Illinois

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Illinois
Illinois (/ˌɪlɪˈnɔɪ/ ( listen) IL-ih-NOY) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire country.[7] With Chicago
Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois
Illinois has a diverse economic base and is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi
Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway
Illinois Waterway on the Illinois
Illinois River. The Mississippi
Mississippi River, the Ohio
Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois
Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms[7] and politics. The capital of Illinois
Illinois is Springfield in central Illinois. Although today the state's largest population center is around Chicago
Chicago in the northeastern part of the state, the state's European population grew first in the west, with French who settled along the Mississippi River, and gave the area the name Illinois
Illinois Country. After the American Revolutionary War established the United States, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky
Kentucky in the 1780s via the Ohio
Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. In 1818, Illinois
Illinois achieved statehood. After construction of the Erie Canal
Erie Canal increased traffic and trade through the Great Lakes, Chicago
Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago
Chicago River, at one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan.[8] John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois's rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. The Illinois and Michigan Canal
Illinois and Michigan Canal (1848) made transportation between the Great Lakes
Great Lakes and the Mississippi
Mississippi River valley faster and cheaper. New railroads carried immigrants to new homes, as well as being used to ship commodity crops to Eastern markets. The state became a transportation hub for the nation.[9] 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
Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars. The Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans
African Americans in the state, including Chicago, who created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures.[10][11] Chicago, the center of the Chicago
Chicago Metropolitan Area, became a global alpha-level city. Three U.S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama. Additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, and Hillary Clinton, the first female candidate of a major party in the general election, were both born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois
Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan, Land of Lincoln, which has been displayed on its license plates since 1954.[12][13] The state is the site of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, located in the state capital of Springfield.

Contents

1 Etymology 2 History

2.1 Pre-European 2.2 European exploration and settlement prior to 1800 2.3 19th century

2.3.1 Prior to statehood 2.3.2 The State of Illinois
Illinois prior to the Civil War 2.3.3 Civil War and after

2.4 20th century

3 Geography

3.1 Boundaries 3.2 Topography 3.3 Divisions 3.4 Climate

4 Demographics

4.1 Birth data 4.2 Urban areas 4.3 Languages 4.4 Religion

4.4.1 Christianity

4.4.1.1 Importance in the Latter Day Saint Movement

4.4.2 Other religions

5 Economy

5.1 Taxes 5.2 Agriculture 5.3 Manufacturing 5.4 Services 5.5 Investments 5.6 Energy

5.6.1 Coal 5.6.2 Petroleum 5.6.3 Nuclear power 5.6.4 Wind power 5.6.5 Biofuels

6 Culture

6.1 Museums 6.2 Music 6.3 Sports

6.3.1 Major league sports 6.3.2 Other top-level professional sports 6.3.3 Minor league sports 6.3.4 College sports 6.3.5 Former Chicago
Chicago sports franchises

6.3.5.1 Folded teams 6.3.5.2 Relocated teams

6.3.6 Professional sports teams outside Chicago 6.3.7 Motor racing 6.3.8 Golf

7 Parks and recreation 8 Law and government 9 Politics

9.1 Party balance 9.2 History of corruption 9.3 U.S. Presidents from Illinois 9.4 African-American U.S. senators 9.5 Political families

9.5.1 Stevensons 9.5.2 Daleys

10 Education

10.1 Illinois
Illinois State Board of education 10.2 Primary and secondary schools 10.3 Colleges and universities

11 Infrastructure

11.1 Transportation

11.1.1 Airports 11.1.2 Rail 11.1.3 Interstate highway system 11.1.4 U.S. highway system

11.2 Gallery

12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links

Etymology[edit] See also: Illinois Confederation and List of counties in Illinois "Illinois" is the modern spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers' name for the Illinois
Illinois Native Americans, a name that was spelled in many different ways in the early records.[14] American scholars previously thought the name "Illinois" meant "man" or "men" in the Miami- Illinois
Illinois language, with the original iliniwek transformed via French into Illinois.[15][16] This etymology is not supported by the Illinois
Illinois language[citation needed], as the word for 'man' is ireniwa and plural 'men' is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also been said to mean "tribe of superior men",[17] which is a false etymology. The name "Illinois" derives from the Miami- Illinois
Illinois verb irenwe·wa "he speaks the regular way". This was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe· (pluralized as ilinwe·k). The French borrowed these forms, changing the /we/ ending to spell it as -ois, a transliteration for its pronunciation in French of that time. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, when French colonists had settled in the western area. The Illinois's name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms.[18][19] History[edit] Main article: History of Illinois Pre-European[edit]

Mississippian copper plate
Mississippian copper plate found at the Saddle Site in Union County, Illinois

American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois
Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The Koster Site
Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation. Cahokia, the largest regional chiefdom and urban center of the Pre-Columbian Mississippian culture, was located near present-day Collinsville, Illinois. They built an urban complex of more than 100 platform and burial mounds, a 50 acres (20 ha) plaza larger than 35 football fields,[20] and a woodhenge of sacred cedar, all in a planned design expressing the culture's cosmology. Monks Mound, the center of the site, is the largest Pre-Columbian structure north of the Valley of Mexico. It is 100 feet (30 m) high, 951 feet (290 m) long, 836 feet (255 m) wide and covers 13.8 acres (5.6 ha).[21] It contains about 814,000 cubic yards (622,000 m3) of earth.[22] It was topped by a structure thought to have measured about 105 feet (32 m) in length and 48 feet (15 m) in width, covered an area 5,000 square feet (460 m2), and been as much as 50 feet (15 m) high, making its peak 150 feet (46 m) above the level of the plaza. The finely crafted ornaments and tools recovered by archaeologists at Cahokia
Cahokia include elaborate ceramics, finely sculptured stonework, carefully embossed and engraved copper and mica sheets, and one funeral blanket for an important chief fashioned from 20,000 shell beads. These artifacts indicate that Cahokia
Cahokia was truly an urban center, with clustered housing, markets, and specialists in toolmaking, hide dressing, potting, jewelry making, shell engraving, weaving and salt making.[23] The civilization vanished in the 15th century for unknown reasons, but historians and archeologists have speculated that the people depleted the area of resources. Many indigenous tribes engaged in constant warfare. According to Suzanne Austin Alchon, "At one site in the central Illinois River
Illinois River valley, one-third of all adults died as a result of violent injuries."[24] The next major power in the region was the Illinois Confederation or Illini, a political alliance.[25] As the Illini declined during the Beaver Wars
Beaver Wars era, members of the Algonquian-speaking Potawatomi, Miami, Sauk, and other tribes including the Fox (Mesquakie), Ioway, Kickapoo, Mascouten, Piankashaw, Shawnee, Wea, and Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) came into the area from the east and north around the Great Lakes.[26][27] European exploration and settlement prior to 1800[edit] Further information: Illinois Country
Illinois Country and Illinois
Illinois County, Virginia

Illinois
Illinois in 1718, approximate modern state area highlighted, from Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi by Guillaume de L'Isle.[28]

