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{{short description|State of the United States}}
{{about|the State of Illinois|the river|Illinois River|other uses}}
{{use American English|date=September 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox U.S. state
{{Infobox U.S. state
| official_name = Illinois
| Fullname = State of Illinois
| image_flag = Flag of Illinois.svg
| Flag = Flag of Illinois.svg
| name = Illinois
| name = Illinois
| image_seal = Seal of Illinois.svg
| Seal = Seal of Illinois.svg
| seal_link = Flag and seal of Illinois
| Flaglink = [[Flag of Illinois|Flag]]
| flag_link = Flag and seal of Illinois
| Nickname = Land of Lincoln, Prairie State
| nickname = Land of Lincoln, Prairie State
| Motto = ''State Sovereignty, National Union''
| motto = ''State Sovereignty, National Union''
| StateAnthem = [[Illinois (state song)|Illinois]]
| anthem = "[[Illinois (song)|Illinois]]"<br>[[File:Illinois.mid|center]]
| Map = Illinois in United States.svg
| image_map = Illinois in United States.svg
| OfficialLang = English<ref>{{cite web|title=(5 ILCS 460/20) (from Ch. 1, par. 2901‑20) State Designations Act|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=132&ChapAct=5%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B460%2F&ChapterID=2&ChapterName=GENERAL+PROVISIONS&ActName=State+Designations+Act%2E|website=Illinois Compiled Statutes|publisher=Illinois General Assembly|location=Springfield, Illinois|date=September 4, 1991|accessdate=April 10, 2009|quote=Sec. 20. Official language. The official language of the State of Illinois is English.}}</ref>
| OfficialLang = English<ref>{{cite web|title=(5 ILCS 460/20) (from Ch. 1, par. 2901‑20) State Designations Act|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=132&ChapAct=5%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B460%2F&ChapterID=2&ChapterName=GENERAL+PROVISIONS&ActName=State+Designations+Act%2E|website=Illinois Compiled Statutes|publisher=Illinois General Assembly|location=Springfield, Illinois|date=September 4, 1991|access-date=April 10, 2009|quote=Sec. 20. Official language. The official language of the State of Illinois is English.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305053414/http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=132&ChapAct=5%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B460%2F&ChapterID=2&ChapterName=GENERAL+PROVISIONS&ActName=State+Designations+Act%2E|archive-date=March 5, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>
| Languages = English (80.8%) <br />Spanish (14.9%)<br />Other (5.1%)
| Languages = English (80.8%){{break}}Spanish (14.9%){{break}}Other (5.1%)
| Demonym = Illinoisan
| population_demonym = [[List of U.S. state residents names|Illinoisan]]
| LargestCity = [[Chicago]]
| LargestCity = [[Chicago]]
| seat = [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]]
| Capital = [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]]
| LargestMetro = [[Chicago metropolitan area|Chicago]]
| LargestMetro = [[Chicago metropolitan area|Greater Chicago]]
| area_rank = 25th
| AreaRank = 25th
| area_total_sq_mi = 57,915
| TotalAreaUS = 57,914
| area_total_km2 = 149,997
| TotalArea = 149,997
| width_mi = 210
| WidthUS = 210
| width_km = 338
| Width = 338
| length_mi = 390
| LengthUS = 390
| length_km = 628
| Length = 628
| area_water_percent = 3.99
| PCWater = 3.99
| Latitude = 36° 58′ N to 42° 30′ N
| Latitude = 36° 58′ N to 42° 30′ N
| Longitude = 87° 30′ W to 91° 31′ W
| Longitude = 87° 30′ W to 91° 31′ W
| population_rank = 6th
| PopRank = 6th
| population_as_of = 2020
| 2010Pop = 12,741,080 (2018)
| 2010Pop = 12,812,508<ref name="PopHousingEst">{{cite web |title=2020 Census Apportionment Results |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2020/dec/2020-apportionment-data.html |website=census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=April 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426210008/https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2020/dec/2020-apportionment-data.html |archive-date=April 26, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| MedianHouseholdIncome = $58,321 (2018) <ref>{{cite web|url=http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/median-annual-income/?currentTimeframe=0|website=The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation|title=Median Annual Household Income|accessdate=December 9, 2016}}</ref>
| MedianHouseholdIncome = $65,030<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bureau |first1=US Census |title=U.S. Median Household Income Up in 2018 From 2017 |url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/09/us-median-household-income-up-in-2018-from-2017.html |website=The United States Census Bureau |access-date=July 12, 2020 }}</ref>
| 2000DensityUS = 232
| 2000DensityUS = 232
| 2000Density = 89.4
| 2000Density = 89.4
| population_density_rank = 12th
| DensityRank = 12th
| IncomeRank = 16th
| IncomeRank = 20th
| elevation_max_point = [[Charles Mound]]<ref>{{cite ngs|id=NJ0855|designation=Charles|access-date=October 20, 2011}}</ref><ref name=USGS>{{cite web|url=http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |title=Elevations and Distances in the United States |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] |year=2001 |access-date=October 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102003514/http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |archive-date=November 2, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=NAVD88>Elevation adjusted to [[North American Vertical Datum of 1988]].</ref>
| HighestPoint = [[Charles Mound]]<ref>{{cite ngs|id=NJ0855|designation=Charles|accessdate=October 20, 2011}}</ref><ref name=USGS>{{cite web|url=http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |title=Elevations and Distances in the United States |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] |year=2001 |accessdate=October 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102003514/http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |archivedate=November 2, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=NAVD88>Elevation adjusted to [[North American Vertical Datum of 1988]].</ref>
| elevation_max_ft = 1235
| HighestElevUS = 1,235
| elevation_max_m = 376.4
| HighestElev = 376.4
| elevation_ft = 600
| MeanElevUS = 600
| elevation_m = 180
| MeanElev = 180
| elevation_min_point = Confluence of [[Mississippi River]] and [[Ohio River]]<ref name=USGS/><ref name=NAVD88/>
| LowestPoint = Confluence of [[Mississippi River]] and [[Ohio River]]<ref name=USGS/><ref name=NAVD88/>
| elevation_min_m = 85
| LowestElev = 85
| elevation_min_ft = 280
| LowestElevUS = 280
| Former = Illinois Territory
| Former = Illinois Territory
| AdmittanceDate = December 3, 1818
| AdmittanceDate = December 3, 1818
| AdmittanceOrder = 21st
| AdmittanceOrder = 21st
| Governor = {{nowrap|[[J. B. Pritzker]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])}}
| Governor = [[J. B. Pritzker]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
| Lieutenant Governor = {{nowrap|[[Juliana Stratton]] (D)}}
| Lieutenant Governor = [[Juliana Stratton]] (D)
| Legislature = [[Illinois General Assembly]]
| Legislature = [[Illinois General Assembly]]
| Upperhouse = [[Illinois Senate|Senate]]
| Upperhouse = [[Illinois Senate|Senate]]
| Lowerhouse = [[Illinois House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]
| Lowerhouse = [[Illinois House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]
| Judiciary = [[Supreme Court of Illinois]]
| Senators = [[Dick Durbin]] (D)<br />[[Tammy Duckworth]] (D)
| Senators = {{nowrap|[[Dick Durbin]] (D)}}{{break}}{{nowrap|[[Tammy Duckworth]] (D)}}
| Representative = 13 Democrats <br /> 5 Republicans
| Representative = 13 Democrats{{break}}5 Republicans
| TimeZone = [[Central Time Zone (North America)|Central]]: [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] [[Central Standard Time|-6]]/[[Central Daylight Time|-5]]
| timezone1 = [[Central Time Zone (North America)|Central]]
| ISOCode = US-IL
| utc_offset1 = −06:00
| timezone1_DST = [[Central Daylight Time|CDT]]
| utc_offset1_DST = −05:00
| iso_code = US-IL
| postal_code = IL
| postal_code = IL
| TradAbbreviation = Ill.
| TradAbbreviation = Ill.
| website = https://www.illinois.gov
| Website = www.illinois.gov|Motto
| BorderingStates = [[Indiana]], [[Iowa]], [[Kentucky]], [[Missouri]], [[Wisconsin]]
| BorderingStates = [[Indiana]], [[Iowa]], [[Kentucky]], [[Missouri]], [[Wisconsin]]
| area_land_sq_mi = 55,593
| LandAreaUS = 55,593
| area_land_km2 = 143,969
| LandArea = 143,969
| area_water_sq_mi = 2,320
| WaterAreaUS = 2,320
| area_water_km2 = 5,981
| WaterArea = 5,981
| Representatives =
| image_flag = Flag of Illinois.svg
| official_name = State of Illinois
| image_seal = Seal of Illinois.svg
}}
}}
{{Infobox U.S. state symbols
{{Infobox U.S. state symbols
|Name = Illinois
|Name       = Illinois
|Flag = Flag of Illinois.svg
|Flag       = Flag of Illinois.svg
|Flagsize = 100px
|Flagsize   = 100px
|Seal = Seal of Illinois.svg
|Seal       = Seal of Illinois.svg
|Sealsize = 100px
|Sealsize   = 100px
|Amphibian = [[Tiger salamander|Eastern tiger salamander]]
|Amphibian = [[Tiger salamander|Eastern tiger salamander]]
|Bird = [[Northern cardinal]]
|Bird       = [[Northern cardinal]]
|Butterfly = [[Monarch (butterfly)|Monarch butterfly]]
|Butterfly = [[Monarch (butterfly)|Monarch butterfly]]
|Crustacean =  
|Crustacean =
|Fish = [[Bluegill]]
|Fish       = [[Bluegill]]
|Flower = [[Viola (plant)|Violet]]
|Flower     = [[Viola (plant)|Violet]]
|Grass = [[Big bluestem]]
|Grass     = [[Big bluestem]]
|Mammal = [[White-tailed deer]]
|Insect    = <!-- Listed under "Butterfly" instead -->
|Reptile = [[Painted turtle]]
|Mammal     = [[White-tailed deer]]
|Tree = [[Quercus alba|White oak]]
|Reptile   = [[Painted turtle]]
|Beverage =  
|Tree       = [[Quercus alba|White oak]]
|Colors =  
|Beverage   =
|Dance = [[Square dance]]
|Colors     =
|Dinosaur =  
|Dance     = [[Square dance]]
|Food = [[Apple|Gold Rush Apple]], [[popcorn]]
|Dinosaur   =
|Fossil = [[Tullimonstrum gregarium|Tully monster]]
|Food       = [[Apple|Gold Rush Apple]], [[popcorn]]
|Gemstone =  
|Fossil     = [[Tullimonstrum gregarium|Tully monster]]
|Instrument =  
|Gemstone   =
|Mineral = [[Fluorite]]
|Instrument =
|Poem =  
|Mineral   = [[Fluorite]]
|Rock =  
|Poem       =
|Shell =  
|Rock       =
|Ships =  
|Shell     =
|Slogan = "Land of Lincoln"
|Ships     =
|Soil = [[Loam|Drummer silty clay loam]]
|Slogan     = "Land of Lincoln"
|Sport =  
|Soil       = [[Loam|Drummer silty clay loam]]
|Tartan =  
|Sport     =
|Toy =  
|Tartan     =
|Toy       =
|Route Marker = Illinois 1.svg
|Route Marker = Illinois 1.svg
|Quarter = 2003 IL Proof.png
|Quarter   = 2003 IL Proof.png
|QuarterReleaseDate = 2003
|QuarterReleaseDate = 2003
}}
}}


'''Illinois''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Illinois.ogg|ˌ|ɪ|l|ə|ˈ|n|ɔɪ}} {{respell|IL|ə|NOY|'}}) is a [[U.S. state|state]] in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] region of the [[United States]]. It has the [[List of U.S. states and territories by GDP|fifth largest gross domestic product (GDP)]],
'''Illinois''' is a [[States of the United States|state]] in the [[United States]]. Its capital is [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]] and its largest city is [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]]. It is bordered to the north by [[Wisconsin]], to the west by [[Iowa]] and below that, by [[Missouri]] (both borders are along the [[Mississippi River]]). To the south-east, Illinois is bordered along the [[Ohio River]] by [[Kentucky]] and to the east by [[Indiana]]. Illinois' northeasternmost boundary is to [[Lake Michigan]].
[[List of U.S. states and territories by population|the sixth largest]] population, and the [[List of U.S. states and territories by area|25th largest land area]] of all U.S. states. Illinois has been noted as a [[Macrocosm and microcosm|microcosm]] of the entire United States.<ref name="so">{{cite news|first=Stephen|last=Ohlemacher|title=Analysis ranks Illinois most average state|url=http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2007/05/17/top/20300809.txt|agency=Associated Press|publisher=The Southern Illinoisan|location=Carbondale, Illinois|date=May 17, 2007|access-date=April 10, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114074348/http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2007/05/17/top/20300809.txt|archive-date=January 14, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> With [[Chicago]] in northeastern Illinois, small industrial cities and immense [[agricultural productivity]] in the north and center of the state, and [[natural resource]]s such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major [[transportation hub]]. The [[Port of Chicago]] connects the state to international ports via two main routes: from the [[Great Lakes]], via the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]], to the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and from the [[Great Lakes]] to the [[Mississippi River]], via the [[Illinois River]], through the [[Illinois Waterway]]. The Mississippi River, the [[Ohio River]], and the [[Wabash River]] form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's [[O'Hare International Airport]] has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a [[bellwether]] both in [[Will it play in Peoria?|social and cultural terms]]<ref name="so" /> and, through the 1980s, in [[swing states|politics]].
 
The capital of Illinois is [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]], which is located in the central part of the state. Although today Illinois's largest population center is in its northeast, the state's European population grew first in the west as the French settled lands near the Mississippi River, when the region was known as [[Illinois Country]] and was part of [[New France]]. Following the [[American Revolutionary War]], American settlers began arriving from [[Kentucky]] in the 1780s via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. In 1818, Illinois achieved [[List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union|statehood]]. Following increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes after the construction of the [[Erie Canal]], Chicago was incorporated in the 1830s on the banks of the [[Chicago River]] at one of the few natural harbors on the southern section of [[Lake Michigan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chipublib.org/digital/lake/CFDHarbor.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226002320/http://www.chipublib.org/digital/lake/CFDHarbor.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 26, 2007|title=What did Chicago look like in the early 1830s?|date=May 16, 2008|access-date=October 20, 2007}}</ref> [[John Deere (inventor)|John Deere]]'s invention of the self-scouring [[plough|steel plow]] turned Illinois's rich [[prairie]] into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting [[immigrant]] farmers from [[German American|Germany]] and [[Swedish American|Sweden]]. The [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]] (1848) made transportation between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River valley faster and cheaper, and new railroads carried immigrants to new homes in the country's west and shipped commodity crops to the nation's east. The state became a transportation hub for the nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.niu.edu/1999/iht639920.html|title=The Historical Development of Transportation in Illinois|last=Ryburn-LaMonte|first=Terri|date=1999|website=Illinois Periodicals Online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010220837/http://www.lib.niu.edu/1999/iht639920.html|archive-date=October 10, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>


By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and [[coal]] mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and Southern Europe. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars. The [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] from the South established a large community of African Americans in the state, including Chicago, who founded the city's famous [[jazz]] and [[blues]] cultures.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/665.html |title=Jazz |website=Encyclopedia of Chicago |access-date=May 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504032657/http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/665.html |archive-date=May 4, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/151.html|title=Blues|website=Encyclopedia of Chicago|access-date=May 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517114028/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/151.html|archive-date=May 17, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Chicago, the center of the [[Chicago Metropolitan Area]], is now recognized as a [[global city]]. [[Chicago metropolitan area|Chicagoland]], Chicago's [[metropolitan area]], encompasses about 65% of the state's population. The most populous [[Illinois statistical areas|metropolitan areas]] outside the Chicago area include, [[Metro East]] (of Greater St. Louis), [[Peoria metropolitan area, Illinois|Peoria]] and [[Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois|Rockford]].
==Politics==
Three [[President of the United States|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]], was born and raised in the state. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan ''Land of Lincoln'', which has been displayed on its [[Vehicle registration plates of Illinois|license plates]] since 1954.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/special/plate_history/start_history.html |title=The History of Illinois License Plates |publisher=Cyberdriveillinois.com |access-date=February 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129174458/http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/special/plate_history/start_history.html |archive-date=January 29, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/symbols/slogan.html |title=Slogan |publisher=Museum.state.il.us |access-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515094633/http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/symbols/slogan.html |archive-date=May 15, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> The state is the site of the [[Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum]] in Springfield and the future home of the [[Barack Obama Presidential Center]] in Chicago.
{{TOC limit|limit=3}}


==Etymology==
=== Political climate In Illinois today ===
{{See also|Illinois Confederation|List of counties in Illinois}}
Most of Illinois outside of Chicago (its most populous city) is heavily conservative. In 2016, for example, nearly 40 counties in Illinois gave [[Donald Trump|Trump]] 70% or more of the vote there. However, Chicago makes up over half of the state´s population, and Cook County (in which Chicago is located) gave Trump just 21% of the vote there. Therefore, the governor of Illinois is currently a Democrat, as are both its US Senators and over 70% of its representatives. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the state by 17%. In 2012, Barack Obama won the state by 17%. In 2008, Obama won the state by over 25%. Illinois has supported only Democratic candidates for president since 1992.


"Illinois" is the modern spelling for the early [[French language|French]] [[Catholicism|Catholic]] [[Missionary|missionaries]] and explorers' name for the [[Illinois Confederation|Illinois]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], a name that was spelled in many different ways in the early records.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fay|first=Jim|date=11 May 2010|url=http://www.illinoisprairie.info/Eriniouaj.htm |title=Ilinois, Illini and Liniouek |access-date=1 August 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623234945/http://www.illinoisprairie.info/Eriniouaj.htm |archive-date=June 23, 2010 |publisher=The Illinois Prairie Information Page}}</ref>
=== Historically voting Republican<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=2020-06-11|title=United States presidential elections in Illinois|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_presidential_elections_in_Illinois&oldid=962013667|journal=Wikipedia|language=en}}</ref> ===
Illinois used to vote Republican. In all the presidential elections between 1856 and 1892, it supported the Republican candidate.


American scholars previously thought the name ''Illinois'' meant 'man' or 'men' in the [[Miami-Illinois language]], with the original {{lang|mia|iliniwek}} transformed via French into Illinois.<ref>{{cite book |last= Hodge |first= Frederick Webb |author-link= Frederick Webb Hodge |title= Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico, Volume 1 |year= 1911 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology |oclc= 26478613 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ze4YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA597 |page= 597|isbn= 9781404740303 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Stewart |first= George R. |author-link= George R. Stewart |title= Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States |url= https://archive.org/details/namesonlandhisto0000stew |url-access= registration |orig-year= 1945 |edition= Sentry (3rd) |year= 1967 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]]}}</ref> This etymology is not supported by the Illinois language,{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}} as the word for "man" is {{lang|mia|ireniwa}}, and plural of "man" is {{lang|mia|ireniwaki}}. The name {{lang|mia|[[Illiniwek]]}} has also been said to mean 'tribe of superior men',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.illinois.gov/facts/symbols.cfm |title=Illinois Symbols |access-date=April 20, 2006 |publisher=State of Illinois |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060415195518/http://www.illinois.gov/facts/symbols.cfm |archive-date=April 15, 2006 }}</ref> which is a [[false etymology]]. The name ''Illinois'' derives from the Miami-Illinois verb {{lang|mia|irenwe·wa}} 'he speaks the regular way'. This was taken into the [[Ojibwe language]], perhaps in the [[Ottawa dialect]], and modified into {{lang|otw|ilinwe·}} (pluralized as {{lang|otw|ilinwe·k}}). The French borrowed these forms, spelling the {{IPA|/we/}} ending as {{lang|fr|-ois}}, a [[transliteration]] of that sound in the 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 {{lang|mia|[[Inoka]]}}, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms.<ref>{{cite book |last= Callary |first= Edward |title= Place Names of Illinois |year= 2008 |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |isbn= 978-0-252-03356-8 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvHgwa-XImcC&pg=PA169 |page= 169}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last= Costa|first= David J.|date= January 2007|title= Three American Placenames: Illinois|journal= Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas Newsletter|volume= 25|issue= 4|pages= 9–12|issn= 1046-4476|url= http://myaamia.strackattack.com/OtherFiles/CostaNewsletter.pdf#page=9|access-date= May 29, 2011|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110716151840/http://myaamia.strackattack.com/OtherFiles/CostaNewsletter.pdf#page=9|archive-date= July 16, 2011|df= mdy-all}}</ref>
=== Former swing state<ref name=":0" /> ===
Illinois was a swing state, but it isn't a swing state anymore. In all the presidential elections in which it has voted, it has supported the winner 82% of the time. Out of the last 5 presidential elections, however, it has supported the winner only 40% of the time.


