th easiest state for citizens to vote in.
State government
The government of Illinois, under the Constitution of Illinois, has three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices, with the governor as chief executive. Legislative functions are granted to the Illinois General Assembly. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court and lower courts.
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 181 ...
is the state legislature, composed of the 118-member Illinois House of Representatives and the 59-member Illinois Senate. The members of the General Assembly are elected at the beginning of each even-numbered year. The ''Illinois Compiled Statutes'' (ILCS) are the codification (law), codified statutes of a general and permanent nature.
The executive branch is composed of six elected officers and their offices as well as numerous other departments.
[ The six elected officers are:][ Governor of Illinois, Governor, Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, Lieutenant Governor, Illinois Attorney General, Attorney General, Illinois Secretary of State, Secretary of State, Illinois Comptroller, Comptroller, and Illinois Treasurer, Treasurer. The government of Illinois has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions, but the so-called code departments provide most of the state's services.]
The Judiciary of Illinois is the unified court system of Illinois. It consists of the Supreme Court of Illinois, Supreme Court, Illinois Appellate Court, Appellate Court, and Illinois Circuit Courts, Circuit Courts. The Supreme Court oversees the administration of the court system.
The administrative divisions of Illinois are counties, townships, precincts, cities, towns, villages, and special-purpose districts. The basic subdivision of Illinois are the 102 counties. Eighty-five of the 102 counties are in turn divided into townships and precincts. Municipal governments are the cities, villages, and incorporated towns. Some localities possess ''home rule'', which allows them to govern themselves to a certain extent.
Party balance
Illinois is a Red states and blue states, Democratic stronghold. Historically, Illinois was a political swing state, with near-parity existing between the Republican Party (United States), Republican and the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic parties. However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has gained ground, and Illinois has come to be seen as a solid Red states and blue states, "blue" state in presidential campaigns. Votes from Chicago and most of Cook County have long been strongly Democratic. However, the "collar counties" (the suburbs surrounding Chicago's Cook County, Illinois), can be seen as moderate voting districts. College towns like Carbondale, Champaign, and Normal also lean Democratic.
Republicans continue to prevail in the rural areas of northern and central Illinois, as well as southern Illinois outside of East St. Louis
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
. From 1920 United States presidential election, 1920 until 1972 United States presidential election, 1972, Illinois was carried by the victor of each of these 14 presidential elections. In fact, the state was long seen as a national bellwether, supporting the winner in every election in the 20th century, except for 1916 United States presidential election, 1916 and 1976 United States presidential election in Illinois, 1976. By contrast, Illinois has trended more toward the Democratic party, and has voted for their presidential candidates in the last six elections; in 2000 United States presidential election in Illinois, 2000, George W. Bush became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying either Illinois or Vermont. Local politician and Chicago resident Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
easily won the state's 21 electoral votes in 2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, 2008, with 61.9% of the vote. In 2010, incumbent governor Pat Quinn (politician), Pat Quinn was re-elected with 47% of the vote, while Republican Mark Kirk was elected to the Senate with 48% of the vote. In 2012, President Obama easily carried Illinois again, with 58% to Republican candidate Mitt Romney's 41%. In 2014, Republican Bruce Rauner
Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. Prior to his election, he was the chairman of R8 Capital Partners and chai ...
defeated Governor Quinn 50% to 46% to become Illinois's first Republican governor in 12 years after being sworn in on January 12, 2015, while Democratic senator Dick Durbin was re-elected with 53% of the vote. In 2016, Hillary Clinton carried Illinois with 55% of the vote, and Tammy Duckworth defeated incumbent Mark Kirk 54% to 40%. George W. Bush and Donald Trump are the only Republican Party (United States), Republican presidential candidates to win without carrying either Illinois or Vermont. In 2018 Illinois gubernatorial election, 2018, Democrat J. B. Pritzker, JB Pritzker defeated the incumbent Bruce Rauner for the governorship with 54% of the vote.