French explorers Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet explored the Illinois River
Illinois River in 1673. Marquette soon after founded a mission at the Grand Village of the Illinois
Grand Village of the Illinois in Illinois
Illinois Country. In 1680, French explorers under René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Henri de Tonti constructed a fort at the site of present-day Peoria, and in 1682, a fort atop Starved Rock
Starved Rock in today's Starved Rock
Starved Rock State Park. French Empire Canadiens
Canadiens came south to settle particularly along the Mississippi
Mississippi River, and Illinois
Illinois was part of first New France
New France and then of La Louisiane
La Louisiane until 1763, when it passed to the British with their defeat of France in the Seven Years' War. The small French settlements continued, although many French migrated west to Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri to evade British rule.[29] A few British soldiers were posted in Illinois, but few British or American settlers moved there, as the Crown made it part of the territory reserved for Indians west of the Appalachians, and then part of the British Province of Quebec. In 1778, George Rogers Clark claimed Illinois County
Illinois County for Virginia. In a compromise, Virginia
Virginia ceded the area to the new United States
United States in 1783 and it became part of the Northwest Territory, to be administered by the federal government and later organized as states.[29] Connecticut
Connecticut ceded northern Illinois
Illinois in 1786 (see Connecticut
Connecticut Western Reserve). 19th century[edit] See also: History of Chicago
Chicago and History of Nauvoo, Illinois Prior to statehood[edit] The Illinois-Wabash Company
Illinois-Wabash Company was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The Illinois Territory
Illinois Territory was created on February 3, 1809, with its capital at Kaskaskia, an early French settlement. During the discussions leading up to Illinois's admission to the Union, the proposed northern boundary of the state was moved twice.[30] The original provisions of the Northwest Ordinance
Northwest Ordinance had specified a boundary that would have been tangent to the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Such a boundary would have left Illinois
Illinois with no shoreline on Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan at all. However, as Indiana
Indiana had successfully been granted a 10-mile northern extension of its boundary to provide it with a usable lakefront, the original bill for Illinois statehood, submitted to Congress on January 23, 1818, stipulated a northern border at the same latitude as Indiana's, which is defined as 10 miles (16 km) north of the southernmost extremity of Lake Michigan. But the Illinois
Illinois delegate, Nathaniel Pope, wanted more. Pope lobbied to have the boundary moved further north, and the final bill passed by Congress did just that; it included an amendment to shift the border to 42° 30' north, which is approximately 51 miles (82 km) north of the Indiana
Indiana northern border. This shift added 8,500 square miles (22,000 km2) to the state, including the lead mining region near Galena. More importantly, it added nearly 50 miles of Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan shoreline and the Chicago
Chicago River. Pope and others envisioned a canal that would connect the Chicago
Chicago and Illinois
Illinois rivers, and thus, connect the Great Lakes
Great Lakes to the Mississippi. The State of Illinois
Illinois prior to the Civil War[edit] In 1818, Illinois
Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. The capital remained at Kaskaskia, headquartered in a small building rented by the state. In 1819, Vandalia became the capital, and over the next 18 years, three separate buildings were built to serve successively as the capitol building. In 1837, the state legislators representing Sangamon County, under the leadership of state representative Abraham Lincoln, succeeded in having the capital moved to Springfield,[31] where a fifth capitol building was constructed. A sixth capitol building was erected in 1867, which continues to serve as the Illinois
Illinois capitol today. Though it was ostensibly a "free state", there was slavery in Illinois. The ethnic French had owned black slaves since the 1720s, and American settlers had already brought slaves into the area from Kentucky. Slavery was nominally banned by the Northwest Ordinance, but that was not enforced for those already holding slaves. When Illinois became a sovereign state in 1818, the Ordinance no longer applied, and about 900 slaves were held in the state. As the southern part of the state, later known as "Egypt"or "Little Egypt",[32][33] was largely settled by migrants from the South, the section was hostile to free blacks. Settlers were allowed to bring slaves with them for labor but, in 1822, state residents voted against making slavery legal. Still, most residents opposed allowing free blacks as permanent residents. Some settlers brought in slaves seasonally or as house servants.[34] The Illinois Constitution
Illinois Constitution of 1848 was written with a provision for exclusionary laws to be passed. In 1853, John A. Logan
John A. Logan helped pass a law to prohibit all African Americans, including freedmen, from settling in the state.[35]

Native women and children fleeing the Battle of Bad Axe
Battle of Bad Axe during the Black Hawk War

In 1832, the Black Hawk War
Black Hawk War was fought in Illinois
Illinois and current-day Wisconsin
Wisconsin between the United States
United States and the Sauk, Fox (Meskwaki) and Kickapoo Indian tribes. It represents the end of Indian resistance to white settlement in the Chicago
Chicago region.[36] The Indians had been forced to leave their homes and move to Iowa
Iowa in 1831; when they attempted to return, they were attacked and eventually defeated by U.S. militia. The survivors were forced back to Iowa.[37] 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, and many travelers 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 and 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", after the Biblical story of Joseph in Egypt supplying grain to his brothers.[38] By 1839, the Latter Day Saints
Latter Day Saints had founded a utopian city called Nauvoo. Located in Hancock County along the Mississippi
Mississippi River, Nauvoo flourished and soon rivaled Chicago
Chicago for the position of the state's largest city. But in 1844, the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was killed in the Carthage Jail, about 30 miles away from Nauvoo. Following a succession crisis (Latter Day Saints), Brigham Young led most Latter Day Saints
Latter Day Saints out of Illinois
Illinois in a mass exodus to present-day Utah; after close to six years of rapid development, Nauvoo rapidly declined afterward. Chicago
Chicago gained prominence as a Great Lakes
Great Lakes port and then as an Illinois and Michigan Canal
Illinois and Michigan Canal port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago
Chicago was Illinois's largest city.[29] With the tremendous growth of mines and factories in the state in the 19th century, Illinois
Illinois was the ground for the formation of labor unions in the United States. In 1847, after lobbying by Dorothea L. Dix, Illinois
Illinois became one of the first states to establish a system of state-supported treatment of mental illness and disabilities, replacing local almshouses. Dix came into this effort after having met J.O. King, a Jacksonville, Illinois businessman, who invited her to Illinois
Illinois where he had been working to build an asylum for the insane. With the lobbying expertise of Dix, plans for the Jacksonville State Hospital (now known as the Jacksonville Developmental Center) were signed into law on March 1, 1847.[39] Civil War and after[edit] Main article: Illinois
Illinois in the American Civil War

Embarkation of Union troops from Cairo on January 10, 1862

During the American Civil War, Illinois
Illinois ranked fourth in men who served (more than 250,000) in the Union Army, a figure surpassed by only New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Beginning with President Abraham Lincoln's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, Illinois
Illinois mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th to the 156th regiments. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also gathered, as well as two light artillery regiments.[40] The town of Cairo, at the southern tip of the state at the confluence of the Mississippi
Mississippi and Ohio
Ohio Rivers, served as a strategically important supply base and training center for the Union army. For several months, both General Grant and Admiral Foote had headquarters in Cairo. During the Civil War, and more so afterwards, Chicago's population skyrocketed, which increased its prominence. The Pullman Strike
Pullman Strike and Haymarket Riot, in particular, greatly influenced the development of the American labor movement. From Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, the Great Chicago
Chicago Fire burned in downtown Chicago, destroying 4 square miles (10 km2).[41] 20th century[edit] At the turn of the 20th century, Illinois
Illinois had a population of nearly 5 million. Many people from other parts of the country were attracted to the state by employment caused by the then-expanding industrial base. Whites were 98% of the state's population.[42] Bolstered by continued immigration from southern and eastern Europe, and by the African-American Great Migration from the South, Illinois grew and emerged as one of the most important states in the union. By the end of the century, the population had reached 12.4 million. The Century of Progress
Century of Progress World's Fair was held at Chicago
Chicago in 1933. Oil strikes in Marion County and Crawford County led to a boom in 1937, and by 1939, Illinois
Illinois ranked fourth in U.S. oil production. Illinois manufactured 6.1 percent of total United States
United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking seventh among the 48 states.[43] Chicago
Chicago became an ocean port with the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959. The seaway and the Illinois Waterway
Illinois Waterway connected Chicago to both the Mississippi River
Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1960, Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's
McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines (which still exists as a museum, with a working McDonald's
McDonald's across the street). Illinois
Illinois had a prominent role in the emergence of the nuclear age. In 1942, as part of the Manhattan Project, the University of Chicago conducted the first sustained nuclear chain reaction. In 1957, Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago, activated the first experimental nuclear power generating system in the United States. By 1960, the first privately financed nuclear plant in the United States, Dresden 1, was dedicated near Morris. In 1967, Fermilab, a national nuclear research facility near Batavia, opened a particle accelerator, which was the world's largest for over 40 years. With eleven plants currently operating, Illinois
Illinois leads all states in the amount of electricity generated from nuclear power.[44][45] In 1961, Illinois
Illinois became the first state in the nation to adopt the recommendation of the American Law Institute
American Law Institute and pass a comprehensive criminal code revision that repealed the law against sodomy. The code also abrogated common law crimes and established an age of consent of 18.[46] The state's fourth constitution was adopted in 1970, replacing the 1870 document. The first Farm Aid
Farm Aid concert was held in Champaign to benefit American farmers, in 1985. The worst upper Mississippi River
Mississippi River flood of the century, the Great Flood of 1993, inundated many towns and thousands of acres of farmland.[29] Geography[edit] Main article: Geography of Illinois Further information: List of ecoregions in Illinois

A map of the state of Illinois, showing major cities and roads

Illinois
Illinois is located in the Midwest Region of the United States
United States and is one of the eight states and Canadian province of Ontario in the bi-national Great Lakes
Great Lakes region of North America. Boundaries[edit] Illinois's eastern border with Indiana
Indiana consists of a north-south line at 87° 31′ 30″ west longitude in Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan at the north, to the Wabash River
Wabash River in the south above Post Vincennes. The Wabash River continues as the eastern/southeastern border with Indiana
Indiana until the Wabash enters the Ohio
Ohio River. This marks the beginning of Illinois's southern border with Kentucky, which runs along the northern shoreline of the Ohio
Ohio River.[47] Most of the western border with Missouri
Missouri and Iowa
Iowa is the Mississippi
Mississippi River; Kaskaskia is an exclave of Illinois, lying west of the Mississippi
Mississippi and reachable only from Missouri. The state's northern border with Wisconsin
Wisconsin is fixed at 42° 30' north latitude. The northeastern border of Illinois
Illinois lies in Lake Michigan, within which Illinois
Illinois shares a water boundary with the state of Michigan, as well as Wisconsin
Wisconsin and Indiana.[26] Topography[edit]

Charles Mound, the highest natural point in Illinois
Illinois at 1,235 feet, is located in the northwestern part of the state.