==History==
==History==
The most prominent tribes in Illinois were the Illinois, Miami, Winnebago, Fox and Sacs (Sauk), Kickapoo, and Pottawatomie tribes. The Illinois Native Americans were composed of five subdivisions including Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Tamaroas, Peorias, and Metchigamis.


{{Main|History of Illinois}}
Illinois became a state on December 3, 1818. Illinois was the first [[state]] to [[ratify]] the [[13th amendment|13th Amendment]] to the [[Constitution]] which helped abolish [[slavery]] in the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interestingstatefacts.com/interesting-facts-about-illinois.php|title=Interesting Facts About Illinois|publisher=Interesting State Facts.com|accessdate=2013-07-22|archive-date=2013-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926204311/http://interestingstatefacts.com/interesting-facts-about-illinois.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
=== Geologic history ===
{{Main|Geology of Illinois}}
During the early part of the [[Paleozoic Era]], the area that would one day become Illinois was submerged beneath a shallow sea and located near the Equator. Diverse marine life lived at this time, including [[trilobite]]s, [[brachiopod]]s, and [[crinoid]]s. Changing environmental conditions led to the formation of large [[Coal forest|coal swamps]] in the [[Carboniferous]].
 
Illinois was above sea level for at least part of the [[Mesozoic]], but by its end was again submerged by the [[Western Interior Seaway]]. This receded by the [[Eocene|Eocene Epoch]].
 
During the [[Pleistocene Epoch]], vast ice sheets covered much of Illinois, with only the [[Driftless Area]] remaining exposed. These [[glacier]]s carved the basin of [[Lake Michigan]] and left behind traces of ancient glacial lakes and [[moraine]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Willman|first1=Harold Bowen|last2=Atherton|first2=Elwood|last3=Buschbach|first3=T. C.|last4=Collinson|first4=Charles William|last5=Frye|first5=John Chapman|last6=Hopkins|first6=M. E.|last7=Lineback|first7=Jerry Alvin|last8=Simon|first8=Jack A.|date=1975|title=Handbook of Illinois stratigraphy|journal=Bulletin - Illinois State Geological Survey|volume=95|location=Urbana, IL|url=https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/35115}}</ref>
 
=== Pre-European ===
[[File:Upper Bluff Lake Dancing Figures plate HRoe 2012.jpg|thumb|[[Mississippian copper plate]] found at the Saddle Site in [[Union County, Illinois]]]]
 
[[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indians]] of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The [[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 era|Pre-Columbian]] [[Mississippian culture]], was located near present-day [[Collinsville, Illinois]]. They built an urban complex of more than 100 [[platform mound|platform]] and [[burial mound]]s, a {{convert|50|acre|4=0|adj=on}} [[plaza]] larger than 35 football fields,<ref name=PAUKETATCAHOKIA>{{cite book|author-link=Timothy Pauketat|last=Timothy R.|first=Pauketat|title=Cahokia : Ancient Americas Great City on the Mississippi|publisher=[[Viking Press]]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-670-02090-4|pages=23–34|quote="Cahokia was so large—covering three to five square miles—that archaeologists have yet to probe many portions of it. Its centerpiece was an open fifty-acre Grand Plaza, surrounded by packed-clay pyramids. The size of thirty-five football fields, the Grand Plaza was at the time the biggest public space ever conceived and executed north of Mexico&nbsp;... a flat public square 1,600-plus feet in length and 900-plus feet in width."}}</ref> 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 {{convert|100|ft}} high, {{convert|951|ft}} long, {{convert|836|ft}} wide, and covers {{convert|13.8|acre}}.<ref name=SKELE>{{Cite book|author=Skele, Mike|url=https://archive.org/stream/greatknobinterpr00skel#page/102/mode/2up|title=The Great Knob|journal=Studies in Illinois Archaeology|year=1988|isbn=978-0-942579-03-1|issue=4|access-date=November 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924154037/http://www.archive.org/stream/greatknobinterpr00skel#page/102/mode/2up|archive-date=September 24, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> It contains about {{convert|814000|cuyd}} of earth.<ref name=SNOW2010>{{cite book|last=Snow|first=Dean|title=Archaeology of Native North Americas|year=2010|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=Upper Saddle River, NJ|pages=201–203}}</ref> It was topped by a structure thought to have measured about {{convert|105|ft}} in length and {{convert|48|ft}} in width, covered an area {{convert|5000|sqft}}, and been as much as {{convert|50|ft}} high, making its peak {{convert|150|ft}} above the level of the plaza. The finely crafted ornaments and tools recovered by archaeologists at [[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 was truly an urban center, with clustered housing, markets, and specialists in toolmaking, hide dressing, potting, jewelry making, shell engraving, weaving and salt making.<ref>Nash, Gary B. ''Red, White and Black: The Peoples of Early North America'' Los Angeles 2015. Chapter 1, p. 6</ref>
 
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]] valley, one third of all adults died as a result of violent injuries."<ref>{{Cite book | last = Austin Alchon
| first = Suzanne | title = A pest in the land: new world epidemics in a global perspective | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YiHHnV08ebkC&pg=PA59 | publisher=University of New Mexico Press | year = 2003 | page = 59 | isbn = 978-0-8263-2871-7}}</ref> The next major power in the region was the [[Illinois Confederation]] or Illini, a political alliance.<ref>E. Hoxie, ''Encyclopedia of North American Indians'' (1996) 266–7, 506</ref> As the Illini declined during the [[Beaver Wars]] era, members of the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking [[Potawatomi people|Potawatomi]], [[Miami tribe|Miami]], [[Sac (people)|Sauk]], and other tribes including the Fox ([[Mesquakie]]), [[Ioway]], [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]], [[Mascouten]], [[Piankashaw]], [[Shawnee]], [[Wea]], and Winnebago ([[Ho-Chunk]]) came into the area from the east and north around the Great Lakes.<ref name="Nelson"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/ |title=Native Americans:American Indian Tribes of Illinois |publisher=Museum.state.il.us |date=October 2, 2002 |access-date=February 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322071318/http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/ |archive-date=March 22, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
===European exploration and settlement prior to 1800===
 
{{Main|New France|Louisiana (New France)|Canada (New France)|Illinois Country|French and Indian War|Treaty of Paris (1763)|Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Indian Reserve (1763)|American Revolutionary War|Western theater of the American Revolutionary War|Illinois County, Virginia|Treaty of Paris (1783)|Northwest Ordinance|Northwest Territory}}
[[File:Illinois 1718.jpg|thumb|Illinois in 1718, approximate modern state area highlighted, from {{lang|fr|Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi}} by [[Guillaume de L'Isle]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/lewis_clark/exploring/ch2-10.html|title=''Carte de la Louisiane et du Cours du Mississipi''. 1718|last=de L'Isle|first=Guillaume|author-link=Guillaume Delisle|year=1718|website=An Exhibition of Maps and Navigational Instruments on View|publisher=University of Virginia|access-date=January 25, 2010|location=Tracy W. McGregor Room, Alderman Library|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6a4YGK7IV?url=http://explore.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/show/lewisclark|archive-date=July 16, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]
 
French explorers [[Jacques Marquette]] and [[Louis Jolliet]] explored the [[Illinois River]] in 1673. Marquette soon after founded a mission at the [[Grand Village of the Illinois]] in [[Illinois Country]]. In 1680, French explorers under [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]] and [[Henri de Tonti]] constructed a fort at the site of present-day [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]], and in 1682, a fort atop [[Starved Rock]] in today's Starved Rock State Park. French Empire [[Canadiens]] came south to settle particularly along the Mississippi River, and Illinois was part of first [[New France]], and then of [[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, Missouri|Ste. Genevieve]] and [[St. Louis, Missouri]], to evade British rule.<ref name="Biles"/>
 
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 [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|British Province of Quebec]]. In 1778, [[George Rogers Clark]] claimed [[Illinois County]] for [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]]. In a compromise, Virginia (and other states that made various claims) ceded the area to the new United States in the 1780s and it became part of the [[Northwest Territory]], administered by the federal government and later organized as states.<ref name="Biles">{{cite book |last=Biles |first=Roger |title= Illinois: A History of the Land and its People|year= 2005|publisher=Northern Illinois University Press|location= DeKalb|isbn=978-0-87580-349-4}}</ref>
 
===19th century===
 
{{Main|Indiana Territory|Organic act#List of organic acts|Illinois Territory|Admission to the Union|List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union}}
{{See also|History of Chicago|History of Nauvoo, Illinois}}
 
====Prior to statehood====
[[File:Kaskaskia Bell 3321.jpg|thumb|right|The bell donated by King Louis XV in 1741 to the mission at Kaskaskia. It was later called the "Liberty Bell of the West", after it was rung to celebrate U.S. victory in the Revolution]]
The [[Illinois-Wabash Company]] was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The [[Illinois Territory]] was created on February 3, 1809, with its capital at [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sancohis.org/presentations/Illinois%20From%20Territory%20to%20State.htm |title=Full Remarks from Dave M |publisher=Sancohis.org |date=March 16, 2010 |access-date=February 7, 2011}}{{Dead link|date=February 2012}}</ref> The original provisions of the [[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 with no shoreline on Lake Michigan at all. However, as Indiana had successfully been granted a {{Convert|10|mi|adj=on}} 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 north of the southernmost extremity of Lake Michigan. However, the Illinois delegate, [[Nathaniel Pope]], wanted more, and lobbied to have the boundary moved further north. The final bill passed by Congress included an amendment to shift the border to 42° 30' north, which is approximately {{convert|51|mi}} north of the Indiana northern border. This shift added {{convert|8500|sqmi|4=-2}} to the state, including the [[lead mining]] region near [[Galena, Illinois|Galena]]. More importantly, it added nearly 50 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and the Chicago River. Pope and others envisioned a canal that would connect the Chicago and Illinois rivers and thus connect the Great Lakes to the Mississippi.
 
====The State of Illinois prior to the Civil War====
 
[[File:United States 1818-12-1819-03.png|thumb|In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. The southern portion of [[Illinois Territory]] was admitted as the state of Illinois, and the rest was joined to [[Michigan Territory]].]]
[[File:Springfield,Illinois-Old State Capitol.jpg|thumb|[[Old State Capitol State Historic Site|
Old State Capitol]]: Abraham Lincoln and other area legislators were instrumental in moving the state capitol to centrally located Springfield in 1839.]]
 
In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. The capital remained at Kaskaskia, headquartered in a small building rented by the state. In 1819, [[Vandalia, Illinois|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, Illinois|Springfield]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/Library/newsletter.asp?ID=137&CRLI=193 |title=Abraham Lincoln and Springfield—Abraham Lincoln's Classroom |publisher=Abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org |access-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/682r7LEev?url=http://abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/Library/newsletter.asp?ID=137&CRLI=193 |archive-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> where a [[Old State Capitol State Historic Site (Illinois)|fifth capitol]] building was constructed. A [[Illinois State Capitol|sixth capitol]] building was erected in 1867, which continues to serve as the Illinois capitol today.
 
Though it was ostensibly a "[[Slave and free states|free state]]", there was nonetheless [[History of slavery in Illinois|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",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-06-24/news/0106240357_1_illinois-egypt-logan |title=The other Illinois: How Egypt lost its clout—Chicago Tribune |publisher=Articles.chicagotribune.com |date=June 24, 2001 |access-date=April 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6a4Xzq0SL?url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-06-24/news/0106240357_1_illinois-egypt-logan |archive-date=July 16, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/may/02/backroads-tourism/ |title=Southern Illinois Backroads Tourism: In Little Egypt it means bluffs, Superman, even scuba diving " Evansville Courier & Press |publisher=Courierpress.com |access-date=April 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117082832/http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/may/02/backroads-tourism/ |archive-date=January 17, 2013 }}</ref> 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.<ref>Paul Finkelman, ''Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson'', (2001), p. 78</ref> The Illinois Constitution of 1848 was written with a provision for exclusionary laws to be passed. In 1853, [[John A. Logan]] helped pass a law to prohibit all African Americans, including [[Freedman|freedmen]], from settling in the state.<ref>James Pickett Jones, ''Black Jack: John A. Logan and Southern Illinois in the Civil War Era'' 1967 {{ISBN|0-8093-2002-9}}.</ref>
 
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: "[[Southern Illinois|Little Egypt]]", after the [[Bible|Biblical]] story of Joseph in Egypt supplying grain to his brothers.<ref>Duff, Judge Andrew D. [http://www.springhousemagazine.com/egypt2.htm Egypt—Republished, ''Springhouse Magazine''] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/6Aivv2Vx2?url=http://www.springhousemagazine.com/egypt2.htm |date=September 16, 2012 }}, accessed May 1, 2006.</ref>
 
In 1832, the [[Black Hawk War]] was fought in Illinois and present-day [[Wisconsin]] between the United States and the [[Sauk people|Sauk]], [[Meskwaki|Fox (Meskwaki)]], and [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]] Indian tribes. It represents the end of Indian resistance to white settlement in the Chicago region.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url = http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/141.html |title = Black Hawk War |encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Chicago |access-date = August 10, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120822134545/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/141.html |archive-date = August 22, 2012 |url-status = dead }}</ref> The Indians had been forced to leave their homes and move to [[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.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/blackhawk/ |title= The Black Hawk War of 1832 |author= Lewis, James |publisher= Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project |access-date= August 10, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120801011703/http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/blackhawk/ |archive-date= August 1, 2012 |url-status= dead }}</ref>
 
By 1839, the [[Latter Day Saints]] had founded a [[utopian]] city called [[Nauvoo, Illinois|Nauvoo]]. Located in [[Hancock County, Illinois|Hancock County]] along the Mississippi River, Nauvoo flourished, and soon rivaled Chicago for the position of the state's largest city. But in 1844, the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] founder [[Joseph Smith]] [[Death of 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 out of Illinois in a [[Mormon pioneers|mass exodus]] to present-day [[Utah]]; after close to six years of rapid development, Nauvoo rapidly declined afterward.
 
After it was established in 1833, Chicago gained prominence as a [[Great Lakes]] port, and then as an [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]] port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago was Illinois's largest city.<ref name="Biles"/> With the tremendous growth of mines and factories in the state in the 19th century, Illinois was the ground for the formation of [[labor unions in the United States]].
 
In 1847, after lobbying by [[Dorothea Dix|Dorothea L. Dix]], Illinois became one of the first states to establish a system of state-supported treatment of mental illness and disabilities, replacing local [[almshouse]]s. Dix came into this effort after having met J. O. King, a [[Jacksonville, Illinois]] businessman, who invited her to 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.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Norbury|first1=Frank|title=Dorothea Dix and the Founding of Illinois's First Mental Hospital|journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society|date=Spring 1999|volume=92|issue=1|pages=13–29|jstor=40193299}}</ref>
 
====Civil War and after====
 
{{Main|Illinois in the American Civil War}}
[[File:Embarkation of General McClernand's Brigade at Cairo.jpg|thumb|right|Embarkation of [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] troops from [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]] on January 10, 1862]]
 
During the [[American Civil War]], 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 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.<ref>[http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/units_num.html "Illinois Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery Units"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818150741/http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/units_num.html |date=August 18, 2018 }}, Illinois in the Civil War, Retrieved November 26, 2006</ref> The town of [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]], at the southern tip of the state at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, served as a strategically important supply base and training center for the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] army. For several months, both General [[Ulysses S. Grant|Grant]] and Admiral [[Andrew Hull Foote|Foote]] had headquarters in Cairo.
 
During the Civil War, and more so afterwards, Chicago's population skyrocketed, which increased its prominence. The [[Pullman Strike]] and [[Haymarket affair|Haymarket Riot]], in particular, greatly influenced the development of the American [[labour movement|labor movement]]. From Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, the [[Great Chicago Fire]] burned in downtown Chicago, destroying {{convert|4|sqmi|spell=in}}.<ref>Roland Tweet, ''Miss Gale's Books: The Beginnings of the Rock Island Public Library'', (Rock Island, IL: Rock Island Public Library, 1997), 15.</ref>
 
===20th century===
 
At the turn of the 20th century, Illinois had a population of nearly 5&nbsp;million. Many people from other parts of the country were attracted to the state by employment caused by the expanding industrial base. Whites were 98% of the state's population.<ref name="census">{{cite web|title=Illinois—Race and Hispanic Origin: 1800 to 1990 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/twps0056.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725044857/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/twps0056.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 25, 2008 }}</ref> Bolstered by continued [[History of immigration to the United States|immigration from southern and eastern Europe]], and by the African-American [[Great Migration (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&nbsp;million.
 
The [[Century of Progress]] [[World's fair]] was held at Chicago in 1933. Oil strikes in [[Marion County, Illinois|Marion County]] and [[Crawford County, Illinois|Crawford County]] led to a boom in 1937, and by 1939, Illinois ranked fourth in U.S. oil production. Illinois manufactured 6.1 percent of total United States military armaments produced during [[World War&nbsp;II]], ranking seventh among the 48 states.<ref>[[Whiz Kids (Department of Defense)|Peck, Merton J.]] & [[Frederic M. Scherer|Scherer, Frederic M.]] ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) [[Harvard Business School]] p.111</ref> Chicago became an ocean port with the opening of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]] in 1959. The seaway and the [[Illinois Waterway]] connected Chicago to both the Mississippi River and the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. In 1960, [[Ray Kroc]] opened the first [[McDonald's]] franchise in [[Des Plaines, Illinois|Des Plaines]] (which still exists as a museum, with a working McDonald's across the street).
 
