Illinois ( ) is a
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
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 territori ...
. 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 h ...
, and 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 ...
section, of
Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include,
Peoria and
Rockford, as well
Springfield, 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 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. ...
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
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...
:
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 lak ...
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 Ameri ...
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 fl ...
via the
Illinois Waterway
The Illinois Waterway system consists of of navigable water from the mouth of the Calumet River at Chicago to the mouth of the Illinois River at Grafton, Illinois. Based primarily on the Illinois River, it is a system of rivers, lakes, and cana ...
. 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 has been among the world's ten busiest airports for decades. Illinois has long been considered a
microcosm of the United States and a
bellwether
A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.[bellwether]
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...
in American culture, exemplified by the phrase ''
Will it play in Peoria?''.
What is now Illinois was inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous cultures, including the advanced civilization centered in the
Cahokia
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south- ...
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
The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...
, 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 Spa ...
. 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 ...
via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. Illinois was part of the United States' oldest territory, the
Northwest Territory, and in 1818 it achieved
statehood. 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. The invention of the self-scouring
steel plow by Illinoisan
John Deere turned the state's rich
prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting
immigrant 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. In the mid-19th century, the
Illinois and Michigan Canal 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 ...
mining in the central and southern areas, attracted immigrants from
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
and
Southern Europe
Southern Europe is the southern 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 countries and regions: Alba ...
. 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 m ...
and
blues cultures. Chicago became a leading cultural, economic, and population center and is today one of the world's major commercial centers; its
metropolitan area, informally referred to as
Chicagoland holds about 65% of the state's 12.8 million residents.
Three
U.S. presidents 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, 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 ...
; additionally,
Ronald Reagan 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 in Springfield and the future home of the
Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
Etymology
"Illinois" is the modern spelling for the early
French 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 and explorers' name for the
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
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
Miami-Illinois (endonym: , ) also known as Irenwa, or Irenwe is an indigenous Algonquian language spoken in the United States, primarily in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, western Ohio and adjacent areas along the Mississippi River by the Miami ...
, 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, 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 script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...
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
The Koster Site is a prehistoric archaeological site located south of Eldred, Illinois. The site covers more than 3 acres and extends 30 feet down into the alluvial deposits of the Illinois River valley. Over the course of its excavation betw ...
has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation.
Cahokia
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south- ...
, the largest regional
chiefdom
A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...
and
Urban Center
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...
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, ...
Mississippian culture, was located near present-day
Collinsville, Illinois
Collinsville is a city located mainly in Madison County, and partially in St. Clair County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 25,579, an increase from 24,707 in 2000. Collinsville is approximately from St. Louis, Mi ...
. They built an urban complex of more than 100
platform
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system or ...
and
burial mound
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
s, a
plaza
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
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 w ...
. 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
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south- ...
include elaborate ceramics, finely sculptured stonework, carefully embossed and engraved copper and
mica 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 valley, one third of all adults died as a result of violent injuries." The next major power in the region was the
Illinois Confederation
The Illinois Confederation, also referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, were made up of 12 to 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley. Eventually member tribes occupied an area reaching from Lake Michicigao (Michigan) to Iowa, Ill ...
or Illini, a political alliance. As the Illini declined during the
Beaver Wars era, members of the
Algonquian-speaking
Potawatomi,
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Sauk, and other tribes including the Fox (
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...
),
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 th ...
,
Kickapoo,
Mascouten,
Piankeshaw
The Piankeshaw, Piankashaw or Pianguichia were members of the Miami tribe who lived apart from the rest of the Miami nation, therefore they were known as Peeyankihšiaki ("splitting off" from the others, Sing.: ''Peeyankihšia'' - "Piankeshaw Per ...
,
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, and Winnebago (
Ho-Chunk) 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 Ign ...
and
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet (September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. In 1673, Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore and ...
explored the
Illinois River 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
The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...
. In 1680, French explorers under
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and
Henri de Tonti
Henri de Tonti (''né'' Enrico Tonti; – September 1704), also spelled Henri de Tonty, was an Italian-born French military officer, explorer, and ''voyageur'' who assisted René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, with North American explora ...
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
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
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 Spa ...
, and then of
La Louisiane
Louisiana (french: La Louisiane; ''La Louisiane Française'') or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682 to 1769 and 1801 (nominally) to 1803, the area was named in honor of King Louis XIV, ...
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 (175 ...
