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Illinois is a state in the United States named after the Illiniwek Indian tribe, which used to live there. The capital of Illinois is Springfield and the U.S. postal abbreviation for the state is IL.
Illinois is pronounced ill-len-NOY. In African-American Vernacular English it is pronounced ill-NOYZ or even ell-NOYZ.
The USS Illinois was named in honor of this state.
History
Pre-Columbian History
Cahokia, the urban center of the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture, was located near present-day Collinsville, Illinois. That civilization vanished circa 1400-1500 for unknown reasons. The next major power in the region was the Illiniwek Confederation, 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 Ilini were replaced in Illinois by the Potawatomi, Miami, Sauk, and other tribes.
European Exploration
French explorers Jacques Marquette,S.J. 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 British. The area was ceded to the new United States in 1783 and became part of the Northwest Territory.
Illinois in the 1800s
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.
Illinois is known as the "Land of Lincoln" because it is here that the 16th President spent his formative years. Chicago gained prominence as a canal port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago was Illinois' largest city (see History of Chicago).
Illinois during the Civil War
During the 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 (see Illinois in the Civil War), which were numbered from the 7th IL to the 156th IL. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also mustered, as well as two light artillery regiments.
Ronald Reagan, the 40th President, was born in Tampico, Illinois.
Law and government
The capital of the state is Springfield.
The current Governor of Illinois is Rod Blagojevich (Democrat) and the U.S. Senators are Richard J. Durbin (Democrat) and Barack Obama (Democrat).
Geography
See List of Illinois counties
It 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 large geographical divisions. The first is Chicagoland, including the city of Chicago, its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolois is expanding. This region even includes a few counties in Indiana and Wisconsin and by now streches halfway across the northern part of the state of Illinois toward the Iowa border. This region is cosmopolitan, densely populated, industrialized, and settled by a variety of ethnic groups.
Southward and westward, the second large division is Downstate Illinois, an area of rolling hills and flat prairie in the Corn Belt. It is characterized by small towns and small cities, often industrialized with large factories located in them, an historical identification with Abraham Lincoln, a monolithic Republican voting pattern, and often an antipathy to Chicago, which is not infrequently called here "That City"".
The third division is Southern Illinois, or Little Egypt (region), distinguished from the other two by its warmer climate, different mix of crops (including some cotton farming in the past), more rugged topography, coal mining, and nearness to the juncture of the Mississippi River and Ohio River.
In extreme northwestern Illinois the Driftless Area, a region of unglaciated and therefore comparatively higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state.
Economy
The 2003 total gross state product for Illinois was $499 billion, placing it 5th in the nation. The per capita income was $33,690.
Illinois' agricultural outputs are corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, dairy products and wheat. Its industrial outputs are machinery, food processing, electrical equipment, chemical products, publishing, fabricated metal products, transportation equipment, petroleum and coal.
Demographics
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2003, the population of Illinois was 12,653,544. At the northern edge of the state on Lake Michigan lies Chicago, the nation's third largest city. More than half of the population of Illinois lives in and around Chicago, the leading industrial and transportation center in the region. The rest of the population lives in the smaller cities and on the farms that dot the state's gently rolling plains.
Racially, the state is:
The top 5 ancestry groups in Illinois are German (19.6%), African American (15.1%), Irish (12.2%), Mexican (9.2%), Polish (7.5%).
7.1% of Illinois' population were reported as under 5, 26.1% under 18, and 12.1% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51% of the population.
Religion
Unlike the other Midwestern states, Illinois is not overwhelmingly Protestant--only about half of the people profess that faith. Roman Catholics (who are predominant in and around Chicago) account for one-third of the population.
The religious affiliations of the people of Illinois are:
- Protestant 51%
- Roman Catholic 33%
- Other Christian 1%
- Other Religions 3%
- Non-Religious 8%
The three largest Protestant denominations in Illinois are: Baptist (15% of total state population), Lutheran (8%), Methodist (8%).
Important cities and towns
Illinois, showing major cities and roads
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Population > 1,000,000
Population > 100,000
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Important Suburbs of Chicago
of St. Louis
of Rockford
of Peoria
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Other cities > 10,000 population
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list of towns (http://factfinder.census.gov/bf/_lang=en_vt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_GCTPH1_ST7_geo_id=04000US17.html)
Counties of Illinois
Education
Colleges and universities
Professional sports teams
State symbols
 The Cardinal is the state bird of Illinois See also
External links
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