Illinois had a prominent role in the emergence of the [[nuclear age]]. In 1942, as part of the [[Manhattan Project]], the [[Chicago Pile-1|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 Nuclear Power Plant|Dresden 1]], was dedicated near [[Morris, Illinois|Morris]]. In 1967, [[Fermilab]], a national nuclear research facility near [[Batavia, Illinois|Batavia]], opened a [[particle accelerator]], which was the world's largest for over 40 years. With eleven plants currently operating, Illinois leads all states in the amount of electricity generated from nuclear power.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.comed.com/sites/PartnersBusiness/Documents/EconomicDevelopmentFactSheet.pdf |title=ComEd and Electricity Related Messages for Economic Development |access-date=February 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708180209/https://www.comed.com/sites/PartnersBusiness/Documents/EconomicDevelopmentFactSheet.pdf |archive-date=July 8, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.comed.com/Documents/about-us/economic-development/ComEd_and_Electricity_Related_EconDev_Messages_-_January_2012.pdf |title=Home &#124; ComEd—An Exelon Company |publisher=ComEd |access-date=February 27, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914144313/https://www.comed.com/Documents/about-us/economic-development/ComEd_and_Electricity_Related_EconDev_Messages_-_January_2012.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2013 }}</ref>
 
In 1961, Illinois became the first state in the nation to adopt the recommendation of the [[American Law Institute]] and pass a comprehensive criminal code revision that repealed the law against [[Sodomy laws in the United States|sodomy]]. The code also abrogated [[common law crime]]s and established an [[age of consent]] of 18.<ref>{{cite web|last=Painter|first=George|title=The History of Sodomy Laws in the United States: Illinois|url=http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/sensibilities/illinois.htm#fn73|website=The Sensibilities of Our Forefathers|publisher=Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest|access-date=January 12, 2012|date=August 10, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515065329/http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/sensibilities/illinois.htm#fn73|archive-date=May 15, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The state's [[Illinois Constitution|fourth constitution]] was adopted in 1970, replacing the 1870 document.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hillard |first1=James |title=The Illinois Constitution: A Primer |journal=Illinois Bar Journal |date=October 2008 |volume=96 |issue=10 |page=494 |url=https://www.isba.org/ibj/2008/10/theillinoisconstitutionaprimer |access-date=November 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102094526/https://www.isba.org/ibj/2008/10/theillinoisconstitutionaprimer |archive-date=November 2, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
The first [[Farm Aid]] concert was held in [[Champaign, Illinois|Champaign]] to benefit American farmers, in 1985. The worst [[upper Mississippi River]] flood of the century, the [[Great Flood of 1993]], inundated many towns and thousands of acres of farmland.<ref name="Biles"/>
 
===21st century===
On August 28, 2017, Illinois Governor [[Bruce Rauner]] signed a bill into law that prohibited state and local police from arresting anyone solely due to their immigration status or due to federal detainers.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Bernal | first1=Rafael | title=Illinois Governor Signs Immigration, Automatic Voter Registration Measures | url=http://thehill.com/latino/348283-illinois-governor-signs-immigration-automatic-voter-registration-measures | date=August 28, 2017 | work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] | access-date=September 3, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903111831/https://thehill.com/latino/348283-illinois-governor-signs-immigration-automatic-voter-registration-measures | archive-date=September 3, 2019 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last1=Tareen | first1=Sophia | title=Governor Signs Law Limiting Illinois Police on Immigration | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/governor-signs-law-limiting-illinois-police-immigration-49472288 | date=August 28, 2017 | publisher=[[ABC News]] (from the [[Associated Press]]) | access-date=September 3, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910125132/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/governor-signs-law-limiting-illinois-police-immigration-49472288 | archive-date=September 10, 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Some fellow Republicans criticized Rauner for his action, claiming the bill made Illinois a [[sanctuary state]].<ref>{{cite web | last1=Singman | first1=Brooke | title=GOP Gov. Rauner Accused of Making Illinois a 'Sanctuary State' with New Law | url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/28/gop-gov-rauner-accused-making-illinois-sanctuary-state-with-new-law.html | date=August 28, 2017 | publisher=[[Fox News]] | access-date=September 3, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709204706/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/28/gop-gov-rauner-accused-making-illinois-sanctuary-state-with-new-law.html | archive-date=July 9, 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref>
 
==Geography==
 
{{Main|Geography of Illinois}}
{{Further|List of ecoregions in Illinois}}
 
Illinois is located in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest region]] of the United States and is one of the eight states and Ontario, Canada, in the [[Great Lakes region (North America)|Great Lakes region]] of North America.
 
===Boundaries===
 
Illinois's eastern border with [[Indiana]] consists of a north–south line at 87° 31′ 30″ west longitude in [[Lake Michigan]] at the north, to the [[Wabash River]] in the south above [[Vincennes, Indiana|Post Vincennes]]. The Wabash River continues as the eastern/southeastern border with Indiana until the Wabash enters the [[Ohio River]]. This marks the beginning of Illinois's southern border with [[Kentucky]], which runs along the northern shoreline of the Ohio River.<ref>[[Wikisource]]. [[s:Illinois Constitution of 1818|Illinois Constitution of 1818]].</ref> Most of the western border with [[Missouri]] and [[Iowa]] is the [[Mississippi River]]; Kaskaskia is an [[exclave]] of Illinois, lying west of the Mississippi and reachable only from Missouri. The state's northern border with [[Wisconsin]] is fixed at 42° 30′ north latitude. The northeastern border of Illinois lies in [[Lake Michigan]], within which Illinois shares a water boundary with the state of [[Michigan]], as well as Wisconsin and Indiana.<ref name="Nelson">{{cite book |editor=Nelson, Ronald E. |title=Illinois: Land and Life in the Prairie State|year=1978|publisher=Kendall/Hunt|location= Dubuque, Iowa|isbn=978-0-8403-1831-2}}</ref>


===Topography===
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]], was the only US president born and raised in Illinois.
 
[[File:Looking eastward at Charles Mound, the highest point in Illinois.jpg|thumb|[[Charles Mound]], the highest natural point in Illinois at 1,235 feet, is located in the [[Driftless Area]] in the northwestern part of the state.]]
 
Though Illinois lies entirely in the [[Interior Plains]], it does have some minor variation in its elevation. In extreme northwestern Illinois, the [[Driftless Area]], a region of unglaciated and therefore higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state. [[Southern Illinois]] includes the hilly areas around the [[Shawnee National Forest]].
 
[[Charles Mound]], located in the Driftless region, has the state's highest natural elevation above sea level at {{convert|1235|ft}}. Other highlands include the [[Shawnee Hills]] in the south, and there is varying topography along its rivers; the [[Illinois River]] bisects the state northeast to southwest. The floodplain on the Mississippi River from [[Alton, Illinois|Alton]] to the [[Kaskaskia River]] is known as the [[American Bottom]].
 
===Divisions===
 
[[File:Cairo Ohio River Bridge at sunset.jpg|thumb|At 279 feet above sea level,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://egsc.usgs.gov/isb//pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |title=Elevations and Distances |last=Services |first=Eastern Region Geography, Information |website=egsc.usgs.gov |access-date=November 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130122723/https://egsc.usgs.gov/isb//pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |archive-date=November 30, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the lowest elevation point in the state is located near [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]] and the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.]]
 
Illinois has three major geographical divisions. [[Northern Illinois]] is dominated by [[Chicago metropolitan area]], or Chicagoland, which is the city of Chicago and its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolis is expanding. As defined by the federal government, the Chicago metro area includes several counties in Illinois, [[Indiana]], and [[Wisconsin]], and has a population of over 9.8&nbsp;million. Chicago itself is a cosmopolitan city, densely populated, industrialized, the transportation hub of the nation, and settled by a wide variety of ethnic groups. The city of [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]], Illinois's third-largest city and center of the state's fourth largest metropolitan area, sits along Interstates [[Interstate 39|39]] and [[Interstate 90|90]] some {{convert|75|mi|km}} northwest of Chicago. The [[Quad Cities]] region, located along the [[Mississippi River]] in northern Illinois, had a population of 381,342 in 2011.
 
The midsection of Illinois is the 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 River) was originally part of the [[Military Tract of 1812]] and forms the conspicuous western bulge of the state. Agriculture, particularly [[maize|corn]] and [[soybean]]s, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently in Central Illinois. Cities include [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]]; [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]], the state capital; [[Quincy, Illinois|Quincy]]; [[Decatur, Illinois|Decatur]]; [[Bloomington-Normal, Illinois|Bloomington-Normal]]; and [[Champaign, Illinois|Champaign]]-[[Urbana, Illinois|Urbana]].<ref name="Nelson"/>
 
The third division is [[Southern Illinois]], comprising the area south of [[U.S. Route 50 in Illinois|U.S. Route 50]], including [[Southern Illinois|Little Egypt]], near the juncture of the [[Mississippi River]] and [[Ohio River]]. Southern Illinois is the site of the ancient city of [[Cahokia]], as well as the site of the first state capital at [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]], which today is separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River.<ref name="Nelson"/><ref name="Horsley">{{cite book |last=Horsley |first=A. Doyne |title=Illinois: A Geography |year=1986 |publisher=Westview Press|location= Boulder|isbn=978-0-86531-522-8 }}</ref> 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)|Illinoian Stage]], unlike most of the rest of the state), as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The Illinois suburbs of [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], such as [[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 is the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area centered on [[Carbondale, Illinois|Carbondale]] and [[Marion, Illinois|Marion]], a two-county area that is home to 123,272 residents.<ref name="Nelson"/> A portion of southeastern Illinois is part of the extended [[Evansville, Indiana]], Metro Area, locally referred to as the Tri-State with Indiana and Kentucky. Seven Illinois counties are in the area.
 
In addition to these three, largely latitudinally defined divisions, all of the region outside the Chicago Metropolitan area is often called "[[Downstate Illinois|downstate]]" Illinois. This term is flexible, but is generally meant to mean everything outside the influence of the Chicago area. Thus, some cities in ''Northern'' Illinois, such as [[DeKalb, Illinois|DeKalb]], which is west of Chicago, and [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]]—which is actually north of Chicago—are sometimes incorrectly considered to be 'downstate'.
 
===Climate===
 
{{Main|Climate of Illinois}}
{{See also|St. Louis tornado history}}
[[File:IL koppen.svg|upright=0.9|thumb|[[Köppen climate classification|Köppen climate types]] of 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 has a [[humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Dfa''), with hot, humid summers and cold winters. The southern part of the state, from about [[Carbondale, Illinois|Carbondale]] southward, has a [[humid subtropical climate]] (Koppen ''Cfa''), with more moderate winters. Average yearly precipitation for Illinois varies from just over {{convert|48|in|0}} at the southern tip to around {{convert|35|in|0}} in the northern portion of the state. Normal annual snowfall exceeds {{convert|38|in|0}} in the Chicago area, while the southern portion of the state normally receives less than {{convert|14|in|0}}.<ref name="Climate_Maps">[http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/atmos/statecli/index.htm Illinois State Climatologist Office] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207160607/http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/atmos/statecli/Mapsv2/mapsv2.htm |date=February 7, 2006 }}. Retrieved April 22, 2006.</ref> The all-time high temperature was {{convert|117|F|0}}, recorded on July 14, 1954, at [[East St. Louis, Illinois|East St. Louis]], and the all-time low temperature was {{convert|−38|F|0}}, recorded on January 31, 2019, during the [[January 2019 North American cold wave]] at a weather station near [[Mount Carroll, Illinois|Mount Carroll]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/NWSLincoln/posts/2198866976801769|title=US National Weather Service Central Illinois|website=Facebook|access-date=January 31, 2019}}</ref><ref name="SCEC">{{cite web|url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/scec/records|title=State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC)|website=National Centers for Environmental Information|publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]|access-date=April 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221174428/https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/scec/records|archive-date=February 21, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and confirmed on March 5, 2019.<ref name="SCECreport">{{cite web|url=https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/extremes/scec/reports/20190305-Illinois-Minimum-Temperature.pdf|title=Illinois State Record Minimum Temperature at Mt. Carroll|date=March 5, 2019|website=National Centers for Environmental Information|publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]|access-date=April 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608021036/https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/extremes/scec/reports/20190305-Illinois-Minimum-Temperature.pdf|archive-date=June 8, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> This followed the previous record of {{convert|−36|F|0}} recorded on January 5, 1999, near [[Congerville, Illinois|Congerville]].<ref name="SCECreport"/> Prior to the Mount Carroll record, a temperature of {{convert|−37|F|0}} was recorded on January 15, 2009, at [[Rochelle, Illinois|Rochelle]], but at a weather station not subjected to the same quality control as official records.<ref name="pjstar-lose">{{cite news|url=https://www.pjstar.com/news/20190228/congerville-about-to-lose-its-extreme-cold-state-record|title=Congerville about to lose its extreme cold state record|first=Scott|last=Hilyard|date=February 28, 2019|work=[[PJStar.com]]|location=Peoria, Illinois|access-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301080452/https://www.pjstar.com/news/20190228/congerville-about-to-lose-its-extreme-cold-state-record|archive-date=March 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Weather Underground">{{cite web|url=http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KRPJ/2009/1/15/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Rochelle&req_state=IL&req_statename=Illinois|author=Weather Underground|title=Weather History for Rochelle, IL|date=January 15, 2009|access-date=January 2, 2014|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6a4Yryd2b?url=http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KRPJ/2009/1/15/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Rochelle&req_state=IL&req_statename=Illinois|archive-date=July 16, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
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 is vulnerable to tornadoes, with an average of 35 occurring annually, which puts much of the state at around five tornadoes per {{convert|10000|sqmi|km2|-4}} annually.<ref name="Annual average number of tornadoes">"[http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/tornado/small/avgt5304.gif Annual average number of tornadoes, 1953–2004] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/682rL297W?url=http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/tornado/small/avgt5304.gif |date=May 30, 2012 }}", NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved October 24, 2006.</ref> While tornadoes are no more powerful in Illinois than other states, some of [[Tornado Alley]]'s deadliest tornadoes on record have occurred in the state. The [[Tri-State Tornado]] of 1925 killed 695 people in three states; 613 of the victims died in Illinois.<ref name="paddock_nws">{{cite web|url=http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/1925/gi_body.php|author=PAH Webmaster|title=NWS Paducah, KY: NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado Web Site—General Information|date=November 2, 2005|access-date=November 16, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002183858/http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/1925/gi_body.php|archive-date=October 2, 2006|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin: 1em auto;"
|+ style="font-size:120%;background:#E8EAFA;" | Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Illinois Cities
|-
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000; height:17px;"| City
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| January
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| February
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| March
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| April
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| May
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| June
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| July
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| August
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| September
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| October
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| November
! style="background:#e5afaa; color:#000;"| December
|-
! style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000; height:16px;"| [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]]<ref>"[http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0168 Average Weather for Cairo, IL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710114433/http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0168 |date=July 10, 2014 }}", weather.com</ref>
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 43/25
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 48/29
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 59/37
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 70/46
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 78/57
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 86/67
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 90/71
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 88/69
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 81/61
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 71/49
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 57/39
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 46/30
|-
! style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000; height:16px;"| [[Chicago]]<ref>"[http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/chicago-weather.asp Chicago Weather] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524075650/http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/chicago-weather.asp |date=May 24, 2008 }}", ustravelweather.com</ref>
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 31/16
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 36/21
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 47/31
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 59/42
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 70/52
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 81/61
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 85/65
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 83/65
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 75/57
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 64/45
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 48/34
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 36/22
|-
! style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000; height:16px;"| [[Edwardsville, Illinois|Edwardsville]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/62025?from=36hr_bottomnav_business |title=Average Weather for Edwardsville, IL—Temperature and Precipitation |publisher=Weather.com |date=January 17, 2007 |access-date=May 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516170813/http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/62025?from=36hr_bottomnav_business |archive-date=May 16, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 36/19
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 42/24
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 52/34
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 64/45
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 75/55
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 84/64
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 89/69
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 86/66
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 79/58
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 68/46
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 53/35
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 41/25
|-
! style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000; height:16px;"| [[Moline, Illinois|Moline]]<ref>"[http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/moline-weather.asp Moline Weather] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524075653/http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/moline-weather.asp |date=May 24, 2008 }}", ustravelweather.com</ref>
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 30/12
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 36/18
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 48/29
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 62/39
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 73/50
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 83/60
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 86/64
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 84/62
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 76/53
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 64/42
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 48/30
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 34/18
|-
! style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000; height:16px;"| [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]]<ref>"[http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/peoria-weather.asp Peoria Weather] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524075658/http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/peoria-weather.asp |date=May 24, 2008 }}", ustravelweather.com</ref>
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 31/14
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 37/20
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 49/30
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 62/40
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 73/51
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 82/60
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 86/65
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 84/63
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 77/54
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 64/42
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 49/31
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 36/20
|-
! style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000; height:16px;"| [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]]<ref>"[http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/rockford-weather.asp Rockford Weather] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524075706/http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/rockford-weather.asp |date=May 24, 2008 }}", ustravelweather.com</ref>
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 27/11
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 33/16
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 46/27
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 59/37
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 71/48
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 80/58
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 83/63
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 81/61
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 74/52
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 62/40
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 46/29
| style="background:#f8f3ca; color:#000;"| 32/17
|-
! style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000; height:16px;"| [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]]<ref>"[http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/springfield-weather.asp Springfield Weather] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524075711/http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-illinois/springfield-weather.asp |date=May 24, 2008 }}", ustravelweather.com</ref>
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 33/17
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 39/22
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 51/32
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 63/42
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 74/53
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 83/62
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 86/66
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 84/64
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 78/55
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 67/44
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 51/34
| style="background:#c5dfe1; color:#000;"| 38/23
|}
 
==Demographics==
 
[[File:Population Density of Illinois 2010 Wikipediamap.svg|thumb|Density map displaying the population of Illinois]]
 
{{US Census population
|1800= 2458
|1810= 12282
|1820= 55211
|1830= 157445
|1840= 476183
|1850= 851470
|1860= 1711951
|1870= 2539891
|1880= 3077871
|1890= 3826352
|1900= 4821550
|1910= 5638591
|1920= 6485280
|1930= 7630654
|1940= 7897241
|1950= 8712176
|1960= 10081158
|1970= 11113976
|1980= 11426518
|1990= 11430602
|2000= 12419293
|2010= 12830632
|2020= 12812508
|footnote=Source:{{break}}1910–2020<ref>{{cite web |title=Historical Population Change Data (1910–2020) |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange-data-text.html |website=Census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=May 1, 2021 |archive-date=April 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429012609/https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange-data-text.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
}}
 
The [[United States Census Bureau]] found that the population of Illinois was 12,812,508 in the [[2020 United States Census]], moving from the fifth-largest state to the sixth-largest state (losing out to Pennsylvania). Illinois' population slightly declined in 2020 from the [[2010 United States Census]] by just over 18,000 residents and the overall population was quite higher than recent Census estimates.<ref>{{cite news|last=Schulte|first=Sarah|title=2020 census results: Illinois loses population, but not from where you'd think|url=https://abc7chicago.com/census-2020-results-illinois-population/10554392/|access-date=12 May 2021|work=ABC7 Chicago|date=28 April 2021}}</ref>
 
Illinois is the most populous state in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest region]]. Chicago, the [[List of United States cities by population|third-most populous city in the United States]], is the center of the [[Chicago metropolitan area]] or [[Chicagoland]], as this area is nicknamed. Although Chicagoland comprises only 9% of the land area of the state, it contains 65% of the state's residents. The losses of population anticipated from the 2020 Census results do not arise from the Chicago metro area; rather the declines are from the Downstate counties.<ref name=VinickyWhere2020>{{cite news |url=https://news.wttw.com/2020/12/23/illinois-exodus-census-data-finds-people-continue-leave-state |first=Amanda |last=Vinicky |work=WTTW |date=December 23, 2020 |access-date=February 3, 2021 |title=Illinois Exodus: Census Data Finds People Continue to Leave State |quote=[Demographer] Paral says Chicago and the collar counties aren’t to blame. He says from Lake to Will to DeKalb counties are growing – not by a lot – but growing at least. Outside of the Chicago metropolitan area is largely declines.}}</ref>
 
