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Illinois

*** Shopping-Tip: Illinois
{{Otheruses1|the U.S. State}} {{US state | Name = Illinois | Fullname = State of Illinois | Flag = Illinois state flag.png | Flaglink = Flag of Illinois | Seal = Illinois state seal.png | Map = Map of USA highlighting Illinois.png | Nickname = Land of Lincoln, The Prairie State | Motto = State sovereignty, national union | Capital = Springfield, Illinois Springfield | LargestCity = Chicago, Illinois Chicago | Governor = Rod Blagojevich (D)| Senators = Richard Durbin (D) Barack Obama (D) | PostalAbbreviation = IL | OfficialLang = English language English| AreaRank = 25^th | TotalArea = 149,998 | LandArea = 143,968 | WaterArea = 6,030 | PCWater = 4.0 | PopRank = 5^th | 2000Pop = 12,419,293 | DensityRank = 11^th | 2000Density = 86.27 | AdmittanceOrder = 21^st | AdmittanceDate = December 3, 1818 | TimeZone = Central Standard Time Zone Central: Coordinated Universal Time UTC-6/Daylight saving time -5 | Latitude = 36Â°58'N to 42Â°30'N | Longitude = 87Â°30'W to 91Â°30'W | Width = 340 | Length = 629 | HighestElev = 376 | MeanElev = 182 | LowestElev = 85 | ISOCode = US-IL | Website = www.illinois.gov }} '''Illinois''' (IPA chart for English pronounced {{IPA|[ËŒÉª.lÉ¨ËˆnÉ”ÉªÌ¯]}} or "ill-i-NOY") is a U.S. state located in the Midwest region of the United States.

Geography
Illinois is in the north-central U.S. and borders on Lake Michigan. Surrounding states are Wisconsin to the north; Iowa and Missouri to the west; Kentucky to the south; and Indiana to the east. Illinois also borders Michigan, but only via a water boundary in Lake Michigan. Illinois has three major geographical divisions. The first is Chicagoland, including the city of Chicago, Illinois Chicago, its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolis is expanding. This region includes a few counties in Indiana and Wisconsin and stretches across much of northern Illinois toward the Iowa border, generally along Interstates Interstate 80 80 and Interstate 90 90. This region is cosmopolitan, densely populated, industrialized, and settled by a variety of ethnic groups. Southward and westward, the second major division is central Illinois, an area of mostly flat prairie. Known as the Land of Abraham Lincoln Lincoln or the Heart of Illinois, it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agriculture, particularly maize corn and soybeans, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figures prominently. Major cities include Peoria, Illinois Peoria - the second largest metropolitan area in Illinois at 370,000 and home of Bradley University and University of Illinois College of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois Springfield (the state capital), Decatur, Illinois Decatur - home of Millikin University, Bloomington-Normal - home of Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University, and Champaign, Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Illinois Urbana - home of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Illinois. Image:National-atlas-illinois.png thumb|300px|right|Illinois, showing major cities and roads {{main|Geography of Illinois}} The third division is southern Illinois, comprising the area south of U.S. Route 50, and including Little Egypt (region) Little Egypt), near the juncture of the Mississippi River and Ohio River. This region can be distinguished from the other two by its warmer climate, different mix of crops (including some cotton farming in the past), more rugged topography (unglaciated and older, Illinoian Age, glaciated), as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The area is a little more populated than the central part of the state with the population centered in two areas: the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area (the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis are known as "Metro-East") and the Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale (home of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Southern Illinois University), Marion, Illinois Marion, West Frankfort, Illinois West Frankfort, Herrin, Illinois Herrin, Murphysboro, Illinois Murphysboro area, which is home to around 200,000 residents. Collectively, all of Illinois outside the Chicago Metropolitan area is called "downstate Illinois" (even though a portion is north or west of Chicago) McLean County, Illinois McLean County is the largest county in terms of land area, at 1,184 square miles (3,066 sq.km.). It is larger than Rhode Island. Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the largest county in terms of population, at 5,327,777 (as of 2004). In extreme northwestern Illinois, the Driftless Zone, a region of unglaciated and therefore higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state. Charles Mound, located in this region, is the state's highest natural elevation above sea level. The highest true elevation in Illinois is the Sears Tower with an elevation at the top of its roof of approximately 2,030 feet (the elevation of Chicago is approximately 580 feet and the height of the roof is approximately 1450 feet). On a clear day, you can see four states - Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. Visibility from the Sears Tower Skydeck is approximately 40-50 miles (65 - 80 km). The floodplain on the Mississippi River from Alton, Illinois Alton to the Kaskaskia River is the American Bottom, and is the site of the ancient city of Cahokia, and was a region of early French settlement, as well as the site of the first state capital, at Kaskaskia, Illinois Kaskaskia. Kaskaskia, Illinois Kaskaskia is also separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River. The southern tip of Illinois is in the Gulf Coastal Plain. Areas under the protection and control of the National Parks Service include: *Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor near Lockport, Illinois Lockport *Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail *Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield *Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail *Trail of Tears National Historic Trail ''See also List of Illinois counties, List of Illinois county name etymologies''

History
{{main|History of Illinois}}

Pre-Columbian
Cahokia, the urban center of the pre-Christopher Columbus Columbian Mississippian culture, was located near present-day Collinsville, Illinois. That civilization vanished circa 1400–1500AD for unknown reasons. The next major power in the region was the Illiniwek Confederation or Illini, a political alliance among several tribes. The Illiniwek gave Illinois its name. The Illini suffered in the seventeenth century as Iroquois expansion forced them to compete with several tribes for land. The Illini were replaced by the Potawatomi, Miami tribe Miami, Sauk, and other tribes.

European exploration
France French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet explored the Illinois River in 1673. As a result of their exploration, Illinois was part of the French empire until 1763, when it passed to the United Kingdom British as a result of the French and Indian War. George Rogers Clark claimed the Illinois Country for the Virginia Commonwealth of Virginia during his military campaigns there in 1778. The area was ceded to the new United States in 1783 and became part of the Northwest Territory.

19th century
The Illinois-Wabash Company was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The Illinois Territory was created on February 3, 1809. In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. Early U.S. settlement began in the south part of the state and quickly spread northward, driving out the native residents. With the 1832 Black Hawk War, the last native tribes were driven out of northern Illinois. 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. Travelers lucky enough to find shelter had to stay where they were. Many others 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, 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 Egypt", after the Biblical story of Joseph in Egypt supplying grain to his brothers. As early as 1840, Illinois was called the "Sucker State". Illinois is known as the "Land of Abraham Lincoln Lincoln" because it is here that the 16th President of the United States President spent most of his life, practicing law and living in Springfield, Illinois Springfield. Even so, Illinois was not a strong anti-slavery state. In 1853 Illinois passed a Black Code which, among other things required any black entering the state and staying more than ten days to pay a fine of $50. If he could not pay, the black could be sold into slavery for a period commensurate with the fine. {{further|Black Codes in Northern USA}} Chicago, Illinois Chicago gained prominence as a Great Lakes port and then as a canal port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago was Illinois' largest city. {{further|History of Chicago}}

Civil War
{{main|Illinois in the Civil War}} During the United States Civil War Civil War, over 250,000 Illinois men served in the Union Army, more than any other northern state except New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Beginning with President Lincoln's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, Illinois mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th IL to the 156th IL. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also gathered, as well as two light artillery regiments.

Demographics
{| class="toccolours" align="right" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin:0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 95%; clear:right;" |- ! colspan=2 bgcolor="#ccccff" align="center"| Historical populations |- ! align="center"| Census
year !! align="right"| Population |- | colspan=2|