History of corruption
Politics in the state have been infamous for highly visible corruption cases, as well as for crusading reformers, such as governors Adlai Stevenson II, Adlai Stevenson and James R. Thompson. In 2006, former governor George Ryan was convicted of racketeering and bribery, leading to a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence. In 2008, then-Governor Rod Blagojevich was served with a criminal complaint on corruption charges, stemming from allegations that he conspired to sell the vacated Senate seat left by President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
to the highest bidder. Subsequently, on December 7, 2011, Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for those charges, as well as perjury while testifying during the case, totaling 18 convictions. Blagojevich was impeached and convicted by the legislature, resulting in his removal from office. In the late 20th century, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski was imprisoned for mail fraud; former governor and federal judge Otto Kerner, Jr. was imprisoned for bribery; Secretary of State Paul Powell (politician), Paul Powell was investigated and found to have gained great wealth through bribes, and State Auditor of Public Accounts (Comptroller) Orville Hodge was imprisoned for embezzlement. In 1912, William Lorimer, the GOP boss of Chicago, was expelled from the U.S. Senate for bribery and in 1921, Governor Len Small was found to have defrauded the state of a million dollars.
U.S. presidential elections
Illinois has shown a strong presence in presidential elections. Three presidents have claimed Illinois as their political base when running for president: Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
, and most recently Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
. Lincoln was born in Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
, but he moved to Illinois at age 21. He served in the Illinois General Assembly, General Assembly and represented the Illinois's 7th congressional district, 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives before his election to the presidency in 1860. Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
was born in Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
and had a military career that precluded settling down, but on the eve of the American Civil War, Civil War and approaching middle age, he moved to Illinois and thus utilized the state as his home and political base when running for president. Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
was born in Hawaii and made Illinois his home after graduating from law school, and later represented Illinois in the United States Senate, U.S. Senate. He then became president in 2008, running as a candidate from his Illinois base.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
was born in Illinois, in the city of Tampico, Illinois, Tampico, raised in Dixon, Illinois, and educated at Eureka College, outside Peoria. Reagan later moved to California during his young adulthood. He then became an actor, and later became Governor of California, California's Governor before being elected president.
Hillary Clinton was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and became the first woman to represent a major political party in the general election of the U.S. presidency. Clinton ran from a platform based in New York (state), New York State.
African-American U.S. senators
List of African-American United States Senators, Eleven African-Americans have served as members of the United States Senate. Of which three have represented Illinois, the most of any single state: Carol Moseley Braun, Carol Moseley-Braun, Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, and Roland Burris, who was appointed to replace Obama after his election to the presidency. Moseley-Braun was the first African-American woman to become a U.S. Senator.
Political families
Three families from Illinois have played particularly prominent roles in the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, gaining both statewide and national fame.
Stevenson
The Stevenson family, initially rooted in central Illinois and later based in the Chicago metropolitan area, has provided four generations of Illinois officeholders.
*Adlai Stevenson I (1835–1914) was a Vice President of the United States, as well as a Congressman
*Lewis Stevenson (politician), Lewis Stevenson (1868–1929), son of Adlai, served as Illinois Secretary of State.
*Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965), son of Lewis, served as Governor of Illinois and as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; he was also the Democratic party's presidential nominee in 1952 United States presidential election, 1952 and 1956 United States presidential election, 1956, losing both elections to Dwight Eisenhower.
*Adlai Stevenson III (1930–2021), son of Adlai II, served ten years as a United States Senator.
Daley
The Daley family's powerbase was in Chicago.
*Richard J. Daley (1902–1976) served as Mayor of Chicago from 1955 to his death.
*Richard M. Daley (1942–), son of Richard J, was Chicago's longest-serving mayor, in office from 1989 to 2011.
*William M. Daley (1948–), another son of Richard J, is a former White House Chief of Staff and has served in a variety of appointed positions.