According to the [[2010 United States Census|2010 Census]], the [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|racial composition]] of the state was:
* 71.5% White American (63.7% non-Hispanic white, 7.8% White Hispanic)
* 14.5% Black or [[African Americans|African American]]
* 0.3% [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] and [[Alaska Natives|Alaska Native]]
* 4.6% [[Asian Americans|Asian American]]
* 2.3% Multiracial American
* 6.8% some other race
 
In the same year 15.8% of the total population was of [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]] or Latino origin (they may be of any race).<ref>[http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17000.html Illinois QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401070310/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17000.html |date=April 1, 2009 }}. Quickfacts.census.gov. Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref>
 
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"
|+ '''Illinois Racial Breakdown of Population'''
|-
! Racial composition !! 1990<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/twps0056.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725044857/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/twps0056.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 25, 2008|title=Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States|date=July 25, 2008|website=Census.gov|access-date=September 4, 2017}}</ref>!! 2000<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://censusviewer.com/city/IL|title=Population of Illinois: Census 2010 and 2000 Interactive Map, Demographics, Statistics, Quick Facts}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>!! 2010<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.2010.html|title=2010 Census Data|website=Census.gov|access-date=September 4, 2017}}</ref>
|-
| [[White American|White]] || 78.3% || 73.5% || 71.5%
|-
| [[African American|Black]] || 14.8% || 15.1% || 14.5%
|-
| [[Asian American|Asian]] || 2.5% || 3.4% || 4.6%
|-
| [[Native Americans in the United States|Native]] || 0.2% || 0.2% || 0.3%
|-
| [[Native Hawaiian]] and{{break}}[[Pacific Islander|other Pacific Islander]] ||—||—||—
|-
| [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|Other race]] || 4.2% || 5.8% || 6.7%
|-
| [[Multiracial American|Two or more races]] ||—|| 1.9% || 2.3%
|}
 
===2019 American Community Survey===
{| class="cx-linter-tag"
| valign="top" |
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = '''Racial Makeup of Illinois (2019)'''<ref name=CensusACS2019 />
| label1 = White alone
| value1 = 71.37| color2=#36A
| label2 = Black alone
| value2 = 14.13| color1=#6A5
| label3 = Native American alone
| value3 = 0.26 | color3=#FF33AC
| label4 = Asian Alone
| value4 = 5.67 | color4=#1A9
| label5 = Pacific Islander Alone
| value5 = 0.04| color5=#E17720
| label6 = Some other race alone
| value6 = 5.76 | color6=#F0FF00
| label7 = Two or more races
| value7 = 2.78 | color7=#64ECDF
}}
| valign="top" |
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = '''Racial/Ethnic Makeup of Illinois excluding Hispanics from racial categories (2019)'''<ref name=CensusACS2019 />{{break}}''NH=Non-Hispanic''
| label1 = White NH
| value1 = 60.69| color2=#36A
| label2 = Black NH
| value2 = 13.88 | color1=#6A5
| label3 = Native American NH
| value3 = 0.10 | color3=#FF33AC
| label4 = Asian NH
| value4 = 5.60 | color4=#1A9
| label5 = Pacific Islander NH
| value5 = 0.02| color5=#E17720
| label6 = Other NH
| value6 = 0.17 | color6=#F0FF00
| label7 = Two or more races NH
| value7 = 2.03 | color7=#64ECDF
| label8 = Hispanic Any Race
| value8 = 17.49 | color8=#9400D3
}}
| valign="top" |
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = '''Racial Makeup of Hispanics in Illinois (2019)'''<ref name=CensusACS2019 />
| label1 = White alone
| value1 = 61.05| color2=#36A
| label2 = Black alone
| value2 = 1.40| color1=#6A5
| label3 = Native American alone
| value3 = 0.89 | color3=#FF33AC
| label4 = Asian Alone
| value4 = 0.36 | color4=#1A9
| label5 = Pacific Islander Alone
| value5 = 0.07| color5=#E17720
| label6 = Other race alone
| value6 = 31.96 | color6=#F0FF00
| label7 = Two or more races
| value7 = 4.28 | color7=#64ECDF
}}
|}
According to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Illinois's population was 71.4% [[White American|White]] (60.7% Non-Hispanic White), 5.6% [[Asian American|Asian]], 0.2% Some Other Race, 13.9% Black or [[African American]], 0.1% [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and [[Alaskan Native]], 0.1% [[Pacific Islander]] and 2.0% from [[Multiracial American|two or more races]].<ref name=CensusACS2019>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=B03002&g=0500000US17097&y=2019&tid=ACSDT1Y2019.B03002&hidePreview=true|title=B03002 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE—Illinois—2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|date=July 1, 2019 |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |access-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref> The White population continues to remain the largest racial category in Illinois as Hispanics primarily identify as White (61.1%) with others identifying as Some Other Race (32.0%), Multiracial (4.3%), Black (1.4%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (0.2%), Asian (0.1%), and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (0.1%).<ref name=CensusACS2019 /> By ethnicity, 17.5% of the total population is [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic-Latino]] (of any race) and 82.5% is Non-Hispanic (of any race). If treated as a separate category, Hispanics are the largest minority group in Illinois.<ref name=CensusACS2019 />
 
The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 83.5% in 1970<ref>{{cite web|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17000.html |title=Illinois QuickFacts |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401070310/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17000.html |archive-date=April 1, 2009 }}</ref> to 60.90% in 2018.<ref name=CensusACS2018>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=B03002&tid=ACSDT1Y2018.B03002&lastDisplayedRow=20&hidePreview=true&vintage=2018&layer=county&cid=B03002_001E&g=0400000US17|title=B03002 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE—Illinois—2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|date=July 1, 2018 |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |access-date=November 25, 2019}}</ref> {{as of|2011}}, 49.4% of Illinois's population younger than age&nbsp;1 were minorities (Note: Children born to white Hispanics or to a sole full or partial minority parent are counted as minorities).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/06/americas_under_age_1_populatio.html|title=Americans under age 1 now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot|last=Exner|first=Rich|date=June 3, 2012|work=[[The Plain Dealer]]|access-date=August 1, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714084214/http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/06/americas_under_age_1_populatio.html|archive-date=July 14, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
At the 2007 estimates from the [[United States Census Bureau|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 Canada, and 0.2% from Oceania. Of the foreign-born population, 43.7% were [[United States nationality law|naturalized U.S. citizens]], and 56.3% were not U.S. citizens.<ref name="issc">{{cite web|title=Illinois Selected Social Characteristics in the United States: 2007 |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-qr_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_DP2&-geo_id=04000US17&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false |website=2007 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |year=2007 |access-date=April 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200211183743/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-qr_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_DP2&-geo_id=04000US17&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false |archive-date=February 11, 2020 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="QF">{{cite web|title=Illinois QuickFacts |url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17000.html |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |date=February 20, 2009 |access-date=April 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401070310/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17000.html |archive-date=April 1, 2009 }}</ref>
 
According to the 2007 estimates, 21.1% of the population had [[German Americans|German]] ancestry, 13.3% had [[Irish Americans|Irish]] ancestry, 8% had [[British Americans|British]] ancestry, 7.9% had [[Polish Americans|Polish]] ancestry, 6.4% had [[Italian Americans|Italian]] ancestry, 4.6% listed themselves as [[American (word)|American]], 2.4% had [[Swedish Americans|Swedish]] ancestry, 2.2% had [[French American|French]] ancestry, other than [[Basques|Basque]], 1.6% had [[Dutch Americans|Dutch]] ancestry, and 1.4% had [[Norwegian Americans|Norwegian]] ancestry.<ref name="issc" /> Illinois also has large numbers of [[African Americans]] and Latinos (mostly [[Mexican Americans|Mexicans]] and [[Puerto Ricans in the United States|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 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 {{coord|41.278216|N|88.380238|W|display=inline}}, located in [[Grundy County, Illinois|Grundy County]], northeast of the village of [[Mazon, Illinois|Mazon]].<ref name="Nelson"/><ref name="Biles"/><ref name="Horsley"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Population and Population Centroid by State: 2000 |url=http://www.acsm.net/statecenters.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011020004313/http://acsm.net/statecenters.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 20, 2001 |publisher=American Congress on Surveying & Mapping |year=2008 |access-date=April 9, 2009 }}</ref>
 
===Birth data===
''Births do not add up, because Hispanics are counted both by ethnicity and by race.''
 
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Live Births by Single Race/Ethnicity of Mother
|-
! [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|Race]]
! 2013<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf|title=Births: Final Data for 2013|website=Cdc.gov|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162514/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf|archive-date=September 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
! 2014<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_12.pdf|title=Births: Final Data for 2014|website=Cdc.gov|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214040341/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_12.pdf|archive-date=February 14, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
! 2015<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_01.pdf|title=Births: Final Data for 2015|website=Cdc.gov|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831155911/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_01.pdf|archive-date=August 31, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
! 2016<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_01.pdf |title=Births: Final Data for 2016 |access-date=May 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603002249/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_01.pdf |archive-date=June 3, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
! 2017<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_08-508.pdf |title=Births: Final Data for 2017 |access-date=February 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201210916/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_08-508.pdf |archive-date=February 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
! 2018<ref>
{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_13-508.pdf |title=Data |website=www.cdc.gov |access-date=December 2, 2019}}</ref>
! 2019<ref>
{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-02-508.pdf |title=Data |website=www.cdc.gov |access-date=March 29, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[White Americans|White]]:
| 119,157 (75.9%)
| 119,995 (75.7%)
| 119,630 (75.6%)
| ...
| ...
| ...
| ...
|-
| [[Non-Hispanic whites|Non-Hispanic White]]
| 85,866 (54.7%)
| 86,227 (54.4%)
| 85,424 (54.0%)
| 82,318 (53.3%)
| 78,925 (52.8%)
| 77,244 (53.3%)
| 74,434 (53.1%)
|-
| [[African Americans|Black]]
| 27,692 (17.6%)
| 28,160 (17.8%)
| 28,059 (17.7%)
| 25,619 (16.6%)
| 25,685 (17.2%)
| 24,482 (16.9%)
| 23,258 (16.6%)
|-
| [[Asian Americans|Asian]]
| 9,848 (6.3%)
| 10,174 (6.4%)
| 10,222 (6.5%)
| 10,015 (6.5%)
| 9,650 (6.5%)
| 9,452 (6.5%)
| 9,169 (6.5%)
|-
| [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]]
| 234 (0.1%)
| 227 (0.1%)
| 205 (0.1%)
| 110 (0.0%)
| 133 (0.1%)
| 129 (0.1%)
| 119 (0.1%)
|-
| ''[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]]'' (of any race)
| ''33,454'' (21.3%)
| ''33,803'' (21.3%)
| ''33,902'' (21.4%)
| ''32,635'' (21.1%)
| ''31,428'' (21.0%)
| ''30,362'' (21.0%)
| ''30,097'' (21.5%)
|-
| '''Total Illinois'''
| '''156,931''' (100%)
| '''158,556''' (100%)
| '''158,116''' (100%)
| '''154,445''' (100%)
| '''149,390''' (100%)
| '''144,815''' (100%)
| '''140,128''' (100%)
|}
* Since 2016, data for births of [[White Hispanic and Latino Americans|White Hispanic]] origin are not collected, but included in one ''Hispanic'' group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
 
===Urban areas===
 
{{See also|Illinois statistical areas|List of cities in Illinois|List of towns and villages in Illinois}}
 
Chicago is the largest city in the state and the [[List of United States cities by population|third-most populous city]] in the United States, with its 2010 population of 2,695,598. The [[United States 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:<ref name="2008 est">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2008-01.xls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718103048/http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2008-01.xls |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 18, 2009 |title=Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places Over 100,000, Ranked by July&nbsp;1, 2008 Population: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 (SUB-EST2008-01) |website=2008 Population Estimates |publisher=Population Division, [[United States Census Bureau]] |date=July 1, 2009 |access-date=July 3, 2009 }}</ref> [[Aurora, Illinois|Aurora]], a Chicago [[satellite town]] that eclipsed [[Rockford, Illinois|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 suburbs. [[Joliet, Illinois|Joliet]], located in metropolitan Chicago, is the fourth-largest city in the state, with a population of 147,433. [[Naperville, Illinois|Naperville]], a suburb of Chicago, is fifth with 141,853. Naperville and Aurora share a boundary along [[Illinois Route 59]]. [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]], the state's capital, comes in as sixth-most populous with 117,352 residents. [[Peoria, Illinois|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, Illinois|Elgin]], a northwest suburb of Chicago, with a 2010 population of 108,188.
 
The most populated city in the state south of [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]] is [[Belleville, Illinois|Belleville]], with 44,478 people at the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]]. It is located in the Illinois portion of [[Greater St. Louis]] (often called the [[Metro-East]] area), which has a rapidly growing population of over 700,000.
 
Other major urban areas include the [[Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area]], which has a combined population of almost 230,000 people, the Illinois portion of the [[Quad Cities]] area with about 215,000 people, and the [[McLean County, Illinois|Bloomington-Normal]] area with a combined population of over 165,000.
 
{{Largest cities
| name = Largest cities
| country = Illinois
| stat_ref = 2019 U.S. Census Bureau Estimate<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: New York|url=https://www.biggestuscities.com/il|website=New York—2018 Populations}}</ref>
| list_by_pop =
| div_name =
| div_link = List of counties in Illinois{{!}}County
| city_1 = Chicago, Illinois{{!}}Chicago
| div_1 = Cook County, Illinois{{!}}Cook
| pop_1 = 2,693,976
| img_1 = Chicago Skyline (44713240565).jpg
| city_2 = Aurora, Illinois{{!}}Aurora
| div_2 = Kane County, Illinois{{!}}Kane
| pop_2 = 197,757
| img_2 = Downer Place, Aurora, IL.jpg
| city_3 = Naperville, Illinois{{!}}Naperville
| div_3 = DuPage County, Illinois{{!}}DuPage
| pop_3 = 148,449
| img_3 =Napes.png
| city_4 = Joliet, Illinois{{!}}Joliet
| div_4 = Will County, Illinois{{!}}Will
| pop_4 = 147,344
| img_4 = Joliet Illinois Skyline.jpg
| city_5 = Rockford, Illinois{{!}}Rockford
| div_5 = Winnebago County, Illinois{{!}}Winnebago
| pop_5 = 145,609
| img_5 =
| city_6 = Springfield, Illinois{{!}}Springfield
| div_6 = Sangamon County, Illinois{{!}}Sangamon
| pop_6 = 114,230
| img_6 =
| city_7 = Elgin, Illinois{{!}}Elgin
| div_7 = Kane County, Illinois{{!}}Kane / Cook
| pop_7 = 110,849
| img_7 =
| city_8 = Peoria, Illinois{{!}}Peoria
| div_8 = Peoria County, Illinois{{!}}Peoria
| pop_8 = 110,417
| img_8 =
| city_9 = Champaign, Illinois{{!}}Champaign
| div_9 = Champaign County, Illinois{{!}}Champaign
| pop_9 = 88,909
| img_9 =
| city_10 = Waukegan, Illinois{{!}}Waukegan
| div_10 = Lake County, Illinois{{!}}Lake
| pop_10 = 86,075
}}
 
===Languages===
 
{{Main|Languages of Illinois}}
 
The [[official language]] of Illinois is [[English language|English]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=132&ChapterID=2, |title=State Designations Act, Illinois Compiled Statutes |access-date=October 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319005854/http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=132&ChapterID=2, |archive-date=March 19, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> although between 1923 and 1969, state law gave official status to "the American language". Nearly 80% of people in Illinois speak English natively, and most of the rest speak it fluently as a second language.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf |title=Language Use in the United States: American Community Survey Reports |last1=Ryan |first1=Camille |date=August 2013 |website=Census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=March 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205101044/http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf |archive-date=February 5, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A number of dialects of [[American English]] are spoken, ranging from [[Inland Northern American English]] and [[African-American English]] around Chicago, to [[Midland American English]] in 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 language|Spanish]] is by far the most widespread, at more than 12% of the total population.<ref name=MLAData>{{cite web|url=http://www.mla.org/cgi-shl/docstudio/docs.pl?map_data_results |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619224705/http://www.mla.org/cgi-shl/docstudio/docs.pl?map_data_results |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 19, 2006 |title=Illinois |publisher=[[Modern Language Association]] |access-date=October 9, 2014 }}</ref> A sizeable number of [[Polish language|Polish]] speakers is present in the [[Chicago Metropolitan Area]]. [[Illinois Country French]] has mostly gone extinct in Illinois, although it is still celebrated in the [[French Colonial Historic District]].
 
===Religion===
 
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = Religion in Illinois (2014)<ref name="pew2014">{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/|title=Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics|work=Pew Research Center|access-date=December 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329123045/http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/|archive-date=March 29, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/Illinois/|title=Religious Landscape Study|date=May 11, 2015|publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]}}</ref>
| label1 = [[Protestantism]]
| value1 = 43
| color1 = DodgerBlue
| label2 = [[Roman Catholicism]]
| value2 = 28
| color2 = #d4213d
| label3 = [[Irreligious|No religion]]
| value3 = 22
| color3 = Honeydew
| label4 = [[Judaism]]
| value4 = 2
| color4 = Blue
| label5 = [[Islam]]
| value5 = 1
| color5 = Green
| label6 = [[Buddhism]]
| value6 = 1
| color6 = Yellow
| label7 = [[Hinduism]]
| value7 = 1
| color7 = Orange
| label8 = Other religion
| value8 = 1
| color8 = Chartreuse
| label9 = No response given/Unknown
| value9 = 1
| color9 = Black
}}
 
====Christianity====
 
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statemaster.com/red/graph/peo_rom_cat_per_of_cat-people-roman-catholicism-percentage-catholics&int=-1&id=IL |title=Roman Catholicism percentage of Catholics statistics—states compared—People data on StateMaster |publisher=Statemaster.com |date=May 15, 2012 |access-date=May 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/682rOuw8p?url=http://www.statemaster.com/red/graph/peo_rom_cat_per_of_cat-people-roman-catholicism-percentage-catholics%26int%3D-1%26id%3DIL |archive-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, taken together ''as a group'', the various Protestant denominations comprise a greater percentage of the state's population than do Catholics. In 2010 Catholics in Illinois numbered 3,648,907. The largest Protestant denominations were the [[United Methodist Church]] with 314,461, and the [[Southern Baptist Convention]], with 283,519 members. Illinois has one of the largest concentrations of [[Missouri Synod Lutherans]] in the United States.
 
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 (Latter Day Saints)|succession crisis]], which led to the separation of the Mormon movement into [[List of denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement|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 more than 55,000 adherents in Illinois today.<ref>[https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/state/illinois "Facts and Statistics"], ''[[Church News]]'', 2020. Retrieved on March 30, 2020.</ref>
 
====Other Abrahamic religious communities====
 
A significant number of adherents of other [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic faiths]] can be found in Illinois. Largely concentrated in the [[Chicago metropolitan area]], followers of the [[Muslim]], [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]], and [[Jews|Jewish]] religions all call the state home.<ref name="thearda.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/c/17/rcms2010_17031_county_family_2010.asp |title=The Association of Religion Data Archives &#124; County Membership Report |publisher=www.thearda.com |access-date=November 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112162210/http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/c/17/rcms2010_17031_county_family_2010.asp |archive-date=November 12, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Muslims constituted the largest non-Christian group, with 359,264 adherents.<ref name="www.thearda.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/17/rcms2010_17_state_adh_2010.asp |title=The Association of Religion Data Archives &#124; State Membership Report |publisher=www.thearda.com |access-date=November 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112162125/http://www.thearda.com/rcms2010/r/s/17/rcms2010_17_state_adh_2010.asp |archive-date=November 12, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Illinois has the largest concentration of Muslims by state in the country, with 2,800 Muslims per 100,000 citizens.<ref>Barooah, Jahnabi (June 27, 2012). "PHOTOS: Most And Least Muslim States In America". Huffington Post.</ref> The largest and oldest surviving [[Baháʼí House of Worship (Wilmette, Illinois)|Baháʼí House of Worship]] in the world is located in [[Wilmette, Illinois]], The Chicago area has a very large Jewish community, particularly in the suburbs of [[Skokie, Illinois|Skokie]], [[Buffalo Grove, Illinois|Buffalo Grove]], [[Highland Park, Illinois|Highland Park]], and surrounding suburbs. Former Chicago Mayor [[Rahm Emanuel]] is the Windy City's first Jewish mayor.
 