Though Illinois
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. Charles Mound, located in this region, has the state's highest elevation above sea level at 1,235 feet (376 m). Other highlands include the Shawnee
Shawnee Hills in the south, and there is varying topography along its rivers; the Illinois River
Illinois River bisects the state northeast to southwest. The floodplain on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River from Alton to the Kaskaskia River
Kaskaskia River is known as the American Bottom. Divisions[edit]

Chicago
Chicago on Lake Michigan, the third-largest city of the United States

The lowest elevation point in the state, located near Cairo and the confluence of the Ohio
Ohio and Mississippi
Mississippi Rivers

Shawnee
Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois

Illinois
Illinois has three major geographical divisions. Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is dominated by Chicagoland, which is the city of Chicago
Chicago and its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolis is expanding. As defined by the federal government, the Chicago
Chicago metro area includes several counties in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, and has a population of over 9.8 million people. Chicago
Chicago itself is a cosmopolitan city, densely populated, industrialized, and the transportation hub of the nation, and settled by a wide variety of ethnic groups. The city of Rockford, Illinois's third-largest city and center of the state's fourth largest metropolitan area, sits along Interstates 39 and 90 some 75 miles (121 km) northwest of Chicago. The Quad Cities
Quad Cities region, located along the Mississippi
Mississippi River in northern Illinois, had a population of 381,342 in 2011. The midsection of Illinois
Illinois is a second major division, called Central Illinois. It is an area of mainly prairie and known as the Heart of Illinois. It is characterized by small towns and medium-small cities. The western section (west of the Illinois
Illinois River) was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812
Military Tract of 1812 and forms the conspicuous western bulge of the state. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently in Central Illinois. Cities include Peoria; Springfield, the state capital; Quincy; Decatur; Bloomington-Normal; and Champaign-Urbana.[26] The third division is Southern Illinois, comprising the area south of U.S. Route 50, including Little Egypt, near the juncture of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River and Ohio
Ohio River. Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois is the site of the ancient city of Cahokia, as well as the site of the first state capital at Kaskaskia, which today is separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi
Mississippi River.[26][48] This region has a somewhat warmer winter climate, different variety of crops (including some cotton farming in the past), more rugged topography (due to the area remaining unglaciated during the Illinoian Stage, unlike most of the rest of the state), as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The Illinois
Illinois suburbs of St. Louis, such as East St. Louis
East St. Louis are located in this region and collectively they are known as the Metro-East. The other somewhat significant concentration of population in Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois is the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area centered on Carbondale and Marion, a two-county area that is home to 123,272 residents.[26] A portion of southeastern Illinois
Illinois is part of the extended Evansville, Indiana Metro Area, locally referred to as the Tri-State with Indiana
Indiana and Kentucky. Seven Illinois
Illinois counties are in the area. In addition to these three, largely latitudinally defined divisions, all of the region outside the Chicago
Chicago Metropolitan area is often called "downstate" Illinois. This term is flexible, but is generally meant to mean everything outside the Chicago-area. Thus, some cities in Northern Illinois, such as DeKalb, which is west of Chicago, and Rockford—which is actually north of Chicago—are considered to be "downstate". Climate[edit] Main article: Climate of Illinois

Köppen
Köppen climate types of Illinois

Illinois
Illinois has a climate that varies widely throughout the year. Because of its nearly 400-mile distance between its northernmost and southernmost extremes, as well as its mid-continental situation, most of Illinois
Illinois has a humid continental climate ( Köppen
Köppen climate classification Dfa), with hot, humid summers and cold winters. The southern part of the state, from about Carbondale southward, has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa), with more moderate winters. Average yearly precipitation for Illinois
Illinois varies from just over 48 inches (1,219 mm) at the southern tip to around 35 inches (889 mm) in the northern portion of the state. Normal annual snowfall exceeds 38 inches (965 mm) in the Chicago
Chicago area, while the southern portion of the state normally receives less than 14 inches (356 mm).[49] The all-time high temperature was 117 °F (47 °C), recorded on July 14, 1954, at East St. Louis, while the all-time low temperature was −36 °F (−38 °C), recorded on January 5, 1999, at Congerville.[50] A temperature of −37 °F (−39 °C), was recorded on January 15, 2009, at Rochelle.[51] Illinois
Illinois averages approximately 51 days of thunderstorm activity a year, which ranks somewhat above average in the number of thunderstorm days for the United States. Illinois
Illinois is vulnerable to tornadoes with an average of 35 occurring annually, which puts much of the state at around five tornadoes per 10,000 square miles (30,000 km2) annually.[52] While tornadoes are no more powerful in Illinois
Illinois than other states, some of Tornado Alley's deadliest tornadoes on record have occurred in the state. The Tri-State Tornado
Tri-State Tornado of 1925 killed 695 people in three states; 613 of the victims died in Illinois.[53] Other significant high-casualty tornadoes include the 1896 St. Louis
St. Louis – East St. Louis
East St. Louis tornado, which killed 111 people in East St. Louis
East St. Louis and a May 1917 tornado that killed 101 people in Charleston and Mattoon. Modern developments in storm forecasting and tracking have caused death tolls from tornadoes to decline dramatically, with the 1967 Belvidere – Oak Lawn tornado outbreak (58 fatalities) and 1990 Plainfield tornado (29 fatalities) standing out as exceptions. On November 17, 2013, an EF4 tornado touched down and ripped through Washington, Illinois. There were three fatalities.

City January February March April May June July August September October November December

Cairo[54] 43/25 48/29 59/37 70/46 78/57 86/67 90/71 88/69 81/61 71/49 57/39 46/30

Chicago[55] 31/16 36/21 47/31 59/42 70/52 81/61 85/65 83/65 75/57 64/45 48/34 36/22

Edwardsville[56] 36/19 42/24 52/34 64/45 75/55 84/64 89/69 86/66 79/58 68/46 53/35 41/25

Moline[57] 30/12 36/18 48/29 62/39 73/50 83/60 86/64 84/62 76/53 64/42 48/30 34/18

Peoria[58] 31/14 37/20 49/30 62/40 73/51 82/60 86/65 84/63 77/54 64/42 49/31 36/20

Rockford[59] 27/11 33/16 46/27 59/37 71/48 80/58 83/63 81/61 74/52 62/40 46/29 32/17

Springfield[60] 33/17 39/22 51/32 63/42 74/53 83/62 86/66 84/64 78/55 67/44 51/34 38/23

Demographics[edit]

Historical population

Census Pop.

%±

1800 2,458

—

1810 12,282

399.7%

1820 55,211

349.5%

1830 157,445

185.2%

1840 476,183

202.4%

1850 851,470

78.8%

1860 1,711,951

101.1%

1870 2,539,891

48.4%

1880 3,077,871

21.2%

1890 3,826,352

24.3%

1900 4,821,550

26.0%

1910 5,638,591

16.9%

1920 6,485,280

15.0%

1930 7,630,654

17.7%

1940 7,897,241

3.5%

1950 8,712,176

10.3%

1960 10,081,158

15.7%

1970 11,113,976

10.2%

1980 11,426,518

2.8%

1990 11,430,602

0.0%

2000 12,419,293

8.6%

2010 12,830,632

3.3%

Est. 2017 12,802,023

−0.2%

Source: 1910–2010[61] 2015 Estimate[62]

The United States
United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Illinois
Illinois was 12,802,023 in 2017, moving from the fifth-largest state to the sixth-largest state (losing out to Pennsylvania). Illinois's population declined by 33,700 people from July 2016 to July 2017, making it the worst decline of any state in the U.S. in raw terms.[63] Illinois
Illinois is the most populous state in the Midwest region. Chicago, the third most populous city in the United States, is the center of the Chicago
Chicago metropolitan area. Chicagoland, as this area is known locally, comprises only 8% of the land area of the state, but contains 65% of the state's residents. According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of the state was:

71.5% White American
White American (63.7% non-Hispanic white, 7.8% White Hispanic) 14.5% Black or African American 0.3% American Indian and Alaska
Alaska Native 4.6% Asian American 2.3% Multiracial American 6.8% some other race

In the same year 15.8% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin (they may be of any race).[64]

Illinois
Illinois Racial Breakdown of Population

Racial composition 1990[65] 2000[66] 2010[67]

White 78.3% 73.5% 71.5%

Black 14.8% 15.1% 14.5%

Asian 2.5% 3.4% 4.6%

Native 0.2% 0.2% 0.3%

Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander – – –

Other race 4.2% 5.8% 6.7%

Two or more races – 1.9% 2.3%

The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 83.5% in 1970 to 63.3% in 2011.[42][68] As of 2011, 49.4% of Illinois's population younger than age 1 were minorities (note: children born to white Hispanics are counted as minority group).[69]

Density map displaying the population of Illinois

At the 2007 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 1,768,518 foreign-born inhabitants of the state or 13.8% of the population, with 48.4% from Latin America, 24.6% from Asia, 22.8% from Europe, 2.9% from Africa, 1.2% from Northern America and 0.2% from Oceania. Of the foreign-born population, 43.7% were naturalized U.S. citizens and 56.3% were not U.S. citizens.[70] In 2007, 6.9% of Illinois's population was reported as being under age 5, 24.9% under age 18 and 12.1% were age 65 and over. Females made up approximately 50.7% of the population.[71] According to the 2007 estimates, 21.1% of the population had German ancestry, 13.3% had Irish ancestry, 8% had British ancestry, 7.9% had Polish ancestry, 6.4% had Italian ancestry, 4.6% listed themselves as American, 2.4% had Swedish ancestry, 2.2% had French ancestry, other than Basque, 1.6% had Dutch ancestry, and 1.4% had Norwegian ancestry.[70] Illinois
Illinois also has large numbers of African Americans
African Americans and Latinos (mostly Mexicans and Puerto Ricans). Chicago, along the shores of Lake Michigan, is the nation's third largest city. In 2000, 23.3% of Illinois's population lived in the city of Chicago, 43.3% in Cook County, and 65.6% in the counties of the Chicago
Chicago metropolitan area: Will, DuPage, Kane, Lake, and McHenry counties, as well as Cook County. The remaining population lives in the smaller cities and rural areas that dot the state's plains. As of 2000, the state's center of population was at 41°16′42″N 88°22′49″W / 41.278216°N 88.380238°W / 41.278216; -88.380238, located in Grundy County, northeast of the village of Mazon.[26][29][48][72] Birth data[edit] Note: Births in table don't add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.

Live Births by Race/Ethnicity of Mother

Race 2013[73] 2014[74] 2015[75]

White: 119,157 (75.9%) 119,995 (75.7%) 119,630 (75.6%)

> Non-Hispanic White 85,866 (54.7%) 86,227 (54.4%) 85,424 (54.0%)

Black 27,692 (17.6%) 28,160 (17.8%) 28,059 (17.7%)

Asian 9,848 (6.3%) 10,174 (6.4%) 10,222 (6.5%)

Native 234 (0.1%) 227 (0.1%) 205 (0.1%)

Hispanic (of any race) 33,454 (21.3%) 33,803 (21.3%) 33,902 (21.4%)

Total Illinois 156,931 (100%) 158,556 (100%) 158,116 (100%)

Urban areas[edit] See also: Illinois
Illinois statistical areas, List of cities in Illinois, and List of towns and villages in Illinois Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the state and the third most populous city in the United States, with its 2010 population of 2,695,598. The U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Census Bureau currently lists seven other cities with populations of over 100,000 within Illinois. Based upon the Census Bureau's official 2010 population:[76] Aurora, a Chicago
Chicago satellite town that eclipsed Rockford for the title of second most populous city in Illinois; its 2010 population was 197,899. Rockford, at 152,871, is the third largest city in the state, and is the largest city in the state not located within the Chicago
Chicago suburbs. Joliet, located in metropolitan Chicago, is the fourth largest city in the state, with a population of 147,433. Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, is fifth with 141,853. Naperville and Aurora share a boundary along Illinois
Illinois Route 59. Springfield, the state's capital, comes in as sixth most populous with 117,352 residents. Peoria, which decades ago was the second-most populous city in the state, is seventh with 115,007. The eighth largest and final city in the 100,000 club is Elgin, a northwest suburb of Chicago, with a 2010 population of 108,188. The most populated city in the state south of Springfield is Belleville, with 44,478 people at the 2010 census. It is located in the Illinois
Illinois portion of Greater St. Louis
Greater St. Louis (often called the Metro-East area), which has a rapidly growing population of over 700,000 people. Other major urban areas include the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area, which has a combined population of almost 230,000 people, the Illinois
Illinois portion of the Quad Cities
Quad Cities area with about 215,000 people, and the Bloomington-Normal area with a combined population of over 165,000. Major cities and towns

v t e

Largest cities or towns in Illinois Source?

Rank Name County Pop.

Chicago

Aurora 1 Chicago Cook 2,704,958

Joliet

Rockford

2 Aurora Kane 201,110

3 Joliet Will 148,262

4 Rockford Winnebago 147,651

5 Naperville DuPage 147,122

6 Springfield Sangamon 115,715

7 Peoria Peoria 114,265

8 Elgin Kane 112,123

9 Waukegan Lake 88,182

10 Champaign Champaign 86,637

Languages[edit] Main article: Languages of Illinois The official language of Illinois
Illinois is English,[77] although between 1923 and 1969 state law gave official status to "the American language." Nearly 80% of people in Illinois
Illinois speak English natively, and most of the rest speak it fluently as a second language.[78] A number of dialects of American English
American English are spoken, ranging from Inland Northern American English
American English and African- American English
American English around Chicago, to Midland American English
American English in Central Illinois
Central Illinois to Southern American English in the far south. Over 20% of Illinoians speak a language other than English at home, of which Spanish is by far the most widespread at more than 12% of the total population.[79] A sizeable number of Polish speakers is present in the Chicago
Chicago Metropolitan Area. Religion[edit]

Religion in Illinois
Illinois (2014)[80]

Religion

Percent

Protestant

43%

Catholic

28%

None

22%

Jewish

Eastern Orthodox

Jehovah's Witness

Muslim

Buddhist

Hindu

Other faith

Unanswered

Christianity[edit] Roman Catholics constitute the single largest religious denomination in Illinois; they are heavily concentrated in and around Chicago, and account for nearly 30% of the state's population.[81] However, taken together as a group, the various Protestant
Protestant denominations comprise a greater percentage of the state's population than do Catholics. In 2010 Catholics in Illinois
Illinois numbered 3,648,907. The largest Protestant denominations were the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church with 314,461, and the Southern Baptist Convention, with 283,519 members. Illinois
Illinois has one of the largest concentrations of Missouri
Missouri Synod Lutherans in the United States. Importance in the Latter Day Saint Movement[edit] Illinois
Illinois played an important role in the early Latter Day Saint movement, with Nauvoo, Illinois, becoming a gathering place for Mormons in the early 1840s. Nauvoo was the location of the succession crisis, which led to the separation of the Mormon movement into several Latter Day Saint sects. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest of the sects to emerge from the Mormon schism, has over 55,000 adherents in Illinois
Illinois today.[82] Other religions[edit] Chicago
Chicago and its suburbs are also home to a large and growing population of Hindus, Muslims, Baha'is and Buddhists.[83] Muslims constituted the largest non-Christian group with 359,264 adherents.[84] Illinois
Illinois has the largest concentration of Muslims by state in the country with 2800 Muslims per 100,000 citizens.[85] The largest and oldest surviving Bahá'í House of Worship in the world is located in Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette, Illinois and the oldest standing mosque in the U.S. is the Al-Sadiq Mosque
Al-Sadiq Mosque of the Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya Muslim
Muslim Community, located in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. The Chicago
Chicago area has a large Jewish
Jewish community, particularly in the suburbs of Skokie and Morton Grove. Current Chicago
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel is the Windy City's first Jewish
Jewish mayor. Economy[edit] Main article: Economy of Illinois See also: Illinois
Illinois locations by per capita income

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Chicago at the heart of Chicago's financial center