Pritzker
The Pritzker family is based in Chicago and have played important roles in both the private and the public sectors.
*Jay Pritzker (1922–1999), co-founder of Hyatt Hotel based in Chicago.
*Penny Pritzker (born 1959), 38th United States Secretary of Commerce under President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
.
*J.B. Pritzker (born 1965), current and 43rd governor of Illinois and co-founder of the Pritzker Group.
Education
Illinois State Board of education
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is autonomous of the governor and the state legislature, and administers public education in the state. Local municipalities and their respective school district
A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations.
North America United States
In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...
s operate individual public schools, but the ISBE audits performance of public schools with the Illinois School Report Card. The ISBE also makes recommendations to state leaders concerning education spending and policies.
Primary and secondary schools
Education is compulsory for ages 7–17 in Illinois. Schools are commonly, but not exclusively, divided into three tiers of primary and secondary education: elementary school, middle school or Middle school, junior high school, and high school. District territories are often complex in structure. Many areas in the state are actually located in ''two'' school districts—one for high school, the other for elementary and middle schools. And such districts do not necessarily share boundaries. A given high school may have several elementary districts that feed into it, yet some of those feeder districts may themselves feed into multiple high school districts.
Colleges and universities
Using the criterion established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, there are eleven "National Universities" in the state.
The University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
is continuously ranked as one of the world's top ten universities on various independent university rankings, and its Booth School of Business, along with Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management consistently rank within the top five graduate business schools in the country and top ten globally. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is often ranked among the best engineering schools in the world and in United States.
, six of these rank in the "first tier" among the top 500 National Universities in the nation, as determined by the ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankings: the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Loyola University Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, DePaul University, University of Illinois Chicago, Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Northern Illinois University.
Illinois also has more than twenty additional Educational accreditation, accredited four-year universities, both public and private, and dozens of small liberal arts colleges across the state. Additionally, Illinois supports 49 public community colleges in the Illinois Community College System.
School financing
Schools in Illinois are funded primarily by property taxes, based on state assessment of property values, rather than direct state contributions. Scholar Tracy Steffes has described Illinois public education as historically “inequitable,” a system where one of “the wealthiest of states” is “the stingiest in its support for education.” There have been several attempts to reform school funding in Illinois. The most notable attempt came in 1973 with the adoption of the Illinois Resource Equalizer Formula, a measure through which it was hoped funding could be collected and distributed to Illinois schools more equitably. However, opposition from affluent Illinois communities who objected to having to pay for the less well-off school districts (many of them Black majority communities, produced by redlining, white flight, and other “soft” segregation methods) resulted in the formula's abolition in the late 1980s.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Because of its central location and its proximity to the Rust Belt and Grain Belt, Illinois is a national crossroads for air, auto, rail, and truck traffic.
Airports
From 1962 until 1998, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, ...
(ORD) was the busiest airport in the world, measured both in terms of total flights and passengers. While it was surpassed by Atlanta's Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Hartsfield in 1998 (as Chicago splits its air traffic between O'Hare and Midway airports, while Atlanta uses only one airport), with 59.3 million domestic passengers annually, along with 11.4 million international passengers in 2008, O'Hare consistently remains one of the two or three busiest airports globally, and in some years still ranks number one in total flights. It is a major airline hub, hub for both United Airlines and American Airlines, and a major airport expansion project is currently underway. Chicago Midway International Airport, Midway Airport (MDW), which had been the busiest airport in the world at one point until it was supplanted by O'Hare as the busiest airport in 1962, is now the secondary airport in the Chicago metropolitan area and still ranks as one of the nation's busiest airports. Midway is a major hub for Southwest Airlines and services many other carriers as well. Midway served 17.3 million domestic and international passengers in 2008.