====Other religions====
 
Chicago is also home to a very large population of [[Hinduism|Hindus]], [[Sikh]]s, [[Jainism|Jains]], and [[Buddhism|Buddhists]].<ref name="thearda.com"/> The [[Baháʼí House of Worship (Wilmette, Illinois)|Baháʼí House of Worship]] in Wilmette is the center of that religion's worship in North America.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple/|title=The Baháʼí House of Worship|publisher=Baháʼís of the United States|access-date=March 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306235249/https://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple/|archive-date=March 6, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>


==Economy==
==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Illinois}}
Illinois has a diverse [[economy]]. Chicago is a major center for [[transportation]] and [[business]]. Central and northern Illinois is mostly used for [[agriculture]]. The south produces many natural resources such as [[coal]], [[timber]] and [[petroleum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eia.gov/state/state-energy-profiles.cfm?sid=IL |title=Illinois – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) |publisher=Eia.gov |date=April 19, 2012 |accessdate=April 29, 2012}}</ref>
{{See also|List of Illinois locations by per capita income}}
[[File:Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (9181618932).jpg|thumb|The [[Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago]] at the heart of Chicago's financial center]]


The dollar [[List of U.S. states by GDP (nominal)|gross state product]] for Illinois was estimated to be {{US$|909}}&nbsp;billion in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bea.gov/system/files/2020-04/qgdpstate0420.pdf |title=Gross Domestic Product by State, 4th Quarter and Annual 2019 |access-date=May 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501132003/https://www.bea.gov/system/files/2019-04/qgdpstate0519_4.pdf |archive-date=May 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The state's 2019 [[List of U.S. states by GDP per capita (nominal)|per capita gross state product]] was estimated to be around $72,000.<ref name="gdpstate">{{cite web|title=GDP by State|url=http://greyhill.com/gdp-by-state|publisher=Greyhill Advisors|access-date=September 16, 2011|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/65BTm6Yzy?url=http://greyhill.com/gross-state-product|archive-date=February 3, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Government==
Illinois was once known to be a [[swing state]] (voted for either [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] or the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]). Today, Illinois is known to be a blue state, voting for the Democratic Party. The last time Illinois voted for a Republican president was in [[United States presidential election, 1988|1988]] for [[George H.W. Bush]].


As of February 2019, the unemployment rate in Illinois reached 4.2%.<ref>{{cite news |title=Moody's sees reason for optimism over Illinois economy |url=https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg-hinz-politics/moodys-sees-reason-optimism-over-illinois-economy |access-date=February 20, 2019 |work=Crain's Chicago Business |date=February 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220122735/https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg-hinz-politics/moodys-sees-reason-optimism-over-illinois-economy |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[J. B. Pritzker]] (D) is the current [[Governor of Illinois]]. It has two senators; [[Dick Durbin]] (D) and [[Tammy Duckworth]] (D).


Illinois's [[Minimum wage in the United States|minimum wage]] will rise to $15 per hour by 2025, making it one of the highest in the nation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Petrella |first1=Dan |title=Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs law raising Illinois's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-illinois-minimum-wage-pritzker-signs-bill-20190219-story.html |access-date=February 20, 2019 |work=chicagotribune.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220041812/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-illinois-minimum-wage-pritzker-signs-bill-20190219-story.html |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Population==
Illinois has the average population of 12,419,293 people since 2010. Most of the people living in Illinois live near the city of [[Chicago]].


===Agriculture===
==People from Illinois==
{{main|Agriculture in Illinois}}
Famous Illinoisans include:
* 16th [[President (United States)|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]]
* 40th President [[Ronald Reagan]]
* 44th President [[Barack Obama]]
* Former First Lady [[Michelle Obama]]
* Former First Lady, Senator of New York, and Secretary of State [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]]
* [[Architect]] [[Frank Lloyd Wright]]
* Mayor of [[Chicago]] [[Richard M. Daley]]
* Former First Lady [[Betty Ford]]
* Actor [[Harrison Ford]]
* Movie critic [[Roger Ebert]]
* [[Animator]] [[Walt Disney]]
* Actress [[Betty White]]
* [[Social Worker]] [[Jane Addams]]
* [[Scout]] [[Wild Bill Hickok]]
* Comedian [[Jack Benny]]
* [[National Basketball Association|NBA player]] [[Dwyane Wade]]


Illinois's major agricultural outputs are [[maize|corn]], [[soybean]]s, [[Pig|hogs]], [[cattle]], [[dairy product]]s, and wheat. In most years, Illinois is either the first or second state for the highest production of soybeans, with a harvest of 427.7&nbsp;million bushels (11.64&nbsp;million [[tonne|metric tons]]) in 2008, after Iowa's production of 444.82&nbsp;million bushels (12.11&nbsp;million metric tons).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soystats.com/2009/Default-frames.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913165322/http://www.soystats.com/2009/Default-frames.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 13, 2012|title=Soybean Production by State 2008|year=2009|website=Soy Stats|publisher=The American Soybean Association|access-date=January 19, 2010}}</ref> Illinois ranks second in U.S. corn production with more than 1.5&nbsp;billion bushels produced annually.<ref name="ilcorn">{{cite web|url=http://www.ilcorn.org/internal.php?q=vprofile&id=90&date=&banner=ethanol |title=Ethanol Fact Sheet |year=2010 |publisher=Illinois Corn Growers Association |access-date=January 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723163514/http://www.ilcorn.org/internal.php?q=vprofile&id=90&date=&banner=ethanol |archive-date=July 23, 2011 }}</ref> With a production capacity of 1.5&nbsp;billion gallons per year, Illinois is a top producer of ethanol, ranking third in the United States in 2011.<ref name="eia.gov">{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=IL |title=Illinois—State Energy Profile Overview—U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) |publisher=Eia.gov |date=March 19, 2015 |access-date=February 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6a4TGsXQ6?url=http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=IL |archive-date=July 16, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Illinois is a leader in food manufacturing and meat processing.<ref name="stateil">[http://www.agr.state.il.us/about/agfacts.html Facts About Illinois Agriculture] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/6a4TmFGwB?url=http://www.agr.state.il.us/about/agfacts.html |date=July 16, 2015 }}, Illinois Department of Agriculture. Accessed online April 16, 2012</ref> Although Chicago may no longer be "[[Chicago (poem)|Hog Butcher for the World]]", the Chicago area remains a global center for [[Food manufacturers of Chicago|food manufacture and meat processing]],<ref name="stateil"/> with many plants, processing houses, and distribution facilities concentrated in the area of the former [[Union Stock Yards]].<ref>[http://www.lib.niu.edu/2006/iht1320636.html "Meatpacking in Illinois History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613074227/http://www.lib.niu.edu/2006/iht1320636.html |date=June 13, 2012 }} by Wilson J. Warren, Illinois History Teacher, 3:2, 2006. Access online April 16, 2012.</ref> Illinois also produces [[Illinois wine|wine]], and the state is home to two [[American viticultural area]]s. 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 in the mid- to late 19th century are in part responsible for the profusion of fruit orchards in that area of Illinois.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kathleen Walls |url=http://americanroads.net/agri_trails_winter2014.htm |title=Agri Trails |publisher=Americanroads.net |access-date=February 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035741/http://americanroads.net/agri_trails_winter2014.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Illinois's universities are actively researching alternative agricultural products as alternative crops.
==State symbols==


===Manufacturing===
In Illinois, school children voted to select the state [[bird]], [[state flower]], and state tree. The state bird is the [[cardinal (bird)|cardinal]]. The state flower of Illinois is the [[violet (plant)|violet]]. The state tree is the [[oak|white oak]].


Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders, boasting annual value added productivity by manufacturing of over $107&nbsp;billion in 2006. {{as of|2011}}, Illinois is ranked as the 4th-most productive manufacturing state in the country, behind California, Texas, and Ohio.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ildceo.net/NR/rdonlyres/1357C591-2810-4228-A334-E8B55EF1288D/0/Manufacturing2011.pdf |title=DCEO: Home |publisher=Ildceo.net |access-date=February 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512224938/http://www.ildceo.net/NR/rdonlyres/1357C591-2810-4228-A334-E8B55EF1288D/0/Manufacturing2011.pdf |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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&nbsp;billion), machinery manufacturing ($13.4&nbsp;billion), food manufacturing ($12.9&nbsp;billion), fabricated metal products ($11.5&nbsp;billion), transportation equipment ($7.4&nbsp;billion), plastics and rubber products ($7.0&nbsp;billion), and computer and electronic products ($6.1&nbsp;billion).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.commerce.state.il.us/NR/rdonlyres/1357C591-2810-4228-A334-E8B55EF1288D/0/Manufacturing.pdf |title=Manufacturing in Illinois |year=2009 |publisher=Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity |access-date=January 19, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929204017/http://www.commerce.state.il.us/NR/rdonlyres/1357C591-2810-4228-A334-E8B55EF1288D/0/Manufacturing.pdf |archive-date=September 29, 2011 }}</ref>
Illinois's seal has an [[eagle]] in a [[prairie]]. Across a river, behind the eagle is a rising sun. The eagle stands for the United States. The prairie reminds Illinoisans of their land. The two dates on the seal, 1818 and 1868, are the year that Illinois became a state and the year that the state seal was designed. The state flag includes the state seal.


===Services===
==Related pages==
* [[List of cities in Illinois]]
* [[List of counties in Illinois]]
* [[List of rivers of Illinois]]
* [[List of settlements in Illinois]]


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 Mercantile Exchange]], a trading exchange for global [[derivative (finance)|derivatives]], had begun its life as an agricultural [[futures exchange|futures market]]. Other important non-manufacturing industries include publishing, tourism, and energy production and distribution.
== References ==
{{reflist}}


===Investments===
{{commonscat|Illinois}}


Venture capitalists funded a total of approximately $62&nbsp;billion in the U.S. economy in 2016. Of this amount, Illinois-based companies received approximately $1.1&nbsp;billion. Similarly, in FY 2016, the federal government spent $461&nbsp;billion on contracts in the U.S. Of this amount, Illinois-based companies received approximately $8.7&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/launchdream/illinois-want-to-be-a-pioneer-in-growing-companies-jobs-and-competitiveness-f52141a9bddf|title=Illinois—Want to be a Pioneer in Growing Companies, Jobs, and Competitiveness?|last=Pradhan|first=Nitin|date=August 28, 2017|website=Medium|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905003925/https://medium.com/launchdream/illinois-want-to-be-a-pioneer-in-growing-companies-jobs-and-competitiveness-f52141a9bddf|archive-date=September 5, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Illinois}}
{{US Midwest}}
{{United States}}


===Energy===
{{authority control}}


{{See also|List of power stations in Illinois|Solar power in Illinois}}
[[Category:Illinois| ]]
 
[[Category:1818 establishments in the United States]]
Illinois is a net importer of fuels for energy, despite large coal resources and some minor oil production. Illinois exports electricity, ranking fifth among states in electricity production and seventh in electricity consumption.<ref name="finley">"[http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/maps-data-pub/publications/energy01/globalm.shtml Illinois in the Global Energy Marketplace]" {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517110354/http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/maps-data-pub/publications/energy01/globalm.shtml |date=May 17, 2008 }}, [[Robert Finley]], 2001. Illinois State Geological Survey publication.</ref>
 
====Coal====
 
The coal industry of 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 coal industry, and was a founder and owner of the [[Western Coal & Mining Company]] of Illinois. About 68% of Illinois has coal-bearing strata of the [[Pennsylvanian (geology)|Pennsylvanian]] geologic period. According to the Illinois State Geological Survey, 211&nbsp;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]].<ref>Illinois State Geological Survey. [http://www.isgs.illinois.edu/research/coal/illinois-coal.shtml Coal in Illinois] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212180840/http://www.isgs.illinois.edu/research/coal/illinois-coal.shtml |date=February 12, 2012 }} Retrieved December 4, 2008.</ref> However, this coal has a high [[sulfur]] content, which causes [[acid rain]], unless special equipment is used to reduce [[sulfur dioxide]] [[air pollution|emissions]].<ref name="Nelson"/><ref name="Biles"/><ref name="Horsley"/> Many Illinois [[Power station|power plants]] are not equipped to burn high-sulfur coal. In 1999, Illinois produced 40.4&nbsp;million tons of coal, but only 17&nbsp;million tons (42%) of Illinois coal was consumed in Illinois. Most of the coal produced in Illinois is exported to other states and countries. In 2008, Illinois exported three million tons of coal, and was projected to export nine million in 2011, as demand for energy grows in places such as China, India, and elsewhere in Asia and Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ildceo.net/NR/rdonlyres/EA15E8A9-E0BD-468A-A308-BE58E93D0C03/0/CoalInIllinois2011.pdf |title=DCEO: Home |publisher=Ildceo.net |access-date=February 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202930/http://www.ildceo.net/NR/rdonlyres/EA15E8A9-E0BD-468A-A308-BE58E93D0C03/0/CoalInIllinois2011.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> {{as of|2010}}, Illinois was ranked third in recoverable coal reserves at producing mines in the nation.<ref name="eia.gov"/> Most of the coal produced in Illinois is exported to other states, while much of the coal burned for power in Illinois (21&nbsp;million tons in 1998) is mined in the [[Powder River Basin]] of [[Wyoming]].<ref name="finley"/>
 
[[Mattoon, Illinois|Mattoon]] was chosen as the site for the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]]'s [[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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://permianbasin360.com/fulltext?nxd_id=71755 |title=Illinois Town Gives Up on Futurgen |publisher=Permianbasin360.com |date=August 12, 2010 |access-date=April 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309053603/http://permianbasin360.com/fulltext?nxd_id=71755 |archive-date=March 9, 2012 }}</ref>
 
====Petroleum====
 
Illinois is a leading refiner of petroleum in the American [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], with a combined crude oil distillation capacity of nearly {{convert|900000|oilbbl/d|m3/d}}. However, Illinois has very limited crude oil proved reserves that account for less than 1% of the U.S. total reserves. Residential heating is 81% natural gas compared to less than 1% [[heating oil]]. Illinois is ranked 14th in [[List of oil-producing states#North America|oil production]] among states, with a daily output of approximately {{convert|28000|oilbbl|m3}} in 2005.<ref name="EIA_petro">[[United States Department of Energy]]. [http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/state/il.html Petroleum Profile: Illinois] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008225316/http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/state/il.html |date=October 8, 2009 }}. Retrieved April 4, 2006.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.gov/state/state-energy-profiles.cfm?sid=IL |title=Illinois—U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) |publisher=Eia.gov |date=April 19, 2012 |access-date=April 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415181347/http://www.eia.gov/state/state-energy-profiles.cfm?sid=IL |archive-date=April 15, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
====Nuclear power====
 
{{Main|Nuclear power in the United States}}
[[File:Byron Nuclear Generating Station.jpg|thumb|[[Byron Nuclear Generating Station]] in [[Ogle County, Illinois|Ogle County]]]]
[[File:Illinois wind resource map 50m 800.jpg|thumb|Average annual wind power distribution for Illinois, {{convert|50|m|abbr=on}} height above ground (2009)]]
 
[[Nuclear power]] arguably began in Illinois with the [[Chicago Pile-1]], the world's first artificial self-sustaining [[nuclear chain reaction]] in the world's first [[nuclear reactor technology|nuclear reactor]], built on the [[University of Chicago]] campus. There are six operating [[nuclear power plant]]s in Illinois: [[Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station|Braidwood]], [[Byron Nuclear Generating Station|Byron]], [[Clinton Nuclear Generating Station|Clinton]], [[Dresden Nuclear Power Plant|Dresden]], [[LaSalle County Generating Station|LaSalle]], and [[Quad Cities Nuclear Generating Station|Quad Cities]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/nuclear/state_profiles/illinois/il.html |title=Nuclear State Profiles |publisher=Eia.gov |access-date=April 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/682rrWBhg?url=http://www.eia.gov/nuclear/state/ |archive-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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]] and [[Zion Nuclear Power Station|Zion-1 and 2]]. 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.<ref name="eia.gov"/> In 2007, 48% of Illinois's electricity was generated using nuclear power.<ref name="EIA_glance">{{cite web|url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/states/statesil.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041109144818/http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/states/statesil.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 9, 2004|title=Illinois Nuclear Industry|date=November 6, 2009|publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration|access-date=January 29, 2010}}</ref> The [[Morris Operation]] is the only de facto high-level radioactive waste storage site in the United States.
 
====Wind power====
 
{{Main|Wind power in Illinois}}
 
Illinois has seen growing interest in the use of [[wind power]] for electrical generation.<ref>"Illinois Wind". Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, [[Western Illinois University]] [http://www.illinoiswind.org/index.asp Illinoiswind.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070622022457/http://www.illinoiswind.org/index.asp |date=June 22, 2007 }}</ref> Most of 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/astate_template.asp?stateab=il |title=Illinois Wind Activities |date=October 20, 2009 |website=[[EERE]] |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |access-date=January 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209085417/http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/astate_template.asp?stateab=il |archive-date=February 9, 2010 }}</ref> These ratings are for wind turbines with {{convert|50|m|adj=on|sp=us}} hub heights; newer wind turbines are taller, enabling them to reach [[wind profile power law|stronger winds farther from the ground]]. As a result, more areas of Illinois have become prospective wind farm sites. As of September 2009, Illinois had 1116.06 [[megawatt|MW]] of installed wind power [[nameplate capacity]] with another 741.9 MW under construction.<ref name="awea_projects_illinois">{{cite web|url=http://www.awea.org/projects/Projects.aspx?s=Illinois |title=U.S. Wind Energy Projects—Illinois |date=September 30, 2009 |publisher=[[American Wind Energy Association]] |access-date=January 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105174701/http://www.awea.org/projects/Projects.aspx?s=Illinois |archive-date=January 5, 2010 }}</ref> Illinois ranked ninth among U.S. states in installed wind power capacity, and sixteenth by potential capacity.<ref name="awea_projects_illinois"/> Large [[wind farm]]s in Illinois include [[Twin Groves Wind Farm|Twin Groves]], [[Rail Splitter Wind Farm|Rail Splitter]], [[Acciona Energy|EcoGrove]], and [[Mendota Hills Wind Farm|Mendota Hills]].<ref name="awea_projects_illinois"/>
 
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.<ref>[http://environmentalalmanac.blogspot.com/2006/09/wind-power-on-illinois-horizon.html "Wind Power on the Illinois Horizon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080124113615/http://environmentalalmanac.blogspot.com/2006/09/wind-power-on-illinois-horizon.html |date=January 24, 2008 }}, Rob Kanter, September 14, 2006. University of Illinois Environmental Council.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/state_profiles/illinois.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527035341/http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/state_profiles/illinois.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 27, 2008 |title=Illinois Renewable Electricity Profile |year=2007 |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |access-date=January 15, 2010 }}</ref> Also, the [[Illinois General Assembly]] mandated in 2007 that by 2025, 25% of all electricity generated in Illinois is to come from [[renewable resource]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://centralillinoisproud.com/content/fulltext/?cid=5420 |title=Wind Farm Conference Tackles Complicated Issue |author=Olbert, Lori |date=December 13, 2007 |website=CIProud.com |publisher=[[WYZZ-TV]]/[[WMBD-TV]] |access-date=January 15, 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
 
====Biofuels====
 
Illinois is ranked second in [[maize|corn]] production among U.S. states, and Illinois corn is used to produce 40% of the [[ethanol]] consumed in the United States.<ref name="ilcorn"/> The [[Archer Daniels Midland]] corporation in [[Decatur, Illinois]], is the world's leading producer of ethanol from corn.
 
