Illinois

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

State of Illinois

Flag of Illinois Seal
Nickname(s): Land of Lincoln; The Prairie State
Motto(s): State sovereignty, national union

Official language(s) English[1]
Spoken language(s) English 80.8%,
Spanish 10.9%,
Polish 1.6%,

Demonym Illinoisan, Sly Rodney (colloq)
Capital Springfield
Largest city Chicago
Largest metro area Chicagoland
Area  Ranked 25^th in the US
 - Total 57,918 sq mi
(140,998 km²)
 - Width 210 miles (340 km)
 - Length 395 miles (629 km)
 - % water 4.0/ Negligible
 - Latitude 36° 58′ N to 42° 30′ N
 - Longitude 87° 30′ W to 91° 31′ W
Population  Ranked 5^th in the US
 - Total 12,852,548 (2007 est.)[2]
 - Density 223.4/sq mi  (86.27/km²)
Ranked 12^th in the US
 - Median income  $45,787[3] (18)
Elevation  
 - Highest point Charles Mound[4]
1,235 ft  (377 m)
 - Mean 600 ft  (182 m)
 - Lowest point Mississippi River[4]
279 ft  (85 m)
Admission to Union  December 3, 1818 (21^st)
Governor Rod Blagojevich (D)
Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn (D)
U.S. Senators Richard Durbin (D)
[vacant]
Congressional Delegation List
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Abbreviations IL, Ill. US-IL
Website www.illinois.gov
Ilinois State Symbols
Animate insignia
Amphibian Eastern Tiger Salamander
Bird Cardinal
Butterfly Monarch Butterfly
Fish Bluegill
Flower Violet
Grass Big Bluestem
Reptile Painted Turtle
Tree White oak

---

Inanimate insignia
Mineral Fluorite
Slogan(s) Land of Lincoln
Song(s) Illinois

---

Route marker(s)

---

State Quarter

Released in 2003

---

Lists of U.S. state insignia

The State of Illinois ( /ɪlɨˈnɔɪ/ (help·info), pronounced ill-uh-NOY) is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse[5] Midwestern state and the fifth most populous in the nation. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and western Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is an important transportation hub; the Port of Chicago connects the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River via the Illinois River. Illinois is often viewed as a microcosm of the United States; an Associated Press analysis of 21 demographic factors found Illinois the "most average state,"[6] while Peoria has long been a proverbial social and cultural bellwether.

Nearly 66% of the population resides in the northeastern corner of the state, primarily within the city of Chicago and the surrounding metropolitan areas.

With a population near 40,000 between 1300 and 1400 AD, the Mississippian city of Cahokia, in what is now southern Illinois, was the largest city within the future United States until it was surpassed by New York City between 1790 and 1800. About 2,000 Native American hunters and a small number of French villagers inhabited the Illinois area at the time of the American Revolution.[7] American settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s; they achieved statehood in 1818. The future metropolis of Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, one of the only natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan.[8] Railroads and John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow made central Illinois' rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmlands, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. Northern Illinois provided major support for Illinoisans Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant during the American Civil War. By 1900, the growth of industry in northern cities and coal mining in central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe, and made the state a major arsenal in both world wars. African-Americans migrating to Chicago from the rural South formed a large and important community, which created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures.

Etymology

See also: List of Illinois counties and List of Illinois county name etymologies

The state is named for the French adaptation of an Algonquian language (perhaps Miami) word apparently meaning "s/he speaks normally" (Miami ilenweewa,[9][10] Proto-Algonquian *elen-, "ordinary" and -we·, "to speak").[11] Alternately, the name is often associated with the indigenous Illiniwek people, a consortium of Algonquian tribes that once thrived in the area. The name Illiniwek is frequently (incorrectly) said to mean "tribe of superior men";[12] or "men". Both etymologies are unworkable.

Geography

The Northeastern border of Illinois is Lake Michigan. Its eastern border with Indiana is all of the land west of the Wabash River, and a north-south line above Post Vincennes, or 87° 31′ 30″ west longitude. Its northern border with Wisconsin is fixed at 42° 30' north latitude. Its western border with Missouri and Iowa is the Mississippi River. Its southern border with Kentucky is the Ohio River.[13] Illinois also borders Michigan, but only via a water boundary in Lake Michigan.[14]