The dollar gross state product for Illinois
Illinois was estimated to be US$796 billion in 2016.[86] The state's 2010 per capita gross state product was estimated to be US$45,302,[87] and its per capita personal income was estimated to be US$41,411 in 2009.[88] As of May 2017[update], the state's unemployment rate was 4.6%.[89] Taxes[edit] Illinois's state income tax is calculated by multiplying net income by a flat rate. In 1990, that rate was set at 3%, but in 2010, the General Assembly voted in a temporary increase in the rate to 5%; the new rate went into effect on January 1, 2011; the personal income rate partially sunset on January 1, 2015 to 3.75%, while the corporate income tax fell to 5.25%.[90][91] There are two rates for state sales tax: 6.25% for general merchandise and 1% for qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances.[92] The property tax is a major source of tax revenue for local government taxing districts. The property tax is a local—not state—tax, imposed by local government taxing districts, which include counties, townships, municipalities, school districts, and special taxation districts. The property tax in Illinois
Illinois is imposed only on real property.[26][29][48] Agriculture[edit]

Corn and soybean fields near Royal, Illinois

Acres of harvested wheat in Illinois
Illinois in 2012

Illinois's major agricultural outputs are corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, dairy products, and wheat. In most years, Illinois
Illinois is either the first or second state for the highest production of soybeans, with a harvest of 427.7 million bushels (11.64 million metric tons) in 2008, after Iowa's production of 444.82 million bushels (12.11 million metric tons).[93] Illinois
Illinois ranks second in U.S. corn production with more than 1.5 billion bushels produced annually.[94] With a production capacity of 1.5 billion gallons per year, Illinois
Illinois is a top producer of ethanol, ranking third in the United States
United States in 2011.[95] Illinois
Illinois is a leader in food manufacturing and meat processing.[96] Although Chicago
Chicago may no longer be "Hog Butcher for the World," the Chicago
Chicago area remains a global center for food manufacture and meat processing,[96] with many plants, processing houses, and distribution facilities concentrated in the area of the former Union Stock Yards.[97] Illinois
Illinois also produces wine, and the state is home to two American viticultural areas. In the area of The Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway, peaches and apples are grown. The German immigrants from agricultural backgrounds who settled in Illinois
Illinois in the mid- to late 19th century are in part responsible for the profusion of fruit orchards in that area of Illinois.[98] Illinois's universities are actively researching alternative agricultural products as alternative crops. Manufacturing[edit] Illinois
Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders, boasting annual value added productivity by manufacturing of over $107 billion in 2006. As of 2011, Illinois
Illinois is ranked as the 4th most productive manufacturing state in the country, behind California, Texas, and Ohio.[99] About three-quarters of the state's manufacturers are located in the Northeastern Opportunity Return Region, with 38 percent of Illinois's approximately 18,900 manufacturing plants located in Cook County. As of 2006, the leading manufacturing industries in Illinois, based upon value-added, were chemical manufacturing ($18.3 billion), machinery manufacturing ($13.4 billion), food manufacturing ($12.9 billion), fabricated metal products ($11.5 billion), transportation equipment ($7.4 billion), plastics and rubber products ($7.0 billion), and computer and electronic products ($6.1 billion).[100] Services[edit] By the early 2000s, Illinois's economy had moved toward a dependence on high-value-added services, such as financial trading, higher education, law, logistics, and medicine. In some cases, these services clustered around institutions that hearkened back to Illinois's earlier economies. For example, the Chicago
Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a trading exchange for global derivatives, had begun its life as an agricultural futures market. Other important non-manufacturing industries include publishing, tourism, and energy production and distribution. Investments[edit] Venture capitalists funded a total of approximately $62 billion in the US economy in 2016. Of this amount, Illinois
Illinois based companies received approximately $1.1 billion. Similarly, in FY 2016 the US federal government spent $461 billion on contracts in the US. Of this amount, Illinois
Illinois based companies received approximately $8.7 billion.[101] Energy[edit] See also: List of power stations in Illinois
List of power stations in Illinois and Solar power in Illinois Illinois
Illinois is a net importer of fuels for energy, despite large coal resources and some minor oil production. Illinois
Illinois exports electricity, ranking fifth among states in electricity production and seventh in electricity consumption.[102] Coal[edit] The coal industry of Illinois
Illinois has its origins in the middle 19th century, when entrepreneurs such as Jacob Loose discovered coal in locations such as Sangamon County. Jacob Bunn contributed to the development of the Illinois
Illinois coal industry, and was a founder and owner of the Western Coal
Coal & Mining Company of Illinois. About 68% of Illinois
Illinois has coal-bearing strata of the Pennsylvanian geologic period. According to the Illinois
Illinois State Geological Survey, 211 billion tons of bituminous coal are estimated to lie under the surface, having a total heating value greater than the estimated oil deposits in the Arabian Peninsula.[103] However, this coal has a high sulfur content, which causes acid rain unless special equipment is used to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.[26][29][48] Many Illinois
Illinois power plants are not equipped to burn high-sulfur coal. In 1999, Illinois
Illinois produced 40.4 million tons of coal, but only 17 million tons (42%) of Illinois
Illinois coal was consumed in Illinois. Most of the coal produced in Illinois
Illinois is exported to other states and countries. In 2008, Illinois exported 3 million tons of coal and was projected to export 9 million tons in 2011, as demand for energy grows in places such as China, India, and elsewhere in Asia and Europe.[104] As of 2010, Illinois
Illinois was ranked third in recoverable coal reserves at producing mines in the nation.[95] Most of the coal produced in Illinois
Illinois is exported to other states, while much of the coal burned for power in Illinois (21 million tons in 1998) is mined in the Powder River Basin
Powder River Basin of Wyoming.[102] Mattoon was recently chosen as the site for the Department of Energy's FutureGen
FutureGen project, a 275 megawatt experimental zero emission coal-burning power plant that the DOE just gave a second round of funding. In 2010, after a number of setbacks, the city of Mattoon backed out of the project.[105] Petroleum[edit] Illinois
Illinois is a leading refiner of petroleum in the American Midwest, with a combined crude oil distillation capacity of nearly 900,000 barrels per day (140,000 m3/d). However, Illinois
Illinois has very limited crude oil proved reserves that account for less than 1% of U.S. crude oil proved reserves. Residential heating is 81% natural gas compared to less than 1% heating oil. Illinois
Illinois is ranked 14th in oil production among states, with a daily output of approximately 28,000 barrels (4,500 m3) in 2005.[106][107] Nuclear power[edit] Main article: Nuclear power
Nuclear power in the United States

Byron Nuclear Generating Station
Byron Nuclear Generating Station in Ogle County.

Average annual wind power distribution for Illinois, 50 m (160 ft) height above ground (2009)

Nuclear power
Nuclear power arguably began in Illinois
Illinois with the Chicago
Chicago Pile-1, the world's first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in the world's first nuclear reactor, built on the University of Chicago campus. There are six operating nuclear power plants in Illinois: Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle, and Quad Cities.[108] With the exception of the single-unit Clinton plant, each of these facilities has two reactors. Three reactors have been permanently shut down and are in various stages of decommissioning: Dresden-1
Dresden-1 and Zion-1 and 2. Illinois
Illinois ranked first in the nation in 2010 in both nuclear capacity and nuclear generation. Generation from its nuclear power plants accounted for 12 percent of the nation's total.[95] In 2007, 48% of Illinois's electricity was generated using nuclear power.[109] The Morris Operation is the only de facto high-level radioactive waste storage site in the United States. Wind power[edit] Main article: Wind power
Wind power in Illinois Illinois
Illinois has seen growing interest in the use of wind power for electrical generation.[110] Most of Illinois
Illinois was rated in 2009 as "marginal or fair" for wind energy production by the U.S. Department of Energy, with some western sections rated "good" and parts of the south rated "poor".[111] These ratings are for wind turbines with 50-meter (160 ft) hub heights; newer wind turbines are taller, enabling them to reach stronger winds farther from the ground. As a result, more areas of Illinois
Illinois have become prospective wind farm sites. As of September 2009, Illinois
Illinois had 1116.06 MW of installed wind power nameplate capacity with another 741.9 MW under construction.[112] Illinois
Illinois ranked ninth among U.S. states in installed wind power capacity, and sixteenth by potential capacity.[112] Large wind farms in Illinois
Illinois include Twin Groves, Rail Splitter, EcoGrove, and Mendota Hills.[112] As of 2007, wind energy represented only 1.7% of Illinois's energy production, and it was estimated that wind power could provide 5–10% of the state's energy needs.[113][114] Also, the Illinois
Illinois General Assembly mandated in 2007 that by 2025, 25% of all electricity generated in Illinois
Illinois is to come from renewable resources.[115] Biofuels[edit] Illinois
Illinois is ranked second in corn production among U.S. states, and Illinois
Illinois corn is used to produce 40% of the ethanol consumed in the United States.[94] The Archer Daniels Midland
Archer Daniels Midland corporation in Decatur, Illinois
Illinois is the world's leading producer of ethanol from corn. The National Corn-to- Ethanol
Ethanol Research Center (NCERC), the world's only facility dedicated to researching the ways and means of converting corn (maize) to ethanol is located on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.[116][117] University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the partners in the Energy Biosciences Institute
Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a $500 million biofuels research project funded by petroleum giant BP.[118][119] Culture[edit] Museums[edit] For a more comprehensive list, see List of museums in Illinois. Illinois
Illinois has numerous museums; the greatest concentration of these is in Chicago. Several museums in the city of Chicago
Chicago are considered some of the best in the world. These include the John G. Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry. The modern Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is the largest and most attended presidential library in the country. The Illinois
Illinois State Museum boasts a collection of 13.5 million objects that tell the story of Illinois
Illinois life, land, people, and art. The ISM is among only 5% of the nation's museums that are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Other historical museums in the state include the Polish Museum of America
Polish Museum of America in Chicago; Magnolia Manor in Cairo; Easley Pioneer Museum in Ipava; the Elihu Benjamin Washburne; Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant Homes, both in Galena; and the Chanute Air Museum, located on the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul. The Chicago
Chicago metropolitan area also has two zoos: The very large Brookfield Zoo, located approximately 13 miles west of the city center in suburban Brookfield, contains over 2300 animals and covers 216 acres (87 ha). The Lincoln Park Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo is located in huge Lincoln Park on Chicago's North Side, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the Loop. The zoo covers over 35 acres (14 ha) within the park.