The National Corn-to-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]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://illinoisrfa.org/research/ |title=ILFRA |publisher=Illinoisrfa.org |access-date=February 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001512/http://illinoisrfa.org/research/ |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stlrcga.org/documents/corn%20to%20ethanol.pdf |title=Ready for Research |access-date=September 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006155839/http://www.stlrcga.org/documents/corn%20to%20ethanol.pdf |archive-date=October 6, 2013 }}</ref>
 
[[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]] is one of the partners in the [[Energy Biosciences Institute]] (EBI), a $500&nbsp;million biofuels research project funded by petroleum giant [[BP]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7018719 |title=BP Pledges $500 Million for Energy Biosciences Institute and Plans New Business to Exploit Research |publisher=Bp.com |date=June 14, 2006 |access-date=May 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519210908/http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7018719 |archive-date=May 19, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=2&RecNum=5690 |title=Gov. Blagojevich joins Gov. Schwarzenegger, top BP executives to celebrate launch of $500&nbsp;million biosciences energy research partnership with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, UC-Berkeley |publisher=Illinois.gov |date=February 1, 2007 |access-date=May 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526191007/http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=2&RecNum=5690 |archive-date=May 26, 2012}}</ref>
 
===Taxes===
 
Tax is collected by the [[Illinois Department of Revenue]]. State [[income tax]] is calculated by multiplying [[net income]] by a [[flat fee|flat rate]]. In 1990, that rate was set at 3%, but in 2010, the General Assembly voted for 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%.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pierog |first=Karen |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-illinois-budget-idUSTRE70A6GP20110112 |title=Illinois lawmakers pass big tax hike to aid budget |work=Reuters |date=January 12, 2011 |access-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/682rbpJUO?url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/12/us-illinois-budget-idUSTRE70A6GP20110112 |archive-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Illinois Department of Revenue. [http://www.revenue.state.il.us/Businesses/TaxInformation/Income/individual.htm Individual Income Tax] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923131952/http://www.revenue.state.il.us/Businesses/TaxInformation/Income/individual.htm |date=September 23, 2006 }}. Retrieved January 30, 2011.</ref> Illinois failed to pass a budget from 2015 to 2017, after the 736-day [[Illinois Budget Impasse|budget impasse]], a budget was passed in Illinois after lawmakers overturned Governor Bruce Rauner's veto; this budget raised the personal income rate to 4.95% and the corporate rate to 7%.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/financial-data/find-a-report/special-fiscal/consequences-of-illinois-2015-2017-budget-impasse-and-fiscal-outlook/|title=Consequences of Illinois's 2015–2016 Budget Impasse and Fiscal Outlook|last=Mendoza|first=Susana|date=September 18, 2018|website=Illinois Comptroller|access-date=1 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213161259/https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/financial-data/find-a-report/special-fiscal/consequences-of-illinois-2015-2017-budget-impasse-and-fiscal-outlook/|archive-date=December 13, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> There are two rates for state [[sales tax]]: 6.25% for general merchandise and 1% for qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances.<ref>Illinois Department of Revenue. [http://www.revenue.state.il.us/Publications/Sales/strrm/04012008/ST-25.pdf Illinois Sales Tax Reference Manual (PDF)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527192755/http://www.revenue.state.il.us/Publications/Sales/strrm/04012008/ST-25.pdf |date=May 27, 2008 }}. p133. January 1, 2006.</ref> 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, [[civil township|townships]], municipalities, [[school district]]s, and special taxation districts. The property tax in Illinois is imposed only on [[real property]].<ref name="Nelson"/><ref name="Biles"/><ref name="Horsley"/>
 
On May 1, 2019, the Illinois Senate voted to approve a [[Illinois Fair Tax|constitutional amendment]] that would have stricken language from the [[Constitution of Illinois|Illinois Constitution]] requiring a flat state income tax, in a 73–44 vote. If approved, the amendment would have allowed the state legislature to impose a graduated income tax based on annual income. The governor, [[J. B. Pritzker|J.B. Pritzker]], approved the bill on May 27, 2019. It was scheduled for a 2020 general election ballot vote<ref name="1:a">{{cite web |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/5/27/18641670/graduated-income-tax-illinois-house-constitutional-amendment-2020-ballot |title=Graduated income tax question heads to ballot as House OKs constitutional amendment |last=Sfondeles |first=Tina |date=May 27, 2019 |website=www.chicagosuntimes.com |publisher=[[Chicago Sun Times]] |access-date=May 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530232705/https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/5/27/18641670/graduated-income-tax-illinois-house-constitutional-amendment-2020-ballot |archive-date=May 30, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="1:b">{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2019/05/28/pritzkers-big-win-brady-munoz-stake-in-video-gambling-abortion-bill-fate-uncertain-440275 |title=PRITZKER's BIG WIN—BRADY, MUNOZ stake in video gambling—ABORTION BILL fate uncertain |last=Kapos |first=Shia |date=May 28, 2019 |website=www.politico.com |publisher=[[Politico]] |access-date=May 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530233349/https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2019/05/28/pritzkers-big-win-brady-munoz-stake-in-video-gambling-abortion-bill-fate-uncertain-440275 |archive-date=May 30, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> and required 60 percent voter approval to effectively amend the state constitution.<ref name="1:d">{{cite web |url=https://abc7chicago.com/politics/illinois-graduated-income-tax-plan-will-go-to-voters-bill-passes-house/5319069/ |title=Illinois graduated income tax plan will go to voters after Governor JB Pritzker's bill passes the State House |last=Wall |first=Craig |date=May 27, 2019 |website=abc7chicago.com |publisher=ABC 7 |access-date=May 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531001900/https://abc7chicago.com/politics/illinois-graduated-income-tax-plan-will-go-to-voters-bill-passes-house/5319069/ |archive-date=May 31, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The amendment was not approved by Illinoisans, with 55.1% of voters voting "No" on approval and 44.9% voting "Yes."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wheeler|first=Kayla|title=Fair Tax Amendment fails in Illinois|url=https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/politics/elections/illinois-fair-tax-amendment-2020-election/63-bd67f26f-ab08-42da-b391-6ec75ca9c5b9|access-date=2021-01-09|website=ksdk.com}}</ref>
 
As of 2017 Chicago had the highest state and local sales tax rate for a U.S. city with a populations above 200,000, at 10.250%.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Walczak |first1=Jared |title=Sales Tax Rates in Major Cities, Midyear 2017 |url=https://taxfoundation.org/sales-tax-rates-major-cities-midyear-2017/ |website=Taxfoundation.org |publisher=Tax Foundation |access-date=March 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331204403/https://taxfoundation.org/sales-tax-rates-major-cities-midyear-2017/ |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The state of Illinois has the second highest rate of real estate tax: 2.31%, which is second only to New Jersey at 2.44%.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kiernan |first1=John S |title=2019's Property Taxes by State |url=https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-property-taxes/11585/ |website=wallethub |publisher=Evolution Finance, Inc. |access-date=March 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331204633/https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-property-taxes/11585/ |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
[[Toll road]]s are a ''de facto'' user tax on the citizens and visitors to the state of Illinois. Illinois ranks seventh out of the 11 states with the most miles of toll roads, at 282.1 miles. Chicago ranks fourth in most expensive toll roads in America by the mile, with the [[Chicago Skyway]] charging 51.2 cents per mile.<ref>{{cite web |title=Most Expensive Toll Roads in the United States |url=https://ezfreightfactoring.com/blog/expensive-toll-roads-united-states |website=ezfreightfactoring.com |publisher=EZ Freight Factoring |access-date=March 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331204623/https://ezfreightfactoring.com/blog/expensive-toll-roads-united-states |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Illinois also has the 11th highest gasoline tax by state, at 37.5 cents per gallon.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stebbins |first1=Samuel |title=How much gas tax adds to cost of filling up your car in every state |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/02/05/gas-tax-state-what-costs-fill-up-your-car-across-country/38908491/ |website=usatoday |publisher=24/7 Wall Street |access-date=March 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331204623/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/02/05/gas-tax-state-what-costs-fill-up-your-car-across-country/38908491/ |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
==Culture==
===Museums===
 
{{Mainlist|List of museums in Illinois}}
 
Illinois has numerous museums; the greatest concentration of these are in Chicago. Several museums in Chicago are ranked as some of the best in the world. These include the [[Shedd Aquarium|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 (Chicago)|Museum of Science and Industry]].
 
The modern [[Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum]] in Springfield is the largest and most attended [[presidential library]] in the country. The Illinois State Museum boasts a collection of 13.5&nbsp;million objects that tell the story of 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]] in [[Chicago]]; [[Magnolia Manor (Cairo, Illinois)|Magnolia Manor]] in [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]]; [[Easley Pioneer Museum]] in [[Ipava, Illinois|Ipava]]; the [[Elihu Benjamin Washburne House|Elihu Benjamin Washburne]]; [[Ulysses S. Grant Home]]s, both in [[Galena, Illinois|Galena]]; and the Chanute Air Museum, located on the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul.
 
The Chicago metropolitan area also hosts two zoos: The [[Brookfield Zoo]], located about ten miles west of the city center in suburban [[Brookfield, Illinois|Brookfield]], contains more than 2,300 animals and covers {{convert|216|acre}}. The [[Lincoln Park Zoo]] is located in [[Lincoln Park]] on Chicago's North Side, approximately {{convert|3|mi}} north of the [[downtown Chicago|Loop]]. The zoo accounts for more than {{convert|35|acre}} of the park.
 
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Illinois Museums" heights="100px" widths="100px">
File:Vandalia-Courthouse.jpg|[[Vandalia State House State Historic Site]] in [[Vandalia, Illinois|Vandalia]]
File:460955752 a95ede20a4 o.jpg|The [[Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)|Museum of Science and Industry]] in [[Chicago]]
File:Magnolia Manor.jpg|[[Magnolia Manor (Cairo, Illinois)|Magnolia Manor]] is a [[Victorian period]] [[historic house museum]] in [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]].
File:Lincoln Home 1.jpg|[[Lincoln Home National Historic Site]] in [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]]
File:20070822 Polish Museum.JPG|The [[Polish Museum of America]] in [[Chicago]]
File:CBQ 1926 20050716 Illinois Railway Museum.jpg|A [[Railway Post Office]] preserved at the [[Illinois Railway Museum]] in [[Union, Illinois|Union]]</gallery>
 
===Music===
{{Main|Music of Illinois}}
 
Illinois is a leader in music education, having hosted the [[Midwest Clinic|Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference]] since 1946, as well being home to the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA), one of the largest professional music educator's organizations in the country. Each summer since 2004, [[Southern Illinois University Carbondale]] has played host to the Southern Illinois Music Festival, which presents dozens of performances throughout the region. Past featured artists include the [[Eroica Trio]] and violinist [[David Kim (violinist)|David Kim]].
 
[[Chicago]], in the northeast corner of the state, is a [[Music of Chicago|major center for music]]<ref>[http://www.centerstagechicago.com/music/ Centerstage Chicago] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708205635/http://www.centerstagechicago.com/music/ |date=July 8, 2008 }} Retrieved on September 18, 2008</ref> in the [[midwestern 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 (African American)|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 blues]] and "Chicago-style" [[Dixieland]] [[jazz]]. Notable blues artists included [[Muddy Waters]], [[Junior Wells]], [[Howlin' Wolf]] and both [[Sonny Boy Williamson II|Sonny Boy Williamsons]]; jazz greats included [[Nat King Cole]], [[Gene Ammons]], [[Benny Goodman]], and [[Bud Freeman]]. Chicago is also well known for its [[soul music]].
 
In the early 1930s, [[Gospel music]] began to gain popularity in Chicago due to [[Thomas A. Dorsey]]'s contributions at [[Pilgrim Baptist Church]].
 
In the 1980s and 1990s, [[Hard rock|heavy rock]], [[punk rock|punk]], and [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] also became popular in Chicago. [[Orchestra]]s in Chicago include the [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]], the [[Lyric Opera of Chicago]], and the [[Chicago Sinfonietta]].<ref>[http://www.chicagosinfonietta.org/ Chicago Sinfonietta Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120120226/http://www.chicagosinfonietta.org/ |date=January 20, 2017 }}. Retrieved on November 7, 2008</ref>
 
===Movies===
 
[[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]], who moved from [[Grosse Pointe, Michigan|Grosse Pointe]] to [[Northbrook, Illinois|Northbrook]], based many films of his in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]], and its suburbs. [[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]], [[Home Alone]], [[The Breakfast Club]], and all his films take place in the fictional Shermer, Illinois (the original name of Northbrook was Shermerville, and Hughes's High School, [[Glenbrook North High School]], is on Shermer Road). Most locations in his films include Glenbrook North, the former [[Maine North High School]], the [[Ben Rose House]] in Highland Park, and the famous Home Alone house in [[Winnetka, Illinois]].
 
===Sports===
 
{{Mainlist|List of professional sports teams in Illinois}}
[[File:Soldier field 2006.jpg|right|thumb|[[Soldier Field]], Chicago]]
 
====Major league sports====
 
As one of the United States' major metropolises, all [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|major sports leagues]] have teams headquartered in Chicago.
* Two [[Major League Baseball]] teams are located in the state. The [[Chicago Cubs]] of the [[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]] since [[1908 World Series|1908]]. However, this ended in 2016 when the Cubs finally won their first world series in 108 years.<ref>{{cite web |author=Mark McGuire Commentary |url=http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Long-look-at-Top-10-title-droughts-558915.php |title=Long look at Top 10 title droughts |publisher=Times Union |date=June 12, 2010 |access-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220080756/http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Long-look-at-Top-10-title-droughts-558915.php |archive-date=February 20, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/404001-longest-playoff-droughts-in-the-major-sports |title=The Longest Running Title Droughts in Sports |website=Bleacher Report |date=June 10, 2010 |access-date=February 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708013740/http://bleacherreport.com/articles/404001-longest-playoff-droughts-in-the-major-sports |archive-date=July 8, 2011 }}</ref> That drought finally came to an end when the Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in seven games to win the 2016 World Series. The [[Chicago White Sox]] of the [[American League]] won the [[World Series]] in [[2005 World Series|2005]], their first since [[1917 World Series|1917]]. They play on the city's south side at [[Guaranteed Rate Field]].
* The [[Chicago Bears]] football team has won nine total [[List of NFL champions|NFL Championships]], the last occurring in [[Super Bowl&nbsp;XX]] on January 26, 1986.
* The [[Chicago Bulls]] of the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] is one of the most recognized [[basketball|basketball teams]] in the world, largely as a result of the efforts of [[Michael Jordan]], who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s.
* The [[Chicago Blackhawks]] of the [[National Hockey League|NHL]] began playing in [[1926–27 NHL season|1926]], and became a member of the [[Original Six]] once the NHL dropped to that number of teams during World War&nbsp;II. The Blackhawks have won six [[Stanley Cup]]s, most recently in [[2014–15 NHL season|2015]].
* The [[Chicago Fire Soccer Club|Chicago Fire F.C.]] is a member of [[Major League Soccer|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 Cup]]s in that timespan. The team played in [[Bridgeview, Illinois|Bridgeview]], adjacent to Chicago from 2006 to 2019. The team now plays at Soldier Field in Chicago.
 
====Other top-level professional sports====
 
* The [[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 Sky]] have played in the [[Women's National Basketball Association]], the sister league of the NBA, since 2006.
 
====Minor league sports====
 
Many [[minor league]] teams also call Illinois their home. They include:
* The [[Bloomington Edge]] of the [[Indoor Football League]]
* The [[Bloomington Flex]] of the [[Midwest Professional Basketball Association]]
* The [[Chicago Bandits]] of the [[National Pro Fastpitch|NPF]], a female softball league; have won four league titles, most recently in 2016
* The [[Chicago Red Stars]] of the [[National Women's Soccer League|NWSL]], previously of Women's Professional Soccer League (WPS) and Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chicagoredstars.com/history/ |title=Chicago Red Stars History—Chicago Red Stars |publisher=Chicagoredstars.com |access-date=February 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223210951/http://chicagoredstars.com/history/ |archive-date=February 23, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The [[Chicago Wolves]] are an [[American Hockey League|AHL]] team playing in the suburb of [[Rosemont, Illinois|Rosemont]]
* The [[Gateway Grizzlies]] of the [[Frontier League]] in [[Sauget, Illinois]]
* The [[Kane County Cougars]] of the [[Midwest League]]
* The [[Normal CornBelters]] of the [[Frontier League]]
* The [[Joliet Slammers]] of the [[Frontier League]]
* The [[Peoria Chiefs]] of the [[Midwest League]]
* The [[Peoria Rivermen (SPHL)|Peoria Rivermen]] are an [[Southern Professional Hockey League|SPHL]] team
* The [[Rockford Aviators]] of the [[Frontier League]]
* The [[Rockford IceHogs]] are an [[American Hockey League|AHL]] team
* The [[Schaumburg Boomers]] of the [[Frontier League]]
* The [[Southern Illinois Miners]] based out of [[Marion, Illinois|Marion]] in the [[Frontier League]]
* The [[Windy City Bulls]], playing in the Chicago suburb of [[Hoffman Estates, Illinois|Hoffman Estates]], of the [[NBA G League]]
 
====College sports====
 
The state features 13 athletic programs that compete in [[NCAA Division&nbsp;I]], the highest level of U.S. college sports.
 
The two most prominent are the [[Illinois Fighting Illini]] and [[Northwestern Wildcats]], both members of the [[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 Game]]s, 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 Huskies]] from DeKalb, Illinois compete in the [[Mid-American Conference]] winning four conference championships and earning a bid in the [[Orange Bowl]] along with producing Heisman candidate [[Jordan Lynch]] at quarterback. The Huskies are the state's only other team competing in the [[NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision|Football Bowl Subdivision]], the top level of NCAA football.
 
Four schools have football programs that compete in the second level of Division&nbsp;I football, the [[Football Championship Subdivision]]. The [[Illinois State Redbirds]] (Normal, adjacent to Bloomington) and [[Southern Illinois Salukis]] (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 Leathernecks]] (Macomb) are full members of the [[Summit League]], which does not sponsor football, and also compete in the MVFC. The [[Eastern Illinois Panthers]] (Charleston) are members of the [[Ohio Valley Conference]] (OVC).
 
The city of Chicago is home to four Division&nbsp;I programs that do not sponsor football. The [[DePaul Blue Demons]], with main campuses in 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 State Cougars]], from the city's south side, compete in the [[Western Athletic Conference]].
 
Finally, two non-football Division&nbsp;I programs are located downstate. The [[Bradley Braves]] (Peoria) are MVC members, and the [[SIU Edwardsville Cougars]] (in the Metro East region across the Mississippi River from St. Louis) compete in the OVC.
 