. The small French settlements continued, although many French migrated west to
Ste. Genevieve and
St. Louis, Missouri, 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 claimed
Illinois County 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, 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 was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The
Illinois Territory was created on February 3, 1809, with its capital at
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in ...
, 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 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
Nathaniel W. Pope (January 5, 1784 – January 23, 1850) was an American government leader in the early history of the State of Illinois. He served as the Secretary of the Illinois Territory, then as a Delegate to the United States House of Repr ...
, 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 region near
Galena. 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
Sangamon County is located in the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 197,465. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, the state capital.
Sangamon County is included in the S ...
, under the leadership of state representative Abraham Lincoln, succeeded in having the capital moved to
Springfield, 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 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), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
, 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 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 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 th ...
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
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 ...
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 J ...
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, ...
,
was killed in the
Carthage Jail, about 30 miles away from Nauvoo. Following a
succession crisis,
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as ch ...
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 lak ...
port, and then as an
Illinois and Michigan Canal 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.
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
almshouses. Dix came into this effort after having met J. O. King, a
Jacksonville, Illinois 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 ...
, 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 of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
, 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 city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
, 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
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
* Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
* Grant, Inyo County, ...
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
The Pullman Strike was two interrelated strikes in 1894 that shaped national labor policy in the United States during a period of deep economic depression. First came a strike by the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman factory in Chi ...
and
Haymarket Riot
The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in ...
, in particular, greatly influenced the development of the American
labor 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
A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...
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 Crawford County is the name of eleven counties in the United States:
* Crawford County, Arkansas
* Crawford County, Georgia
* Crawford County, Illinois
* Crawford County, Indiana
* Crawford County, Iowa
* Crawford County, Kansas
* Crawford Count ...
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
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, 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 Ameri ...
in 1959. The seaway and the
Illinois Waterway
The Illinois Waterway system consists of of navigable water from the mouth of the Calumet River at Chicago to the mouth of the Illinois River at Grafton, Illinois. Based primarily on the Illinois River, it is a system of rivers, lakes, and cana ...
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
Raymond Albert Kroc (October 5, 1902 – January 14, 1984) was an American businessman. He purchased the fast food company McDonald's in 1961 and was its CEO from 1967 to 1973. Kroc is credited with the global expansion of McDonald's, turnin ...
opened the first
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
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. 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 university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
conducted the first sustained
nuclear chain reaction. In 1957,
Argonne National Laboratory, 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
Morris may refer to:
Places
Australia
*St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia
Canada
* Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry
* Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba
** Morris, Manitob ...
. 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 opera ...
, a national nuclear research facility near
Batavia, opened a
particle accelerator
A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams.
Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...
, 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 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 ''sod ...
. The code also abrogated
common law crime
Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law, the related criminal law of some Commonwealth countries, and under some U.S. State laws. They are offences under the common law, developed entirely by the law courts, having no specific ...
s and established an
age of consent of 18. The state's
fourth constitution was adopted in 1970, replacing the 1870 document.
The first
Farm Aid
Farm Aid is an annual benefit concert held for American farmers.
History
On July 13, 1985, while performing at the Live Aid benefit concert for the 1983–1985 Ethiopian famine, Bob Dylan made comments about family farmers within the United St ...
concert was held in
Champaign
Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...
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
The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood wa ...
, inundated many towns and thousands of acres of farmland.
21st century
On August 28, 2017, Illinois Governor
Bruce Rauner 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 Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ''z ...
, 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 ...
s,
brachiopod
Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...
s, and
crinoid
Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are ...
s. Changing environmental conditions led to the formation of large
coal swamps in the
Carboniferous.
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 Cretace ...
, but by its end was again submerged by the
Western Interior Seaway
The Western Interior Seaway (also called the Cretaceous Seaway, the Niobraran Sea, the North American Inland Sea, and the Western Interior Sea) was a large inland sea that split the continent of North America into two landmasses. The ancient sea ...
. This receded by the
Eocene Epoch
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "daw ...
.
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
The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois.
Never covered by ice during the las ...
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 over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
s carved the basin of
Lake Michigan and left behind traces of ancient glacial lakes and
moraines.
Geography
Illinois is located in the
Midwest region of the United States and is one of the eight states in the
Great Lakes region
The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...
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 C ...
, 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 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 from ...
in the south above
Post Vincennes. The Wabash River continues as the eastern/southeastern border with Indiana until the Wabash enters the
Ohio River. 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 ...
, which runs along the northern shoreline of the Ohio River. Most of the western border with
Missouri
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 t ...