Illinois
Illinois Museums

Vandalia State House State Historic Site
Vandalia State House State Historic Site in Vandalia

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago

Magnolia Manor is a Victorian period
Victorian period historic house museum in Cairo.

Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield

The Polish Museum of America
Polish Museum of America in Chicago

A Railway Post Office
Railway Post Office preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum
Illinois Railway Museum in Union

Music[edit] Main article: Music of Illinois

Joey Miskulin, an inductee of the International Polka Association's Hall of Fame, performing as "Joey the Cowpolka King"

Illinois
Illinois is a leader in music education, having hosted the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra
Orchestra Conference since 1946, as well being home to the Illinois
Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA), one of the largest professional music educator's organizations in the country. Each summer since 2004, Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois University Carbondale has played host to the Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois Music Festival, which presents dozens of performances throughout the region. Past featured artists include the Eroica Trio and violinist David Kim. Chicago, in the northeast corner of the state, is a major center for music[120] in the midwestern United States
United States where distinctive forms of blues (greatly responsible for the future creation of rock and roll), and house music, a genre of electronic dance music, were developed. The Great Migration of poor black workers from the South into the industrial cities brought traditional jazz and blues music to the city, resulting in Chicago
Chicago blues and "Chicago-style" Dixieland
Dixieland jazz. Notable blues artists included Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Howlin' Wolf and both Sonny Boy Williamsons; jazz greats included Nat King Cole, Gene Ammons, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman and Bud Freeman. Chicago
Chicago is also well known for its soul music. In the early 1930s, Gospel music
Gospel music began to gain popularity in Chicago due to Thomas A. Dorsey's contributions at Pilgrim Baptist Church. In the 1980s and 1990s, heavy rock, punk and hip hop also became popular in Chicago. Orchestras in Chicago
Chicago include the Chicago
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Chicago and the Chicago Sinfonietta.[121] Sports[edit] For a more comprehensive list, see List of professional sports teams in Illinois.

Soldier Field, Chicago

Major league sports[edit] As one of the United States' major metropolises, all major sports leagues have teams headquartered in Chicago.

Two Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball teams are located in the state. The Chicago Cubs of the National League
National League play in the second-oldest major league stadium (Wrigley Field) and are widely known for having the longest championship drought in all of major American sport: not winning the World Series
World Series since 1908.[122][123] That drought finally came to an end when the Cubs beat the Cleveland
Cleveland Indians in seven games to win the 2016 World Series. The Chicago
Chicago White Sox of the American League
American League won the World Series
World Series in 2005, their first since 1917. They play on the city's south side at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Chicago
Chicago Bears football team has won nine total NFL Championships, the last occurring in Super Bowl XX on January 26, 1986. The Chicago
Chicago Bulls of the NBA is one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world, due largely to the efforts of Michael Jordan, who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s. The Chicago
Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL began playing in 1926, and became a member of the Original Six
Original Six once the NHL dropped to that number of teams during World War II. The Blackhawks have won six Stanley Cups, most recently in 2015. The Chicago
Chicago Fire is a member of MLS and has been one of the league's most successful and best-supported clubs since its founding in 1997, winning one league and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups in that timespan. The team plays in Bridgeview, adjacent to Chicago.

Other top-level professional sports[edit]

The Chicago
Chicago Red Stars have played at the top level of U.S. women's soccer since their formation in 2009, except in the 2011 season. The team currently plays in the National Women's Soccer League, sharing a stadium with the Fire. The Chicago
Chicago Sky have played in the Women's National Basketball Association, the sister league of the NBA, since 2006.

Minor league sports[edit] Many minor league teams also call Illinois
Illinois their home. They include:

The Bloomington Edge
Bloomington Edge of the Indoor Football League The Bloomington Flex of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association The Chicago
Chicago Bandits of the NPF, a female softball league; won first title in 2008 The Chicago
Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL, previously of Women's Professional Soccer League (WPS) and Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL)[124] The Chicago
Chicago Wolves are an AHL team playing in the suburb of Rosemont The Gateway Grizzlies
Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League
Frontier League in Sauget, Illinois The Kane County Cougars
Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League The Normal CornBelters
Normal CornBelters of the Frontier League The Joliet Slammers
Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League The Peoria Chiefs
Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League The Peoria Rivermen are an SPHL team The Rockford Aviators
Rockford Aviators of the Frontier League The Rockford IceHogs
Rockford IceHogs are an AHL team The Schaumburg Boomers
Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League The Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois Miners based out of Marion in the Frontier League The Windy City Bulls, playing in the Chicago
Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, of the NBA G League

College sports[edit] The state features 13 athletic programs that compete in NCAA Division I, the highest level of U.S. college sports. The two most prominent are the Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats, both members of the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference and the only ones competing in one of the so-called "Power Five conferences". The Fighting Illini football team has won five national championships and three Rose Bowl Games, whereas the men's basketball team has won 17 conference seasons and played five Final Fours. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have won eight football conference championships and one Rose Bowl Game. The Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois Huskies from DeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb, Illinois compete in the Mid-American Conference
Mid-American Conference winning 4 conference championships and earning a bid in the Orange Bowl
Orange Bowl along with producing Heisman candidate Jordan Lynch at quarterback. The Huskies are the state's only other team competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of NCAA football. Four schools have football programs that compete in the second level of Division I football, the Football Championship Subdivision. The Illinois State Redbirds
Illinois State Redbirds (Normal, adjacent to Bloomington) and Southern Illinois
Illinois Salukis (the latter representing Southern Illinois University's main campus in Carbondale) are members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) for non-football sports and the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The Western Illinois
Illinois Leathernecks (Macomb) are full members of the Summit League, which does not sponsor football, and also compete in the MVFC. The Eastern Illinois
Illinois Panthers (Charleston) are members of the Ohio
Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The city of Chicago
Chicago is home to four Division I programs that do not sponsor football. The DePaul Blue Demons, with main campuses in Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park and the Loop, are members of the Big East Conference. The Loyola Ramblers, with their main campus straddling the Edgewater and Rogers Park community areas on the city's far north side, compete in the MVC. The UIC Flames, from the Near West Side next to the Loop, are in the Horizon League. The Chicago
Chicago State Cougars, from the city's south side, compete in the Western Athletic Conference. Finally, two non-football Division I programs are located downstate. The Bradley Braves
Bradley Braves (Peoria) are MVC members, and the SIU Edwardsville Cougars (in the Metro East
Metro East region across the Mississippi River
Mississippi River from St. Louis) compete in the OVC. Former Chicago
Chicago sports franchises[edit] Folded teams[edit] The city was formerly home to several other teams that either failed to survive, or that belonged to leagues that folded.