====Former Chicago sports franchises====
=====Folded teams=====
 
The city was formerly home to several other teams that either failed to survive or belonged to leagues that folded.
* The [[Chicago Blitz]], [[United States Football League]] 1983–1984
* The [[Chicago Sting]], [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]] 1975–1984 and [[Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992)|Major Indoor Soccer League]]
* The [[Chicago Cougars]], [[World Hockey Association]] 1972–1975
* The Chicago Rockers, [[Continental Basketball Association]]
* The [[Las Vegas Rattlers|Chicago Skyliners]], [[American Basketball Association (2000–present)|American Basketball Association]] 2000–01
* The [[Chicago Bruisers]], [[Arena Football League (1987–2008)|Arena Football League]] 1987–1989
* The [[Chicago Power]], [[National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001)|National Professional Soccer League 1984–2001]]
* The [[Chicago Blaze (basketball)|Chicago Blaze]], [[National Women's Basketball League]]
* The [[Rochester Rattlers|Chicago Machine]], [[Major League Lacrosse]]
* The [[Chicago Whales]] of the Federal Baseball League, a rival league to Major League Baseball from 1914 to 1916
* The [[Chicago American Giants]] of the [[Negro league baseball|Negro baseball league]], 1910–1952
* The [[Chicago Bruins]] of the [[National Basketball League (United States)|National Basketball League]], 1939–1942
* The [[Chicago Studebaker Flyers]] of the [[National Basketball League (United States)|NBL]], 1942–43
* The [[Chicago American Gears]] of the NBL, 1944–1947
* The [[Chicago Stags]] of the [[Basketball Association of America]], 1946–1950
* The [[Chicago Majors]] of the American Basketball League, 1961–1963
* The [[Chicago Express]] of the [[ECHL]]
* The [[Chicago Enforcers]] of the [[XFL (2001)|XFL]] pro football league
* The [[Chicago Fire (WFL)|Chicago Fire]], [[World Football League]] 1974
* The [[Chicago Winds]], [[World Football League]] 1975
* The [[Chicago Hustle]], [[Women's Professional Basketball League]] 1978–1981
* The [[Chicago Mustangs (1967–68)|Chicago Mustangs]], [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]] 1966–1967
* The [[Chicago Rush]], [[Arena Football League]] 2001–2013
* The [[Chicago Storm (professional softball team)|Chicago Storm]], [[men's professional softball leagues|American Profesional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL)]], 1977-1978
* The [[Chicago Nationwide Advertising (professional softball team)|Chicago Nationwide Advertising]], [[men's professional softball leagues|North American Softball League (NASL)]], 1980
 
=====Relocated teams=====
 
The NFL's [[Arizona Cardinals]], who currently play in the [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] suburb of [[Glendale, Arizona]], played in Chicago as the [[History of the Chicago Cardinals|Chicago Cardinals]], until moving to [[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]] after the 1959 season. An NBA expansion team known as the [[Chicago Packers]] in 1961–1962, and as the [[Chicago Zephyrs]] the following year, moved to [[Baltimore]] after the 1962–1963 season. The franchise is now known as the [[Washington Wizards]].
 
====Professional sports teams outside Chicago====
 
The [[Peoria Chiefs]] and [[Kane County Cougars]] are minor league baseball teams affiliated with MLB. The [[Schaumburg Boomers]] and [[Lake County Fielders]] are members of the [[North American League (baseball)|North American League]], and the [[Southern Illinois Miners]], [[Gateway Grizzlies]], [[Joliet Slammers]], [[Windy City ThunderBolts]], and [[Normal CornBelters]] belong to the [[Frontier League]].
 
In addition to the Chicago Wolves, the AHL also has the [[Rockford IceHogs]] serving as the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. The second incarnation of the [[Peoria Rivermen (SPHL)|Peoria Rivermen]] plays in the [[Southern Professional Hockey League|SPHL]].
 
====Motor racing====
 
[[Motor racing]] oval tracks at the [[Chicagoland Speedway]] in [[Joliet, Illinois|Joliet]], the [[Chicago Motor Speedway]] in [[Cicero, Illinois|Cicero]] and the [[Gateway International Raceway]] in [[Madison, Illinois|Madison]], near St. Louis, have hosted [[NASCAR]], [[Champ Car|CART]], and [[Indy Racing League|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]] in [[South Beloit, Illinois|South Beloit]] and the former [[Meadowdale International Raceway]] in [[Carpentersville, Illinois|Carpentersville]]. Illinois also has several [[Short track motor racing|short tracks]] and [[dragstrip]]s. The dragstrip at Gateway International Raceway and the [[Route 66 Raceway]], which sits on the same property as the Chicagoland Speedway, both host [[NHRA]] drag races.
 
====Golf====
 
Illinois features several golf courses, such as [[Olympia Fields Country Club|Olympia Fields]], [[Medinah Country Club|Medinah]], [[Midlothian Country Club|Midlothian]], [[Cog Hill Golf & Country Club|Cog Hill]], and [[Conway Farms Golf Club|Conway Farms]], which have often hosted the [[BMW Championship (PGA Tour)|BMW Championship]], [[Western Open]], and [[Women's Western Open]].
 
Also, the state has hosted 13 editions of the [[U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Open]] (latest at Olympia Fields in 2003), six editions of the [[PGA Championship]] (latest at Medinah in 2006), three editions of the [[U.S. Women's Open]] (latest at The Merit Club), the [[2009 Solheim Cup]] (at Rich Harvest Farms), and the [[2012 Ryder Cup]] (at Medinah).
 
The [[John Deere Classic]] is a regular [[PGA Tour]] event played in the Quad Cities since 1971, whereas the [[Encompass Championship]] is a [[Champions Tour]] event since 2013. Previously, the [[LPGA State Farm Classic]] was an [[LPGA Tour]] event from 1976 to 2011.
 
==Parks and recreation==
{{Mainlist|List of protected areas of Illinois}}
 
The [[Illinois state parks]] system began in 1908 with what is now [[Fort Massac]] State Park, becoming the first park in a system encompassing more than 60 parks and about the same number of recreational and wildlife areas.
 
Areas under the protection of the [[National Park Service]] include: the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal|Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor]] near [[Lockport, Illinois|Lockport]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Illinois & Michigan Canal |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=July 15, 2008 |url=http://www.nps.gov/ilmi |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726132500/http://www.nps.gov/ilmi |archive-date=July 26, 2008 }}</ref> the [[Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail]], the [[Lincoln Home National Historic Site]] in Springfield, the [[Mormon Trail|Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail]], the [[Trail of Tears|Trail of Tears National Historic Trail]], the [[American Discovery Trail]],<ref>{{cite web|title = Illinois|publisher = National Park Service|access-date = July 15, 2008|url = http://www.nps.gov/state/il|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080705121254/http://www.nps.gov/state/il/|archive-date = July 5, 2008|url-status = live}}</ref> and the [[Pullman National Monument]]. The federal government also manages the [[Shawnee National Forest]] and the [[Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie]].


==Law and politics==


{{Main|Law of Illinois|Politics of Illinois}}
{{US-geo-stub}}
 
[[File:IllinoisCapitol2018.jpg|thumb|The [[Illinois State Capitol]] in [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]]]]
[[File:Illinois House of Representatives.jpg|thumb|[[Illinois House of Representatives]]]]
 
===State government===
 
{{Main|Government 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 General Assembly. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court and lower courts.
 
The [[Illinois General Assembly]] is the state legislature, composed of the 118-member [[Illinois House of Representatives]] and the 59-member [[Illinois Senate]]. The members of the General Assembly are elected at the beginning of each even-numbered year. The ''[[Illinois Compiled Statutes]]'' (ILCS) are the [[codification (law)|codified]] statutes of a general and permanent nature.<ref name="survey">{{cite book|title=Illinois Criminal Law: A Survey of Crimes and Defenses|first1=John F.|last1=Decker|first2=Christopher|last2=Kopacz|year=2012|edition=5th|publisher=[[LexisNexis]]|isbn=978-0-7698-5284-3|url={{Google books|l2I_8OvYAVYC|page=PT24|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|at=§ 1.01}}</ref><ref name="tapping">{{cite book|title=Tapping State Government Information Sources|page=126|first1=Lori L.|last1=Smith|first2=Daniel C.|last2=Barkley|first3=Daniel C.|last3=Cornwall|first4=Eric W.|last4=Johnson|first5=J. Louise|last5=Malcomb|year=2003|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|isbn=978-1-57356-387-1|lccn=2002044846|url={{Google books|4zo-J7chfmMC|page=PA126|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref>
 
The executive branch is composed of six elected officers and their offices as well as numerous other departments.<ref name=Lind2012ch5/> The six elected officers are:<ref name=Lind2012ch5/> [[Governor of Illinois|Governor]], [[Lieutenant Governor of Illinois|Lieutenant Governor]], [[Illinois Attorney General|Attorney General]], [[Illinois Secretary of State|Secretary of State]], [[Illinois Comptroller|Comptroller]], and [[Illinois Treasurer|Treasurer]]. The government of Illinois has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions, but the so-called code departments provide most of the state's services.<ref name=Lind2012ch5>{{cite book|title=Governing Illinois: Your Connection to State and Local Government|chapter=The Governor and the Executive Branch|pages=78–79|first=Judy Lee|last=Uphoff|editor1-first=Nancy S.|editor1-last=Lind|editor2-first=Erik|editor2-last=Rankin|edition=4th|publisher=Center Publications, Center for State Policy and Leadership, [[University of Illinois Springfield]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-938943-28-0|chapter-url=http://illinoisissues.uis.edu/images/Chapter5Draft.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622010608/http://illinoisissues.uis.edu/images/Chapter5Draft.pdf|archive-date=June 22, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{ILCS|20|5}}</ref>
 
The [[Judiciary of Illinois]] is the unified court system of Illinois. It consists of the [[Supreme Court of Illinois|Supreme Court]], [[Illinois Appellate Court|Appellate Court]], and [[Illinois Circuit Courts|Circuit Courts]]. The Supreme Court oversees the administration of the court system.
 
The [[administrative divisions of Illinois]] are counties, townships, precincts, cities, towns, villages, and special-purpose districts.<ref>{{citation|title=Individual State Descriptions: 2007|series=2007 Census of Governments|date=November 2012|pages=89–97|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|url=http://www2.census.gov/govs/cog/isd_book.pdf|ref={{harvid|Census|2007}}|access-date=March 11, 2014|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6a4Scn6bB?url=http://www2.census.gov/govs/cog/isd_book.pdf|archive-date=July 16, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The basic subdivision of Illinois are the 102 counties.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=89}} Eighty-five of the 102 counties are in turn divided into townships and precincts.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=89}}<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ilsos.gov/isa/localgovnameindexsrch.jsp| title = Name Index to Illinois Local Governments| author = Illinois Regional Archives Depository System| website = Illinois State Archives| publisher = [[Illinois Secretary of State]]| access-date = November 11, 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131110230747/http://www.ilsos.gov/isa/localgovnameindexsrch.jsp| archive-date = November 10, 2013| url-status = live}}</ref> Municipal governments are the cities, villages, and incorporated towns.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=89}} Some localities possess ''[[home rule]]'', which allows them to govern themselves to a certain extent.<ref>{{cite book|title=Illinois Politics & Government: The Expanding Metropolitan Frontier|first1=Samuel Kimball |last1=Gove|first2=James Dunlap|last2=Nowlan|year=1996|series=Politics and Governments of the American States|pages=155–156|publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|isbn=978-0-8032-7014-5|lccn=95046017|location=Lincoln|url={{Google books|9JFP49qn_wUC|page=PA156|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref>
 
===Party balance===
 
Illinois is a [[Red states and blue states|Democratic stronghold]].<ref>{{cite web |last=McClelland |first=Edward |url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Illinois-The-Most-Democratic-State-126772408.html |title=Illinois: The Most Democratic State |publisher=[[NBC Chicago]] |date=August 4, 2011 |access-date=December 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313040549/http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Illinois-The-Most-Democratic-State-126772408.html |archive-date=March 13, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Historically, Illinois was a political [[swing state]], with near-parity existing between the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] parties. However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has gained ground, and Illinois has come to be seen as a solid [[Red states and blue states|"blue" state]] in presidential campaigns.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0716/p01s01-uspo.html |title=Suburb shift turns state blue / The Christian Science Monitor |publisher=CSMonitor.com |date=July 16, 2004 |access-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6a4T8oxp5?url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0716/p01s01-uspo.html |archive-date=July 16, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-124280593.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827023641/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-124280593.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 27, 2011 |title=Chicgao's [sic] dominance puts Illinois solidly in 'blue-state' America.—Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)|publisher=Highbeam.com |date=November 8, 2004 |access-date=February 7, 2011}}</ref> Votes from Chicago and most of Cook County have long been strongly Democratic. However, the "[[collar counties]]" (the suburbs surrounding Chicago's [[Cook County, Illinois]]), can be seen as moderate voting districts.<ref>{{cite book |title=Governor Richard Ogilvie: in the interest of the state |last=Pensoneau |first=Taylor |year=1997 |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=978-0-8093-2148-3 |page=314 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxNGKsylQXUC&q=kane%20dupage%20lake%20cook%20democratic&pg=PA80 |access-date=September 23, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Patchwork Nation: Sectionalism and Political Change in American Politics |last=Gimpel |first=James G. |author2=Jason E. Schuknecht |year=2004 |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |isbn=978-0-472-03030-9 |page=488 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxQXjjzwrzEC&q=%22collar+counties%22+hispanic+democratic&pg=PA359 |access-date=September 23, 2009}}</ref> College towns like Carbondale, Champaign, and Normal also lean Democratic.
 
[[File:J. B. Pritzker (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Governor [[J. B. Pritzker]] (D)]]
 
Republicans continue to prevail in the rural areas of northern and central Illinois, as well as southern Illinois outside of [[East St. Louis, Illinois|East St. Louis]]. From [[1920 United States presidential election|1920]] until [[1972 United States presidential election|1972]], Illinois was carried by the victor of each of these 14 presidential elections.<ref>[http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/smartpolitics/2011/02/meet_the_new_bellwether_states.php Meet the New Bellwether States: Ohio and Nevada—Smart Politics] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/6a4T4jmzS?url=http://editions.lib.umn.edu/smartpolitics/2011/02/17/meet-the-new-bellwether-states/ |date=July 16, 2015 }}. Blog.lib.umn.edu. Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref> In fact, the state was long seen as a national bellwether,<ref>[http://www.lib.niu.edu/1990/ii900209.html Illinois as a bellwether: So what?] {{Webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/6a31uNYeT?url=http://www.lib.niu.edu/1990/ii900209.html |date=July 15, 2015 }}. Lib.niu.edu. Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref> supporting the winner in every election in the 20th century, except for [[1916 United States presidential election|1916]] and [[1976 United States presidential election in Illinois|1976]]. By contrast, Illinois has trended more toward the Democratic party, and has voted for their presidential candidates in the last six elections; in [[2000 United States presidential election in Illinois|2000]], [[George W. Bush]] became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying either Illinois or [[Vermont]]. Local politician and Chicago resident [[Barack Obama]] easily won the state's 21 electoral votes in [[2008 United States presidential election in Illinois|2008]], with 61.9% of the vote. In 2010, incumbent governor [[Pat Quinn (politician)|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 again, with 58% to Republican candidate [[Mitt Romney]]'s 41%. In 2014, Republican [[Bruce Rauner]] defeated Governor Quinn 50% to 46% to become Illinois's first Republican governor in 12 years after being sworn in on January 12, 2015, while Democratic senator [[Dick Durbin]] was re-elected with 53% of the vote. In 2016, [[Hillary Clinton]] carried Illinois with 55% of the vote, and [[Tammy Duckworth]] defeated incumbent Mark Kirk 54% to 40%. [[George W. Bush]] and [[Donald Trump]] are the only [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] presidential candidates to win without carrying either Illinois or [[Vermont]]. In [[2018 Illinois gubernatorial election|2018]], Democrat [[J. B. Pritzker|JB Pritzker]] defeated the incumbent Bruce Rauner for the governorship with 54% of the vote.
 
===History of corruption===
 
{{Main|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 II|Adlai Stevenson]] and [[James R. Thompson]]. In 2006, former governor [[George Ryan]] was convicted of racketeering and bribery, leading to a six-and-a-half-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]] to the highest bidder. Subsequently, on December 7, 2011, [[Rod Blagojevich]] was sentenced to 14 years in prison for those charges, as well as perjury while testifying during the case, totaling 18 convictions. Blagojevich was impeached and convicted by the legislature, resulting in his removal from office. In the late 20th century, Congressman [[Dan Rostenkowski]] was imprisoned for mail fraud; former governor and federal judge [[Otto Kerner, Jr.]] was imprisoned for bribery; Secretary of State [[Paul Powell (politician)|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]] was found to have defrauded the state of a million dollars.<ref name="Biles"/><ref name="Horsley"/><ref>{{cite book |title= Grafters and Goo Goos: corruption and reform in Chicago, 1833–2003|last= Merriner|first= James L.|year= 2004|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|location= Carbondale|isbn= 978-0-8093-2571-9|oclc= 52720998}}</ref>
 
===U.S. presidential elections===
 
{{Main|United States presidential elections in Illinois}}
 
Illinois has shown a strong presence in presidential elections. Three presidents have claimed Illinois as their political base when running for president: [[Abraham Lincoln]], [[Ulysses S. Grant]], and most recently [[Barack Obama]]. Lincoln was born in [[Kentucky]], but he moved to Illinois at age 21. He served in the [[Illinois General Assembly|General Assembly]] and represented the [[Illinois's 7th congressional district|7th congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] before his election to the presidency in 1860. [[Ulysses S. Grant]] was born in [[Ohio]] and had a military career that precluded settling down, but on the eve of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and approaching middle age, he moved to Illinois and thus utilized the state as his home and political base when running for president. [[Barack Obama]] was born in [[Hawaii]] and made Illinois his home after graduating from [[law school]], and later represented Illinois in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]]. He then became president in 2008, running as a candidate from his Illinois base.
 
[[Ronald Reagan]] was born in Illinois, in the city of [[Tampico, Illinois|Tampico]], raised in [[Dixon, Illinois]], and educated at [[Eureka College]], outside [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]]. Reagan later moved to [[California]] during his young adulthood. He then became an actor, and later became [[Governor of California|California's Governor]] before being elected president.
 
[[Hillary Clinton]] was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and became the first woman to represent a major political party in the general election of the U.S. presidency. Clinton ran from a platform based in [[New York (state)|New York State]].
 
===African-American U.S. senators===
 
[[List of African-American United States Senators|Nine African-Americans]] have served as members of the [[United States Senate]]. Of which three have represented Illinois, the most of any single state: [[Carol Moseley Braun|Carol Moseley-Braun]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/M/MOSELEY-BRAUN,-Carol-(M001025)/|title=Moseley Braun, Carol|website=History, Art & Archives|publisher=United States House of Representatives|access-date=October 6, 2020}}</ref> [[Barack Obama]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_and_teasers/Photo_Exhibit_African_American_Senators.htm |title=U.S. Senate: Art & History Home |publisher=Senate.gov |access-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702035451/https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_and_teasers/Photo_Exhibit_African_American_Senators.htm |archive-date=July 2, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.
 
===Political families===
 
Three families from Illinois have played particularly prominent roles in the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], gaining both statewide and national fame.
 