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 th ...
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 fl ...
; Kaskaskia is an
exclave 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, within which Illinois shares a water boundary with the state of
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, 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, it does have some minor variation in its elevation. In extreme northwestern Illinois, the
Driftless Area
The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois.
Never covered by ice during the las ...
, a region of unglaciated and therefore higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state.
Southern Illinois includes the hilly areas around the
Shawnee National Forest
The Shawnee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the Ozark and Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois, United States. Administered by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, it consists of approximately 280,000 acres (1,100 km²) ...
.
Charles Mound, 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 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
The Kaskaskia River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 in central and southern Illinois in the Un ...
is known as the
American Bottom
The American Bottom is the flood plain of the Mississippi River in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois, extending from Alton, Illinois, south to the Kaskaskia River. It is also sometimes called "American Bottoms". The area is about , mo ...
.
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
Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010.
Economics
Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...
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 h ...
, 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
The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...
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 fl ...
in northern Illinois, had a population of 381,342 in 2011.
The midsection of Illinois is the second major division, called
Central Illinois. Historically
prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
, 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 Shortly before the War of 1812, congress passed Military Tract of 1812. This allowed for quarter-sections of land to be promised to those enlisting to fight against the British. This encouraged both enlistment and later settlement, although many so ...
and forms the conspicuous western bulge of the state. Agriculture, particularly
corn 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 a ...
s, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently in Central Illinois. Cities include
Peoria;
Springfield, the state capital;
Quincy;
Decatur;
Bloomington-Normal; and
Champaign
Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...
-
Urbana.
The third division is
Southern Illinois, comprising the area south of
U.S. Route 50, 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 fl ...
and
Ohio River. Southern Illinois is the site of the ancient city of
Cahokia
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south- ...
, as well as the site of the first state capital at
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in ...
, 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
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, such as
East St. Louis, 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 Sta ...
. 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
* Mario ...
, 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 DeKalb or De Kalb may refer to:
People
* Baron Johann de Kalb (1721–1780), major general in the American Revolutionary War
Places Municipalities in the United States
* DeKalb, Illinois, the largest city in the United States named DeKalb
**DeKal ...
, 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 (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, and the all-time low temperature was , recorded on January 31, 2019, during the
January 2019 North American cold wave at a weather station near
Mount Carroll,
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 some ...
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, ...
's deadliest tornadoes on record have occurred in the state. The
Tri-State Tornado 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 t ...
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 servi ...
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 h ...
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 o ...
(60.7% Non-Hispanic White), 5.6%
Asian, 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
Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numb ...
, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
and 2.0% from
two or more races.
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, 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 ancestry, 13.3% had
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
ancestry, 8% had
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
ancestry, 7.9% had
Polish ancestry, 6.4% had
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
ancestry, 4.6% listed themselves as
American, 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 ancestry, other than
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
, 1.6% had
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
ancestry, and 1.4% had
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
ancestry.
Illinois also has large numbers of
African Americans and Latinos (mostly
Mexicans and
Puerto Ricans).
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 h ...
: 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 was at , located in
Grundy County, northeast of the village of
Mazon.
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
White Latin Americans, or European Latin Americans, are Latin Americans who are considered white, typically due to European descent. Latin American countries have often tolerated intermarriage between different ethnic groups since the beginning ...
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 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
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
, a Chicago
satellite town
Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have m ...
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 County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, 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 ...
, a suburb of Chicago, is fifth with 141,853. Naperville and Aurora share a boundary along
Illinois Route 59.
Springfield, 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 is
Belleville, with 44,478 people at the
2010 census. It is located in the Illinois portion of
Greater St. Louis (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 Sta ...
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
The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...
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, 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 varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...
are spoken, ranging from
Inland Northern American English
Inland Northern (American) English, also known in American linguistics as the Inland North or Great Lakes dialect, is an American English dialect spoken primarily by White Americans in a geographic band reaching from the major urban areas of U ...
and
African-American English
African-American English (or AAE; also known as Black American English, or Black English in American linguistics) is the set of English sociolects spoken by most Black people in the United States and many in Canada; most commonly, it refe ...
around Chicago, to
Midland American English
Midland American English is a regional dialect or super-dialect of American English, geographically lying between the traditionally-defined Northern and Southern United States. The boundaries of Midland American English are not entirely clear, b ...
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
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
is by far the most widespread, at more than 12% of the total population.
A sizeable number of
Polish 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 h ...