Relocated teams[edit] The NFL's Arizona
Arizona Cardinals, who currently play in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, played in Chicago
Chicago as the Chicago
Chicago Cardinals, until moving to St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri after the 1959 season. An NBA expansion team known as the Chicago
Chicago Packers in 1961–62 and the Chicago
Chicago Zephyrs the following year moved to Baltimore
Baltimore after the 1962–63 season. The franchise is now known as the Washington Wizards. Professional sports teams outside Chicago[edit] The Peoria Chiefs
Peoria Chiefs and Kane County Cougars
Kane County Cougars are minor league baseball teams affiliated with MLB. The Schaumburg Boomers
Schaumburg Boomers and Lake County Fielders are members of the North American League, and the Southern Illinois
Illinois Miners, Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers, Windy City ThunderBolts and Normal CornBelters
Normal CornBelters belong to the Frontier League. In addition to the Chicago
Chicago Wolves, the AHL also has the Rockford IceHogs serving as the AHL affiliate of the Chicago
Chicago Blackhawks. The second incarnation of the Peoria Rivermen plays in the SPHL. Motor racing[edit] Motor racing
Motor racing oval tracks at the Chicagoland
Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, the Chicago
Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero and the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, near St. Louis, have hosted NASCAR, CART, and IRL races, whereas the Sports Car Club of America, among other national and regional road racing clubs, have visited the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, the Blackhawk Farms Raceway
Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit and the former Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville. Illinois
Illinois also has several short tracks and dragstrips. The dragstrip at Gateway International Raceway and the Route 66 Raceway, which sits on the same property as the Chicagoland
Chicagoland Speedway, both host NHRA
NHRA drag races. Golf[edit] Illinois
Illinois features several golf courses such as Olympia Fields, Medinah, Midlothian, Cog Hill and Conway Farms, which have often hosted the BMW Championship, Western Open
Western Open and Women's Western Open. Also, the state has hosted 13 editions of the U.S. Open (latest at Olympia Fields in 2003), six editions of the PGA Championship
PGA Championship (latest at Medinah in 2006), three editions of the U.S. Women's Open
U.S. Women's Open (latest at The Merit Club), the 2009 Solheim Cup
2009 Solheim Cup (at Rich Harvest Farms) and the 2012 Ryder Cup
2012 Ryder Cup (at Medinah). The John Deere Classic
John Deere Classic is a regular PGA Tour
PGA Tour event played in the Quad Cities since 1971, whereas the Encompass Championship
Encompass Championship is a Champions Tour event since 2013. Previously the LPGA State Farm Classic
LPGA State Farm Classic was an L PGA Tour
PGA Tour event from 1976 to 2011. Parks and recreation[edit] For a more comprehensive list, see List of protected areas of Illinois.

The Illinois
Illinois Centennial Column in Chicago's Logan Square

The Illinois state parks
Illinois state parks system began in 1908 with what is now Fort Massac State Park, becoming the first park in a system encompassing over 60 parks and about the same number of recreational and wildlife areas. Areas under the protection and control of the National Park Service include: the Illinois and Michigan Canal
Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor near Lockport,[125] the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, the American Discovery Trail,[126] and the Pullman National Monument. The federal government also manages the Shawnee
Shawnee National Forest and the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. Law and government[edit] Main articles: Government of Illinois
Government of Illinois and Law of Illinois The government of Illinois, under the Constitution of Illinois, has three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices, with the Governor as chief executive. Legislative functions are granted to the Illinois
Illinois General Assembly. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court and lower courts.

The James R. Thompson Center
James R. Thompson Center in Chicago

The Illinois General Assembly
Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature, composed of the 118-member Illinois House of Representatives
Illinois House of Representatives and the 59-member Illinois
Illinois Senate. The members of the General Assembly are elected at the beginning of each even-numbered year. The Illinois
Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) are the codified statutes of a general and permanent nature.[127][128] The executive branch is composed of six elected officers and their offices as well as numerous other departments.[129] The six elected officers are:[129] Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer. The government of Illinois
Illinois has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions, but the so-called code departments provide most of the state's services.[129][130] The Judiciary of Illinois
Judiciary of Illinois is the unified court system of Illinois. It consists of the Supreme Court, Appellate Court, and Circuit Courts. The Supreme Court oversees the administration of the court system. The administrative divisions of Illinois
Illinois are counties, townships, precincts, cities, towns, villages, and special-purpose districts.[131] The basic subdivision of Illinois
Illinois are the 102 counties.[132] 85 of the 102 counties are in turn divided into townships and precincts.[132][133] Municipal governments are the cities, villages, and incorporated towns.[132] Some localities possess home rule, which allows them to govern themselves to a certain extent.[134] Politics[edit] Main article: Politics of Illinois Party balance[edit]

Illinois State Capitol
Illinois State Capitol in downtown Springfield

Treemap
Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election

Illinois
Illinois is a Democratic stronghold and considered one of the most Democratic states in the nation.[135] Historically, Illinois
Illinois was a political swing state, with near-parity existing between the Republican and the Democratic parties. However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has gained ground and Illinois
Illinois has come to be seen as a solid "blue" state in presidential contests.[136][137] Chicago
Chicago and most of Cook County votes have long been strongly Democratic. However, the "collar counties" (the suburbs surrounding Chicago's Cook County, Illinois), can be seen as moderate voting districts.[138][139] College towns like Carbondale, Champaign and Normal also lean Democratic. Republicans continue to prevail in the outlying Chicago
Chicago exurban areas, as well as rural northern and central Illinois; Republican support is also strong in southern Illinois, outside the East St. Louis metropolitan area. From 1920 until 1972, the state was carried by the victor of each of these presidential elections – 14 elections.[140] In fact, Illinois
Illinois was long seen as a national bellwether,[141] supporting the winner in every election in the 20th century except for 1916 and 1976. By contrast, Illinois
Illinois has trended more toward the Democratic party and such, has voted for their presidential candidates in the last six elections; in 2000, George W. Bush
George W. Bush became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying Illinois
Illinois or Vermont. Chicago
Chicago resident and former president Barack Obama
Barack Obama easily won the state's 21 electoral votes in 2008, with 61.9% of the vote. In 2010, incumbent Governor Pat Quinn was re-elected with 47% of the vote, while Republican Mark Kirk was elected to the Senate with 48% of the vote. In 2012, President Obama easily carried Illinois
Illinois again with 58% to Republican Mitt Romney's 41%. In 2014, Republican Bruce Rauner defeated Governor Quinn 50% – 46% to become Illinois's first Republican governor in 12 years when he was sworn in on January 12, 2015, while Democratic Senator Dick Durbin
Dick Durbin was re-elected with 53% of the vote. In 2016, Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton carried Illinois
Illinois with 55% of the vote and Tammy Duckworth
Tammy Duckworth defeated incumbent Mark Kirk 54% to 40%. George W. Bush
George W. Bush and Donald Trump
Donald Trump are the only Republicans to win the White House without carrying Illinois
Illinois or Vermont. History of corruption[edit] Main article: Political corruption in Illinois Politics in the state have been infamous for highly visible corruption cases, as well as for crusading reformers, such as governors Adlai Stevenson and James R. Thompson. In 2006, former Governor George Ryan was convicted of racketeering and bribery, leading to a 6 1⁄2-year prison sentence. In 2008, then-Governor Rod Blagojevich was served with a criminal complaint on corruption charges, stemming from allegations that he conspired to sell the vacated Senate seat left by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama to the highest bidder. Subsequently, on December 7, 2011, Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for those charges, as well as perjury while testifying during the case, totaling 18 convictions. In the late 20th century, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski
Dan Rostenkowski was imprisoned for mail fraud; former governor and federal judge Otto Kerner, Jr.
Otto Kerner, Jr. was imprisoned for bribery; Secretary of State Paul Powell was investigated and found to have gained great wealth through bribes, and State Auditor of Public Accounts (Comptroller) Orville Hodge was imprisoned for embezzlement. In 1912, William Lorimer, the GOP boss of Chicago, was expelled from the U.S. Senate for bribery and in 1921, Governor Len Small
Len Small was found to have defrauded the state of a million dollars.[29][48][142]

