Illinois

Illinois

In Detail State Seal
State nickname: "Prairie State" State motto: "State sovereignty, national union"
Other U.S. States
Capital	Springfield
Largest City	Chicago
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 25th 149,998 km² 4.02%
Population  - Total (2000)  - Density	Ranked 5th 12,419,293 83/km²
Admittance into Union  - Order  - Date	21st December 3, 1818
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Latitude Longitude	36°58'N to 42°30'N 87°30'W to 91°30'W
Width Length Elevation  -Highest  -Mean  -Lowest	340 km 630 km   376 meters 182 meters 85 meters
ISO 3166-2:	US-IL

USS Illinois was named in honor of this state.

History

Law and Government

The capital of the state is Springfield.

The current Governor of Illinois is Rod Blagojevich (Democrat) and the U.S. senators are Richard J. Durbin (Democrat) and Peter G. Fitzgerald (Republican). List of Illinois Governors.

Geography

It is in the north central U.S. and borders on Lake Michigan. Surrounding states are Wisconsin to the north, Iowa and Missouri to the west, Kentucky to the south, and Indiana to the east.

Economy

The 1999 total gross state product for Illinois was $446 billion placing it 4^th in the nation. The Per Capita Income was $32,259.

Illinois' agricultural outputs are corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, dairy products and wheat. Its industrial outputs are machinery, food processing, electrical equipment, chemical products, publishing, fabricated metal products, transportation equipment, petroleum and coal.

Demographics

The 2000 population of Illinois was 12,419,293. At the northern edge of the state on Lake Michigan lies Chicago, the nation's third largest city. More than half of the population lives in and around Chicago, the leading industrial and transportation center in the region. The rest of the population lives in the smaller cities and on the farms that dot the state's gently rolling plains.

Important Cities and Towns

Chicago Rockford Aurora Naperville Peoria Springfield (the state capital)

Joliet Moline Decatur East St. Louis Bloomington-Normal Champaign-Urbana Rock Island

list of towns

Prairie State
State Animal:	White-tailed deer
State Bird:	Cardinal
State Capital:	Springfield
State Fish:	Bluegill
State Flower:	Purple violet
State Insect:	Monarch butterfly
State Slogan:	"Land of Lincoln"
State Song:	"Illinois"
State Tree:	White oak

Education

Colleges and Universities

Professional Sports Teams

Miscellaneous Information

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, lived in Illinois from a young age, and eventually served four terms in the Illinois State Legislature. Ronald Reagan, the 40th President, was born and lived in Illinois.

See also Little Egypt.

External Links

• http://www.illinois.gov
• Illinois News.

Referenced By