Illinois

Illinois is a state in the Midwestern and Great Lakes region of the United States. It has the fifth largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth largest population, and the 25th largest land area of all U.S. states. Illinois is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in northeastern Illinois, small industrial cities and immense agricultural productivity in the north and center of the state, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. Chicagoland, Chicago's metropolitan area, encompasses over 65% of the state's population. The Port of Chicago connects the state to international ports via two main routes: from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway to the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and, through the 1980s, in politics. The capital of Illinois is Springfield, which is located in the central part of the state. Although today's Illinois' largest population center is in its northeast, the state's European population grew first in the west as the French settled the vast Mississippi of the Illinois Country of New France.

Illinois is known under different nicknames; aka Land of Lincoln, or Prairie State, or Corn State, or Garden of the West and detailed official information about Illinois can be found on the homepage at www. illinois.gov.

As shown in the Illinois location map that Illinois is located in the central-north part of the US. Illinois state US is world famous because of its city Chicago; it has one of the busiest airports of the world. However, the state is surrounded with some of the most industrialized states of the US. In addition, the Illinois state US is full of natural resources including coal, petroleum, and timber. The state has also large percentage of fertile land. Above all, it is a transportation hub of the US.

Admitted as the 21st state of the US, Illinois shares its boundary with Wisconsin in the north, Iowa in the west, Missouri in the south west, Kentucky in the south and south-east, and Indiana in the east. However, as you can see on the given map of Illinois state that the small north-east portion of the state makes coastline with Lake Michigan.

With the humid continental type of climate, the state has many features that make it significant such as Ronald Regan one of the American Presidents was the native of this state, some of the other Presidents of the US elected as President while they were living in Illinois including, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama.

Also known as 'The Bean,' Cloud Gate is Chicago's best-loved attraction - and no visit to the Windy City (or the Midwest) is complete without pictures of your family's reflection on the famous landmark. You can visualize easily on Illinois map that state has many significant cities to visit. The capital city of Illinois US is Springfield. Illinois state map comprises railways, highways, significant big and small cities. The Illinois map US is detailed enough to help you to find any place in the Illinois. The tourists, students, teachers, and even native of the US use such kind of detailed map of Illinois state US

The US State Illinois occupies 143,795 m², about 1,57 % of the total territory of the USA of 9,148,020 m². The total population of the US State Illinois with 12,802,023 inhabitants (in 2017) has already increased by 3,08 % in this millennium. Almost 40 years ago there were 1,375,505 fewer people. The capital Springfield alone has 114,868 inhabitants.

President Abraham Lincoln spent much of his life in Springfield and you can visit his house there. Chicago was a small town when Springfield became the state capital in 1834 and now it boasts 2.7 million residents.

Following the American Revolutionary War, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1780s via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. In 1818, Illinois achieved statehood. Following increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes after the construction of the Erie Canal, Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River at one of the few natural harbors on the southern section of Lake Michigan. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars. The Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in the state, including Chicago, who founded the city's famous jazz and blues cultures. Chicago, the center of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, is now recognized as a global alpha-level city. Illinois's eastern border with Indiana consists of a north-south line at 87° 31′ 30″ west longitude in Lake Michigan at the north, to the Wabash River 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, which runs along the northern shoreline of the Ohio River. Though Illinois lies entirely in the Interior Plains, it does have some minor variation in its elevation. In extreme northwestern Illinois, the Driftless Area, a region of unglaciated and therefore higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state.