Presidential elections results

Year Republican Democratic

2016 38.76% 2,146,015 55.83% 3,090,729

2012 40.66% 2,135,216 57.50% 3,019,512

2008 36.73% 2,031,179 61.83% 3,419,348

2004 44.48% 2,345,946 54.82% 2,891,550

2000 42.58% 2,019,421 54.60% 2,589,026

1996 36.81% 1,587,021 54.32% 2,341,744

1992 34.34% 1,734,096 48.58% 2,453,350

1988 50.69% 2,310,939 48.60% 2,215,940

1984 56.17% 2,707,103 43.30% 2,086,499

1980 49.65% 2,359,049 41.72% 1,981,413

1976 50.10% 2,364,269 48.13% 2,271,295

1972 59.03% 2,788,179 40.51% 1,913,472

1968 47.08% 2,174,774 44.15% 2,039,814

1964 40.53% 1,905,946 59.47% 2,796,833

1960 49.80% 2,368,988 49.98% 2,377,846

U.S. Presidents from Illinois[edit] Three presidents have claimed Illinois
Illinois as their political base: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama. Lincoln was born in Kentucky, but moved to Illinois
Illinois at the age of 21; he served in the General Assembly and represented the 7th congressional district in the US House of Representatives before his election as President. Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio
Ohio and had a military career that precluded settling down, but on the eve of the Civil War, and approaching middle age, Grant moved to Illinois
Illinois and thus claimed it as his home when running for President. Barack Obama
Barack Obama was born and raised in Hawaii (other than a four-year period of his childhood spent in Indonesia) and made Illinois
Illinois his home and base after completing law school and later represented the state in the US Senate. Only one person elected President of the United States
United States was actually born in Illinois. Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, raised in Dixon and educated at Eureka College. Reagan moved to Los Angeles as a young adult and later became Governor of California
California before being elected President. African-American U.S. senators[edit] Nine African-Americans have served as members of the United States Senate. Three of them have represented Illinois, the most of any single state: Carol Moseley-Braun, Barack Obama,[143] and Roland Burris, who was appointed to replace Obama after his election to the presidency. Moseley-Braun was the first African-American woman to become a U.S. Senator.

Bruce Rauner
Bruce Rauner (R), current Governor of Illinois

Political families[edit] Two families from Illinois
Illinois have played particularly prominent roles in the Democratic Party, gaining both statewide and national fame. Stevensons[edit] The Stevenson family, initially rooted in central Illinois
Illinois and later based in the Chicago
Chicago metropolitan area, has provided four generations of Illinois
Illinois officeholders.

Adlai Stevenson I
Adlai Stevenson I (1835–1914) was a Vice President of the United States, as well as a Congressman Lewis Stevenson (1868–1929), son of Adlai, served as Illinois Secretary of State. Adlai Stevenson II
Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965), son of Lewis, served as Governor of Illinois
Illinois and as the US Ambassador to the United Nations; he was also the Democratic party's presidential nominee in 1952 and 1956, losing both elections to Dwight Eisenhower. Adlai Stevenson III (1930– ), son of Adlai II, served ten years as a United States
United States Senator.

Daleys[edit] The Daley family's powerbase was in Chicago.

Richard J. Daley
Richard J. Daley (1902–1976) served as Mayor of Chicago
Chicago from 1955 to his death. Richard M. Daley
Richard M. Daley (1942– ), son of Richard J, was Chicago's longest serving mayor, in office from 1989 to 2011. William M. Daley
William M. Daley (1948– ), another son of Richard J, is a former White House Chief of Staff
White House Chief of Staff and has served in a variety of appointed positions.

Education[edit] Illinois
Illinois State Board of education[edit] Main article: Illinois
Illinois State Board of Education The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is autonomous of the governor and the state legislature, and administers public education in the state. Local municipalities and their respective school districts operate individual public schools, but the ISBE audits performance of public schools with the Illinois
Illinois School Report Card. The ISBE also makes recommendations to state leaders concerning education spending and policies. Primary and secondary schools[edit] See also: List of school districts in Illinois
List of school districts in Illinois and List of high schools in Illinois Education is compulsory from ages 7 to 17 in Illinois. Schools are commonly but not exclusively divided into three tiers of primary and secondary education: elementary school, middle school or junior high school, and high school. District territories are often complex in structure. Many areas in the state are actually located in two school districts—one for high school, the other for elementary and middle schools. And such districts do not necessarily share boundaries. A given high school may have several elementary districts that feed into it, yet some of those feeder districts may themselves feed into multiple high school districts. Colleges and universities[edit] For a more comprehensive list, see List of colleges and universities in Illinois.

The Main Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is home to the Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Using the criterion established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, there are eleven "National Universities" in the state. As of 19 August 2010[update], six of these rank in the "first tier" (that is, the top quartile) among the top 500 National Universities in the United States, as determined by the U.S. News & World Report rankings: the University of Chicago
Chicago (4), Northwestern University
Northwestern University (12), the University of Illinois
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (41), Loyola University Chicago
Chicago (99), the Illinois Institute of Technology (108), DePaul University
DePaul University (123), University of Illinois
Illinois at Chicago
Chicago (129), Illinois State University
Illinois State University (149), Southern Illinois
Illinois University Carbondale (153), and Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois University (194).[144] The University of Chicago
Chicago is continuously ranked as one of the world's top ten universities on various independent university rankings, and its Booth School of Business, along with Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management consistently rank within the top 5 graduate business schools in the country and top 10 in the world. The University of Illinois
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is often ranked among the best engineering schools in the world and in United States. Illinois
Illinois also has more than 20 additional accredited four-year universities, both public and private, and dozens of small liberal arts colleges across the state. Additionally, Illinois
Illinois supports 49 public community colleges in the Illinois
Illinois Community College System. Infrastructure[edit] Transportation[edit] See also: List of airports in Illinois, List of Illinois
Illinois Routes, List of Illinois
Illinois railroads, and Category: Illinois
Illinois waterways Because of its central location and its proximity to the Rust Belt
Rust Belt and Grain Belt, Illinois
Illinois is a national crossroads for air, auto, rail, and truck traffic. Airports[edit]

University of Illinois
Illinois Willard Airport

From 1962 until 1998, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport
O'Hare International Airport (ORD) was the busiest airport in the world, measured both in terms of total flights and passengers. While it was surpassed by Atlanta's Hartsfield in 1998, with 59.3 million domestic passengers annually, along with 11.4 million international passengers in 2008,[145] O'Hare remains one of the two or three busiest airports in the world, and some years still ranks number one in total flights. It is a major hub for United Airlines
United Airlines and American Airlines, and a major airport expansion project is currently underway. Chicago
Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW), which had been the busiest airport in the world until supplanted by O'Hare in 1962, is now the secondary airport in the Chicago
Chicago metropolitan area. For a time in the late 1960s and 1970s, Midway was nearly vacant except for general aviation, but growth in the area, combined with political deadlock over the building of a new major airport in the region, has caused a resurgence for Midway. It is now a major hub for Southwest Airlines, and services many other airlines as well. Midway served 17.3 million domestic and international passengers in 2008.[146] Rail[edit]

Illinois
Illinois major rail network

Illinois
Illinois has an extensive passenger and freight rail transportation network. Chicago
Chicago is a national Amtrak
Amtrak hub and in-state passengers are served by Amtrak's Illinois
Illinois Service, featuring the Chicago
Chicago to Carbondale Illini and Saluki, the Chicago
Chicago to Quincy Carl Sandburg and Illinois
Illinois Zephyr, and the Chicago
Chicago to St. Louis
St. Louis Lincoln Service. Currently there is trackwork on the Chicago– St. Louis
St. Louis line to bring the maximum speed up to 110 mph (180 km/h), which would reduce the trip time by an hour and a half. Nearly every North American railway meets at Chicago, making it the largest and most active rail hub in the country. Extensive commuter rail is provided in the city proper and some immediate suburbs by the Chicago
Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. The largest suburban commuter rail system in the United States, operated by Metra, uses existing rail lines to provide direct commuter rail access for hundreds of suburbs to the city and beyond. In addition to the state's rail lines, the Mississippi River
Mississippi River and Illinois River
Illinois River provide major transportation routes for the state's agricultural interests. Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan gives Illinois
Illinois access to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean by way of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Interstate highway system[edit]

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Illinois
Illinois is among many US states with a well developed interstate highway system. Illinois
Illinois has the distinction of having the most primary (two-digit) interstates pass through it among all the 50 states with 13 (with the new addition of Interstate 41
Interstate 41 near Wisconsin), as well as the 3rd most interstate mileage behind California
California and Texas.[147] Major U.S. Interstate highways crossing the state include: Interstate 24 (I-24), I-39, I-41, I-55, I-57, I-64, I-70, I-72, I-74, I-80, I-88, I-90, and I-94. U.S. highway system[edit]

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Among the U.S. highways that pass through the state, the primary ones are: US 6, US 12, US 14, US 20, US 24, US 30, US 34, US 36, US 40, US 41, US 45, US 50, US 51, US 52, US 54, US 60, US 62, and US 67. Gallery[edit]

Standard license plate introduced in 2017

Standard license plate 2001 to 2016

Illinois
Illinois license plate design used throughout the 1980s and 1990s, displaying the Land of Lincoln slogan that has been featured on the state's plates since 1954