.
Illinois Country French has mostly gone extinct in Illinois, although it is still celebrated in the
French Colonial Historic District.
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 evangelic ...
with 314,461 members and the
Southern Baptist Convention with 283,519. Illinois has one of the largest concentrations of
Missouri Synod Lutherans 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 J ...
, with Nauvoo becoming a gathering place for Mormons in the early 1840s. Nauvoo was the location of the
succession crisis, 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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
, 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 traditi ...
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 h ...
, followers of the
Muslim,
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 in the world is located on the shores of
Lake Michigan in
Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
, one of eight continental
Baháʼí House 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 ...
,
Sikhs,
Jains, and
Buddhists.
Economy
The dollar
gross state product
Gross regional domestic product (GRDP), gross domestic product of region (GDPR), or gross state product (GSP) is a statistic that measures the size of a region's economy. It is the aggregate of gross value added (GVA) of all resident producer uni ...
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 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,
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 a ...
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 ma ...
,
dairy products, 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) 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 ...
", 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. 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 areas. 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, a trading exchange for global
derivatives, had begun its life as an agricultural
futures market. 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, 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 discovered coal in locations such as
Sangamon County
Sangamon County is located in the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 197,465. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, the state capital.
Sangamon County is included in the S ...
.
Jacob Bunn 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 geologic period. According to the Illinois State Geological Survey, 211 billion tons of
bituminous coal are estimated to lie under the surface, having a total heating value greater than the estimated oil deposits in the
Arabian Peninsula. However, this coal has a high
sulfur content, which causes
acid rain, unless special equipment is used to reduce
sulfur dioxide emissions.
Many Illinois
power plants
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
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
The Powder River Basin is a geologic structural basin in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its extensive coal reserves. The former hunting grounds of the Oglala Lakota, the area is very s ...
of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the 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 southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
.
Mattoon was chosen as the site for the
Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...
's
FutureGen
FutureGen was a project to demonstrate capture and sequestration of waste carbon dioxide from a coal-fired electrical generating station. The project (renamed FutureGen 2.0) was retrofitting a shuttered coal-fired power plant in Meredosia, Illin ...
project, a 275-megawatt experimental
zero emission Zero emission refers to an engine, motor, process, or other energy source, that emits no waste products that pollute the environment or disrupt the climate.
Zero emission engines
Vehicles and other mobile machinery used for transport (over land, s ...
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, 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. Illinois is ranked 14th in
oil production
Petroleum is a fossil fuel that can be drawn from beneath the earth's surface. Reservoirs of petroleum was formed through the mixture of plants, algae, and sediments in shallow seas under high pressure. Petroleum is mostly recovered from oil dri ...
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 ...
arguably began in Illinois with the
Chicago Pile-1, the world's first artificial self-sustaining
nuclear chain reaction 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 fr ...
, built on the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
campus. There are six operating
nuclear power plants 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 peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
,
Clinton,
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 ...
,
LaSalle, and
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...
. 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 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 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 generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...
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, 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
Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station, 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 to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...
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 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 depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of ti ...
s.
Biofuels
Illinois is ranked second in
corn 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 with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a ...
consumed in the United States.
The
Archer Daniels Midland corporation in
Decatur, Illinois, 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.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univers ...
is one of the partners in the
Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a $500 million biofuels research project funded by petroleum giant
BP.
Taxes
Tax is collected by the
Illinois Department of Revenue
The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) is the code department of the Illinois state government that collects state taxes, operates the state lottery, oversees the state's casino industry, oversees the state's thoroughbred and harness horse rac ...
. 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 by a
flat rate. 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 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: 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 inhe ...
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
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
, 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.
On May 1, 2019, the Illinois Senate voted to approve a
constitutional amendment that would have stricken language from the
Illinois Constitution 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
Jay Robert "J. B." Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman, philanthropist, and politician serving as the 43rd governor of Illinois since 2019. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family, which owns the worldwide ...
, 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 (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...
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 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
Shedd Aquarium (formally the John G. Shedd Aquarium) is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Opened on May 30, 1930, the aquarium was for some time the largest indoor facility in the world. Today it holds about ...
, the
Field Museum of Natural History, the
Art Institute of Chicago, the
Adler Planetarium
The Adler Planetarium is a public museum in Chicago, Illinois, dedicated to astronomy and astrophysics. It was founded in 1930 by local businessman Max Adler. Located on the northeastern tip of Northerly Island on Lake Michigan in the city, th ...