Rail
Illinois has an extensive passenger and freight rail transportation network. Chicago is a national Amtrak hub and in-state passengers are served by Amtrak's Illinois Service, featuring the Chicago to Carbondale Illini (Amtrak), ''Illini'' and Saluki (Amtrak), ''Saluki'', the Chicago to Quincy Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, ''Carl Sandburg'' and ''Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Illinois Zephyr'', and the Chicago to St. Louis ''Lincoln Service''. Currently there is trackwork on the Chicago–St. Louis line to bring the maximum speed up to , which would reduce the trip time by an hour and a half. Nearly every North American railway meets at Chicago, making it the largest and most active rail hub in the country. Extensive commuter rail is provided in the city proper and some immediate suburbs by the Chicago Transit Authority's Chicago "L", 'L' system. One of the largest suburban commuter rail system in the United States, operated by Metra, uses existing rail lines to provide direct commuter rail access for hundreds of suburbs to the city and beyond.
In addition to the state's rail lines, the Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
and Illinois River
The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...
provide major transportation routes for the state's agricultural interests. Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
gives Illinois access to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...
.
Interstate highway system
The Interstate Highways in Illinois are all segments of the Interstate Highway System that are owned and maintained by the state.
Illinois has the distinction of having the most primary (two-digit) interstates pass through it among all the 50 states with 13. Illinois also ranks third among the fifty states with the most interstate mileage, coming in after California and Texas, which are much bigger states in area.
Major U.S. Interstate highways crossing the state include: Interstate 24 in Illinois, Interstate 24 (I-24), Interstate 39 in Illinois, I-39, Interstate 41, I-41, Interstate 55 in Illinois, I-55, Interstate 57 in Illinois, I-57, Interstate 64 in Illinois, I-64, Interstate 70 in Illinois, I-70, Interstate 72 in Illinois, I-72, Interstate 74 in Illinois, I-74, Interstate 80 in Illinois, I-80, Interstate 88 (Illinois), I-88, Interstate 90 in Illinois, I-90, and Interstate 94 in Illinois, I-94.
U.S. highway system
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is responsible for maintaining the United States Numbered Highways, U.S Highways in Illinois. The system in Illinois consists of 21 List of U.S. Highways, primary highways.
Among the U.S. highways that pass through the state, the primary ones are: U.S. Route 6 in Illinois, US 6, U.S. Route 12 in Illinois, US 12, U.S. Route 14 in Illinois, US 14, U.S. Route 20 in Illinois, US 20, U.S. Route 24 in Illinois, US 24, U.S. Route 30 in Illinois, US 30, U.S. Route 34 in Illinois, US 34, U.S. Route 36 in Illinois, US 36, U.S. Route 40 in Illinois, US 40, U.S. Route 41 in Illinois, US 41, U.S. Route 45 in Illinois, US 45, U.S. Route 50 in Illinois, US 50, U.S. Route 51 in Illinois, US 51, U.S. Route 52 in Illinois, US 52, U.S. Route 54 in Illinois, US 54, U.S. Route 60 in Illinois, US 60, U.S. Route 62 in Illinois, US 62, and U.S. Route 67 in Illinois, US 67.
Gallery
IllinoisLicensePlates.jpg, Standard license plate introduced in 2017
Illinois 2002 series passenger plate sample 000 0000.gif, Standard license plate 2001 to 2016
1987-Illinois-license-plate.png, Illinois license plate design used throughout the 1980s and 1990s, displaying the ''Land of Lincoln'' slogan that has been featured on the state's plates since 1954
See also
*Index of Illinois-related articles
*List of people from Illinois
*Outline of Illinois
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
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Illinois: State Resource Guide, from the Library of Congress
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Illinois Office of Tourism
Illinois - State Energy Profile Overview
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
State Fact Sheets: Illinois
USDA's Economic Research Service
USGS Central Midwest Water Science Center
{{coord, 40, -89, dim:300000_region:US-IL_type:adm1st, name=State of Illinois, display=title
Illinois,
1818 establishments in the United States
Former French colonies
Midwestern United States
States and territories established in 1818
States of the United States
Contiguous United States