Illinois

Illinois is a <a href="/facts/U.S._state/PFwcRIYQ">state</a> in the <a href="/facts/Midwestern_United_States/VanHjkw2">Midwestern</a> <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>. It borders on <a href="/facts/Lake_Michigan/t5ynSsvY">Lake Michigan</a> to its northeast, the <a href="/facts/Mississippi_River/RduarPzj">Mississippi River</a> to its west, and the <a href="/facts/Wabash_River/luLgK6sY">Wabash</a> and <a href="/facts/Ohio_River/wSAPrwfS">Ohio rivers</a> to its south. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_GDP/KIDc2TLU">fifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP)</a>, the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population/ytDJqMaH">sixth-largest population</a>, and the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area/q3nFXQlt">25th-most land area</a>. Its capital city is <a href="/facts/Springfield%2c_Illinois/PHms4o0o">Springfield</a> in the center of the state, and the state's largest city is <a href="/facts/Chicago/yPMokrXH">Chicago</a> in the northeast.
Present-day Illinois was inhabited by <a href="/facts/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas/LG2r6wXm">Indigenous cultures</a> for thousands of years. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi and <a href="/facts/Illinois_River/tDN7q9sx">Illinois River</a> in the 17th century <a href="/facts/Illinois_Country/aqunSQDj">Illinois Country</a>, as part of their sprawling colony of <a href="/facts/New_France/zDK9hedl">New France</a>. A century later, the revolutionary war <a href="/facts/Illinois_campaign/Wy7d2PGF">Illinois campaign</a> prefigured American involvement in the region. Following <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783)/PRu5PJj4">U.S. independence in 1783</a>, which made the Mississippi River the national boundary, American settlers began arriving from <a href="/facts/Kentucky/DaTW05Rt">Kentucky</a> via the Ohio River. Illinois was soon part of the United States' oldest territory, the <a href="/facts/Northwest_Territory/F7lcMePt">Northwest Territory</a>, and in 1818 it achieved <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union/RCcIFsJI">statehood</a>. The <a href="/facts/Erie_Canal/NBrheTH9">Erie Canal</a> brought increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes, and the invention of the self-scouring <a href="/facts/Plough/LBIosnV6">steel plow</a> by Illinoisan <a href="/facts/John_Deere_(inventor)/17hrAdj0">John Deere</a> turned the state's rich <a href="/facts/Prairie/nJNHWdGs">prairie</a> into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting <a href="/facts/Immigration_to_the_United_States/KT75X7Uc">immigrant</a> farmers from <a href="/facts/German_American/KoI8oW3Y">Germany</a>, <a href="/facts/Swedish_American/KR7VSdbs">Sweden</a> and elsewhere. In the mid-19th century, the <a href="/facts/Illinois_and_Michigan_Canal/w1hvElyY">Illinois and Michigan Canal</a> and a sprawling railroad network 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 <a href="/facts/Coal/83kV3qxg">coal</a> mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from <a href="/facts/Eastern_Europe/f5CDGzNA">Eastern</a> and <a href="/facts/Southern_Europe/MlkLQsUc">Southern Europe</a>. Illinois became one of America's most industrialized states and remains a major manufacturing center. The <a href="/facts/Great_Migration_(African_American)/q5Cvobkb">Great Migration</a> from the South established a large Black community, particularly in <a href="/facts/Chicago/yPMokrXH">Chicago</a>, which became a leading cultural, economic, and population center; its <a href="/facts/Metropolitan_area/IKeV26lu">metropolitan area</a>, informally referred to as <a href="/facts/Chicago_metropolitan_area/MHTUJeIy">Chicagoland</a>, holds about 65% of the state's 12.8 million residents.
Two <a href="/facts/World_Heritage_Site/6AbWWKV4">World Heritage Sites</a> are in Illinois, the ancient <a href="/facts/Cahokia_Mounds/4vME3XEl">Cahokia Mounds</a>, and part of the <a href="/facts/The_20th-Century_Architecture_of_Frank_Lloyd_Wright/3VKrwJ8q">Wright architecture</a> site. A wide variety of <a href="/facts/List_of_protected_areas_of_Illinois/sXleaRGh">protected areas</a> seek to conserve Illinois' natural and cultural resources. Major centers of learning include the <a href="/facts/University_of_Chicago/z6zRMUmV">University of Chicago</a>, <a href="/facts/University_of_Illinois/gusw7HoS">University of Illinois</a>, and <a href="/facts/Northwestern_University/4dunJHBf">Northwestern University</a>. Three <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">U.S. presidents</a> have been elected while residents of Illinois: <a href="/facts/Abraham_Lincoln/F8VqYAsA">Abraham Lincoln</a>, <a href="/facts/Ulysses_S._Grant/htCzhMtb">Ulysses S. Grant</a>, and <a href="/facts/Barack_Obama/76wUMgL1">Barack Obama</a>; additionally, <a href="/facts/Ronald_Reagan/z6AaKAad">Ronald Reagan</a> was born and raised in the state. Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan Land of Lincoln. The state is the site of the <a href="/facts/Abraham_Lincoln_Presidential_Library_and_Museum/7aJyMp3v">Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum</a> in Springfield and the future home of the <a href="/facts/Barack_Obama_Presidential_Center/K5gRatbP">Barack Obama Presidential Center</a> in Chicago.

Illinois has a highly diverse <a href="/facts/Economy_of_Illinois/8rjolwA8">economy</a>, with the <a href="/facts/Global_city/Lqv5NqA5">global city</a> of <a href="/facts/Chicago/yPMokrXH">Chicago</a> in the northeast, major industrial and <a href="/facts/Agricultural_productivity/bUIfYsFW">agricultural</a> hubs in the north and center, and <a href="/facts/Natural_resource/w9WXxMx3">natural resources</a> such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south. Owing to its central location and favorable geography, the state is a major <a href="/facts/Transportation_hub/LthX69gf">transportation hub</a>: the <a href="/facts/Port_of_Chicago/btUphuVN">Port of Chicago</a> has access to the <a href="/facts/Atlantic_Ocean/EI4uChIb">Atlantic Ocean</a> through the <a href="/facts/Great_Lakes/Fd7pDkPX">Great Lakes</a> and <a href="/facts/Saint_Lawrence_Seaway/bVP7lw6V">Saint Lawrence Seaway</a> and to the <a href="/facts/Gulf_of_Mexico/bGE5s57G">Gulf of Mexico</a> from the <a href="/facts/Mississippi_River/RduarPzj">Mississippi River</a> via the <a href="/facts/Illinois_Waterway/w9BaQ1tv">Illinois Waterway</a>. Chicago has been the nation's <a href="/facts/Railroad/9nJQbsDV">railroad</a> hub since the 1860s, and its <a href="/facts/O%2527Hare_International_Airport/1wso57wG">O'Hare International Airport</a> has been among the world's busiest airports for decades. Illinois has long been considered a <a href="/facts/Macrocosm_and_microcosm/vzdlMsfW">microcosm</a> of the United States and a <a href="/facts/Bellwether/lpXsUsNp">bellwether</a> in American culture, exemplified by the phrase <a href="/facts/Will_it_play_in_Peoria%253F/LhV0JUhU">Will it play in Peoria?</a>.

Illinois open-in-new

Illinois