, and the
Museum of Science and Industry.
The modern
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is the largest and most attended
presidential library 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 i ...
in
Chicago
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;
Magnolia Manor in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
;
Easley Pioneer Museum in
Ipava; the
Elihu Benjamin Washburne
Elihu Benjamin Washburne (September 23, 1816 – October 22, 1887) was an Americans, American politician and diplomat. A member of the Washburn family, which played a prominent role in the early formation of the Republican Party (United States), ...
;
Ulysses S. Grant Homes, both in
Galena; 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, located about ten miles west of the city center in suburban
Brookfield, contains more than 2,300 animals and covers . The
Lincoln Park Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo, also known as Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, is a zoo in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. The zoo was founded in 1868, making it the fourth oldest zoo in North America. It is also one of a few free admission zoos in the Unit ...
is located in
Lincoln Park on Chicago's North Side, approximately north of the
Loop. The zoo accounts for more than of the park.
Vandalia-Courthouse.jpg, Vandalia State House State Historic Site in Vandalia
460955752 a95ede20a4 o.jpg, The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago
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Magnolia Manor.jpg, Magnolia Manor is a Victorian period 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 city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
.
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
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 i ...
in Chicago
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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 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
Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 st ...
has played host to the Southern Illinois Music Festival, which presents dozens of performances throughout the region. Past featured artists include the
Eroica Trio and violinist
David Kim.
Chicago
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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 m ...
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
Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...
and "Chicago-style"
Dixieland
Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...
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 m ...
. 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
Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album ''Hoodoo Man Blues'' ...
,
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...
and both
Sonny Boy Williamsons; jazz greats included
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...
,
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
Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991) was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet.
Biography
In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high sc ...
. 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
Pilgrim Baptist Church is a historic church located on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The landmarked building was originally constructed for a synagogue, Kehilath Anshe Ma'arav. The church is notable both as an architectural landmar ...
.
In the 1980s and 1990s,
heavy rock,
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
, 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
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...
, 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
Grosse Pointe refers to an affluent coastal area next to Detroit, Michigan, United States, that comprises five adjacent individual cities. From southwest to northeast, they are:
*Grosse Pointe Park
*Grosse Pointe
*Grosse Pointe Farms
*Grosse Poi ...
to
Northbrook, based many films of his in
Chicago
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, and its suburbs.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes and co-produced by Tom Jacobson. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck with supporting roles by Jennifer Grey ...
,
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
Glenbrook North High School (also known as GBN) is a public high school in Northbrook, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago, United States. It was established in 1953 and is part of the Northfield Township High School District 225.
In 2022, it ...
, 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.
*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
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...
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 in the world, largely as a result of the efforts of Michael Jordan, who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s.
*The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League, NHL began playing in 1926–27 NHL season, 1926, and became a member of the Original Six once the NHL dropped to that number of teams during World War II. The Blackhawks have won six Stanley Cups, most recently in 2014–15 NHL season, 2015.
*Chicago Fire FC is a member of Major League Soccer, 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 Cups in that timespan. The team played in Bridgeview, Illinois, Bridgeview, 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, playing at SeatGeek Stadium, the Bridgeview venue it formerly shared with Fire FC.
*The Chicago Sky have played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) since 2006. The Sky won their first WNBA Championship in 2021. They play at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
*The Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch, NPF, a women's softball league; have won four league titles, most recently in 2016. They play at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Illinois in the Chicago area.
Minor league sports
Many minor league teams also call Illinois their home. They include:
*The Bloomington Edge of the Indoor Football League
*The Bloomington Flex of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association
*The Chicago Dogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball
* Chicago Fire FC II of MLS Next Pro
*The Chicago Wolves are an American Hockey League, AHL team playing in the suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, Rosemont
*The Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League in Sauget, Illinois
*The Kane County Cougars of the American Association of Professional Baseball, American Association
*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
* Mario ...
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 play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, American Association 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
The Shawnee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the Ozark and Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois, United States. Administered by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, it consists of approximately 280,000 acres (1,100 km²) ...
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 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. 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 ...
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 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 ...
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, 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 ...
. 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 ...
, 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 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 ...
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 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 ...
, 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 ...
.
*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 university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
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
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univers ...
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 university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univers ...
, Loyola University Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, DePaul University, University of Illinois Chicago, Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 st ...
, 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 (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 fl ...
and Illinois River provide major transportation routes for the state's agricultural interests. Lake Michigan 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 Ameri ...
.
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