====Stevenson====
 
The [[Stevenson family]], initially rooted in central Illinois and later based in the Chicago metropolitan area, has provided four generations of Illinois officeholders.
* [[Adlai Stevenson I]] (1835–1914) was a Vice President of the United States, as well as a [[Congressman]]
* [[Lewis Stevenson (politician)|Lewis Stevenson]] (1868–1929), son of Adlai, served as [[Illinois Secretary of State]].
* [[Adlai Stevenson II]] (1900–1965), son of Lewis, served as [[Governor of Illinois]] and as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; he was also the Democratic party's presidential nominee in [[1952 United States presidential election|1952]] and [[1956 United States presidential election|1956]], losing both elections to [[Dwight Eisenhower]].
* [[Adlai Stevenson III]] (1930–), son of Adlai II, served ten years as a [[United States Senator]].
 
====Daley====
 
The [[Daley family]]'s powerbase was in Chicago.
* [[Richard J. Daley]] (1902–1976) served as [[Mayor of Chicago]] from 1955 to his death.
* [[Richard M. Daley]] (1942–), son of Richard J, was Chicago's longest-serving mayor, in office from 1989 to 2011.
* [[William M. Daley]] (1948–), another son of Richard J, is a former [[White House Chief of Staff]] and has served in a variety of appointed positions.
 
====Pritzker====
 
The [[Pritzker family]] is based in Chicago and have played important roles in both the private and the public sectors.
* [[Jay Pritzker]] (1922–1999), co-founder of [[Hyatt Hotel]] based in Chicago.
* [[Penny Pritzker]] (born 1959), 38th [[United States Secretary of Commerce]] under President [[Barack Obama]].
* [[J.B. Pritzker]] (born 1965), current and 43rd [[governor of Illinois]] and co-founder of the Pritzker Group.
 
==Education==
===Illinois State Board of education===
 
{{Main|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 district]]s operate individual public schools, but the ISBE audits performance of public schools with the [[Illinois School Report Card]]. The ISBE also makes recommendations to state leaders concerning education spending and policies.
 
===Primary and secondary schools===
 
{{See also|List of school districts in Illinois|List of high schools in Illinois}}
 
Education is compulsory for ages 7–17 in Illinois. Schools are commonly, but not exclusively, divided into three tiers of primary and secondary education: elementary school, [[middle school]] or [[Middle school|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===
{{Mainlist|List of colleges and universities in Illinois}}
 
{{Multiple image|perrow = 1|total_width = 230
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Using the criterion established by [[the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching]], there are eleven "National Universities" in the state.
 
The [[University of 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 five graduate business schools in the country and top ten globally. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is often ranked among the best engineering schools in the world and in United States.
 
{{As of|2010|8|19}}, six of these rank in the "first tier" among the top 500 National Universities in the nation, as determined by the ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' rankings: the [[University of Chicago]], [[Northwestern University]], the [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]], [[Loyola University Chicago]], the [[Illinois Institute of Technology]], [[DePaul University]], [[University of Illinois Chicago]], [[Illinois State University]], [[Southern Illinois University Carbondale]], and [[Northern Illinois University]].<ref name="usnews">{{cite web|url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-universities-rankings/state+IL|title=Best Colleges 2010—National Universities Rankings|date=August 19, 2009|access-date=May 31, 2016|website=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105090520/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-universities-rankings/state+IL|archive-date=January 5, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Illinois also has more than twenty additional [[Educational accreditation|accredited]] four-year universities, both public and private, and dozens of small [[liberal arts college]]s across the state. Additionally, Illinois supports 49 public [[community college]]s in the [[Illinois Community College System]].
 
===School financing===
 
Schools in Illinois are funded primarily by property taxes, based on state assessment of property values, rather than direct state contributions. Scholar Tracy Steffes has described Illinois public education as historically “inequitable,” a system where one of “the wealthiest of states” is “the stingiest in its support for education.” There have been several attempts to reform school funding in Illinois. The most notable attempt came in 1973 with the adoption of the Illinois Resource Equalizer Formula, a measure through which it was hoped funding could be collected and distributed to Illinois schools more equitably. However, opposition from affluent Illinois communities who objected to having to pay for the less well-off school districts (many of them Black majority communities, produced by redlining, white flight, and other “soft” segregation methods) resulted in the formula’s abolition in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Steffes |first1=Tracy L. |title=Assessment Matters: The Rise and Fall of the Illinois Resource Equalizer Formula |journal=History of Education Quarterly |date=February 2020 |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=24–57 |doi=10.1017/heq.2020.7|s2cid=216496825 }}</ref>
 
==Infrastructure==
===Transportation===
 
[[File:Champaign Airport.jpg|thumb|[[University of Illinois Willard Airport]]]]
{{See also|List of airports in Illinois|List of Illinois Routes|List of Illinois railroads|Category:Illinois waterways}}
 
Because of its central location and its proximity to the [[Rust Belt]] and [[Grain Belt]], Illinois is a national crossroads for air, auto, rail, and truck traffic.
 
====Airports====
 
[[File:Concourse B, Chicago O'Hare airport.jpg|thumb|Inside [[O'Hare International Airport]]]]
 
From 1962 until 1998, Chicago's [[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–Jackson Atlanta International Airport|Hartsfield]] in 1998 (as Chicago splits its air traffic between O'Hare and Midway airports, while Atlanta uses only one airport), with 59.3&nbsp;million domestic passengers annually, along with 11.4&nbsp;million international passengers in 2008,<ref>{{cite web|title=O'Hare International Airport Activity Statistics |url=http://www.flychicago.com/Statistics/stats/1208ORDSUMMARY-REVISED.pdf |publisher=City of Chicago: FlyChicago.com |date=March 27, 2009 |access-date=April 10, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101054630/http://flychicago.com/Statistics/stats/1208ORDSUMMARY-REVISED.pdf |archive-date=January 1, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> O'Hare consistently remains one of the two or three busiest airports globally, and in some years still ranks number one in total flights. It is a major [[airline hub|hub]] for both [[United Airlines]] and [[American Airlines]], and a major airport expansion project is currently underway. [[Chicago Midway International Airport|Midway Airport]] (MDW), which had been the busiest airport in the world at one point until it was supplanted by O'Hare as the busiest airport in 1962, is now the secondary airport in the Chicago metropolitan area and still ranks as one of the nation's busiest airports. Midway is a major hub for [[Southwest Airlines]] and services many other carriers as well. Midway served 17.3&nbsp;million domestic and international passengers in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|title=Midway Airport Activity Statistics |url=http://www.flychicago.com/Statistics/stats/1208SUMMARYRevised.pdf |website=FlyChicago.com |publisher=City of Chicago |date=January 30, 2009 |access-date=April 10, 2009|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101054737/http://flychicago.com/Statistics/stats/1208SUMMARYRevised.pdf |archive-date=January 1, 2010 }}</ref>
 
====Rail====
 
[[File:Wikipedia Map Final Draft.pdf|thumb|Illinois major rail network]]
 
Illinois has an extensive passenger and freight rail transportation network. Chicago is a national [[Amtrak]] hub and in-state passengers are served by Amtrak's [[Illinois Service]], featuring the Chicago to Carbondale [[Illini (Amtrak)|''Illini'']] and [[Saluki (Amtrak)|''Saluki'']], the Chicago to Quincy [[Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg|''Carl Sandburg'']] and ''[[Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg|Illinois Zephyr]]'', and the Chicago to St. Louis ''[[Lincoln Service]]''. Currently there is trackwork on the Chicago–St. Louis line to bring the maximum speed up to {{convert|110|mph|abbr=on}}, 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 Transit Authority]]'s [[Chicago "L"|'L']] system. One of 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]] and [[Illinois River]] provide major transportation routes for the state's agricultural interests. [[Lake Michigan]] gives Illinois access to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]].
 
====Interstate highway system====
 
{{Main|List of Interstate Highways in Illinois}}
 
The Interstate Highways in Illinois are all segments of the [[Interstate Highway System]] that are owned and maintained by the state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.cfm|title=Interstate Frequently Asked Questions—50th Anniversary—Interstate System—Highway History—Federal Highway Administration|website=www.fhwa.dot.gov|access-date=May 3, 2019}}</ref>
 
Illinois has the distinction of having the most primary (two-digit) interstates pass through it among all the 50 states with 13. Illinois also ranks third among the fifty states with the most interstate mileage, coming in after California and Texas, which are much bigger states in area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.interstate-guide.com/state-index.html |title=Interstates by State |publisher=Interstate-Guide |date=February 2, 2016 |access-date=February 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301091838/http://www.interstate-guide.com/state-index.html |archive-date=March 1, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
Major U.S. Interstate highways crossing the state include: [[Interstate 24 in Illinois|Interstate&nbsp;24]] (I-24), [[Interstate 39 in Illinois|I-39]], [[Interstate 41|I-41]], [[Interstate 55 in Illinois|I-55]], [[Interstate 57 in Illinois|I-57]], [[Interstate 64 in Illinois|I-64]], [[Interstate 70 in Illinois|I-70]], [[Interstate 72 in Illinois|I-72]], [[Interstate 74 in Illinois|I-74]], [[Interstate 80 in Illinois|I-80]], [[Interstate 88 (Illinois)|I-88]], [[Interstate 90 in Illinois|I-90]], and [[Interstate 94 in Illinois|I-94]].
 
====U.S. highway system====
 
{{Main|List of U.S. Highways in Illinois}}
 
The [[Illinois Department of Transportation]] (IDOT) is responsible for maintaining the [[United States Numbered Highways|U.S Highways]] in Illinois. The system in Illinois consists of 21 [[List of U.S. Highways|primary highways]].
 
Among the U.S. highways that pass through the state, the primary ones are: [[U.S. Route 6 in Illinois|US&nbsp;6]], [[U.S. Route 12 in Illinois|US&nbsp;12]], [[U.S. Route 14 in Illinois|US&nbsp;14]], [[U.S. Route 20 in Illinois|US&nbsp;20]], [[U.S. Route 24 in Illinois|US&nbsp;24]], [[U.S. Route 30 in Illinois|US&nbsp;30]], [[U.S. Route 34 in Illinois|US&nbsp;34]], [[U.S. Route 36 in Illinois|US&nbsp;36]], [[U.S. Route 40 in Illinois|US&nbsp;40]], [[U.S. Route 41 in Illinois|US&nbsp;41]], [[U.S. Route 45 in Illinois|US&nbsp;45]], [[U.S. Route 50 in Illinois|US&nbsp;50]], [[U.S. Route 51 in Illinois|US&nbsp;51]], [[U.S. Route 52 in Illinois|US&nbsp;52]], [[U.S. Route 54 in Illinois|US&nbsp;54]], [[U.S. Route 60 in Illinois|US&nbsp;60]], [[U.S. Route 62 in Illinois|US&nbsp;62]], and [[U.S. Route 67 in Illinois|US&nbsp;67]].
 
===Gallery===
 
<gallery widths="120px" heights="70px">
File:IllinoisLicensePlates.jpg|Standard license plate introduced in 2017
File:Illinois 2002 series passenger plate sample 000 0000.gif|Standard license plate 2001 to 2016
File:1987-Illinois-license-plate.png|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
</gallery>
 
==See also==
 
{{portal|Illinois|United States}}
* [[Index of Illinois-related articles]]
* [[List of people from Illinois]]
* [[Outline of Illinois]]
 
==References==
 
{{reflist|30em}}
 
==Further reading==
 
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |title= Illinois: its history & legacy|last1= Bridges|first1= Roger D.|last2= Davis|first2= Rodney O.|year= 1984|publisher=River City Publishers|location= St. Louis|isbn= 978-0-933150-86-7|oclc= 11814096}}
* {{cite book |title= The era of the Civil War, 1848–1870|last= Cole|first= Arthur Charles|year= 1987|orig-year= 1919|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|location= Urbana|isbn= 978-0-252-01339-3|oclc= 14130434}}
* {{Cite book|last= Davis|first= James E.|title=Frontier Illinois|year=1998|publisher=[[Indiana University Press]]|location=Bloomington|isbn=978-0-253-33423-7|oclc= 39182546}}
* {{Cite book|author1=Grossman, James R. |author2=Keating, Ann Durkin |author3=Reiff, Janice L. |title=Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago|year=2005|orig-year=2004|edition=Online|publisher=[[Chicago History Museum|Chicago Historical Society]], Newberry Library|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-31015-2|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/|access-date=January 28, 2009|oclc=60342627}}
* {{cite book|title=Illinois literature: the nineteenth century|editor=Hallwas, John E.|year=1986|publisher=Illinois Heritage Press|location=Macomb|oclc=14228886}}
* {{Cite book|last=Howard|first=Robert P.|title=Illinois; a history of the Prairie State|year=1972|publisher=W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co|location=Grand Rapids|isbn=978-0-8028-7025-4|oclc=495362|url=https://archive.org/details/illinoishistoryo0000howa}}
* {{Cite book|last=Jensen|first=Richard E.|title=Illinois: a history|year=2001|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|location=Urbana|isbn=978-0-252-07021-1|oclc=46769728}}
* {{Cite book|last=Keiser|first=John H.|title=Building for the centuries: Illinois, 1865 to 1898|year=1977|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|location=Urbana|isbn=978-0-252-00617-3|oclc=2798051|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/buildingforcentu0000keis}}
* {{cite book|title=Illinois; History, government, geography|url=https://archive.org/details/illinoishistoryg00kild|last1=Kilduff|first1=Dorrell|last2=Pygman|first2=C. H.|year=1962|publisher=Follett|location=Chicago|oclc=5223888}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kleppner|first=Paul|title=Political atlas of Illinois|year=1988|publisher=Northern Illinois University Press|location=DeKalb|isbn=978-0-87580-136-0|oclc=16755435}}
* {{Cite book|last=Meyer|first=Douglas K.|title=Making the heartland quilt: a geographical history of settlement and migration in early-nineteenth-century Illinois|year=2000|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|location=Carbondale|isbn=978-0-585-37905-0|url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=65659204|oclc=48139026}}
* {{cite book |title= Illinois Politics: A Citizen's Guide|last1= Nowlan|first1=James D.|last2=Gove |first2=Samuel K.|last3=Winkel |first3=Richard J. |year= 2010 |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|location= Urbana|isbn= 978-0-252-07702-9}}
* {{Cite book|last=Sutton|first=Robert P.|title=The Prairie State; a documentary history of Illinois|year=1976|publisher=Eerdmans|location=Grand Rapids|isbn=978-0-8028-1651-1|oclc=2603998|url=https://archive.org/details/prairiestatedocu0002unse}}
* {{Cite book|last=Walton|first=Clyde C.|title=An Illinois reader|year=1970|publisher=Northern Illinois University Press|location=DeKalb|isbn=978-0-87580-014-1|oclc=89905|url=https://archive.org/details/illinoisreader0000unse}}
* {{Cite book|last=Works Progress Administration|author-link=Works Progress Administration|title=The WPA guide to Illinois: the Federal Writers' Project guide to 1930s Illinois|year=1983|orig-year=1939|publisher=Pantheon Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-394-72195-8|oclc=239788752|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/wpaguidetoillino00unit}}
{{refend}}
 
==External links==
{{Sister project links|Illinois|voy=Illinois}}
* {{official website}}
* {{OSM relation|122586}}
* [https://www.enjoyillinois.com Illinois Office of Tourism]
* [https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=IL Illinois - State Energy Profile Overview] U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
* [https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?StateFIPS=17&StateName=Illinois&ID=17854 State Fact Sheets: Illinois] USDA's Economic Research Service
* [https://www.usgs.gov/states/illinois?qt-states_l2_landing_page_tabs=0#qt-states_l2_landing_page_tabs USGS Central Midwest Water Science Center]
 
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{{Navboxes
|title = <span style="font-size:11pt;">Topics related to Illinois</span>{{break}}''The Land of Lincoln''
|list =
{{Illinois|state=expanded}}
{{Current Illinois statewide political officials}}
{{Illinois cities and mayors of 100,000 population}}
{{Protected areas of Illinois}}
{{Midwestern United States}}
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{{United States political divisions}}
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[[Category:Illinois| ]]
[[Category:1818 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Former French colonies]]
[[Category:Midwestern United States]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1818]]
[[Category:States of the United States]]

Latest revision as of 07:26, 10 September 2022

Template:Infobox U.S. state Template:Infobox U.S. state symbols

Illinois is a state in the United States. Its capital is Springfield and its largest city is Chicago. It is bordered to the north by Wisconsin, to the west by Iowa and below that, by Missouri (both borders are along the Mississippi River). To the south-east, Illinois is bordered along the Ohio River by Kentucky and to the east by Indiana. Illinois' northeasternmost boundary is to Lake Michigan.

Politics[edit | edit source]

Political climate In Illinois today[edit | edit source]

Most of Illinois outside of Chicago (its most populous city) is heavily conservative. In 2016, for example, nearly 40 counties in Illinois gave Trump 70% or more of the vote there. However, Chicago makes up over half of the state´s population, and Cook County (in which Chicago is located) gave Trump just 21% of the vote there. Therefore, the governor of Illinois is currently a Democrat, as are both its US Senators and over 70% of its representatives. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the state by 17%. In 2012, Barack Obama won the state by 17%. In 2008, Obama won the state by over 25%. Illinois has supported only Democratic candidates for president since 1992.

Historically voting Republican[1][edit | edit source]

Illinois used to vote Republican. In all the presidential elections between 1856 and 1892, it supported the Republican candidate.

Former swing state[1][edit | edit source]

Illinois was a swing state, but it isn't a swing state anymore. In all the presidential elections in which it has voted, it has supported the winner 82% of the time. Out of the last 5 presidential elections, however, it has supported the winner only 40% of the time.

History[edit | edit source]

The most prominent tribes in Illinois were the Illinois, Miami, Winnebago, Fox and Sacs (Sauk), Kickapoo, and Pottawatomie tribes. The Illinois Native Americans were composed of five subdivisions including Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Tamaroas, Peorias, and Metchigamis.

Illinois became a state on December 3, 1818. Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which helped abolish slavery in the United States.[2]

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, was the only US president born and raised in Illinois.

Economy[edit | edit source]

Illinois has a diverse economy. Chicago is a major center for transportation and business. Central and northern Illinois is mostly used for agriculture. The south produces many natural resources such as coal, timber and petroleum.[3]

Government[edit | edit source]

Illinois was once known to be a swing state (voted for either Democratic Party or the Republican Party). Today, Illinois is known to be a blue state, voting for the Democratic Party. The last time Illinois voted for a Republican president was in 1988 for George H.W. Bush.

J. B. Pritzker (D) is the current Governor of Illinois. It has two senators; Dick Durbin (D) and Tammy Duckworth (D).

Population[edit | edit source]

Illinois has the average population of 12,419,293 people since 2010. Most of the people living in Illinois live near the city of Chicago.

People from Illinois[edit | edit source]

Famous Illinoisans include:

State symbols[edit | edit source]

In Illinois, school children voted to select the state bird, state flower, and state tree. The state bird is the cardinal. The state flower of Illinois is the violet. The state tree is the white oak.

Illinois's seal has an eagle in a prairie. Across a river, behind the eagle is a rising sun. The eagle stands for the United States. The prairie reminds Illinoisans of their land. The two dates on the seal, 1818 and 1868, are the year that Illinois became a state and the year that the state seal was designed. The state flag includes the state seal.

Related pages[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "United States presidential elections in Illinois". Wikipedia. 2020-06-11.
  2. ↑ "Interesting Facts About Illinois". Interesting State Facts.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  3. ↑ "Illinois – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". Eia.gov. April 19, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2012.


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