Illinois

Illinois

In Detail[?] State Seal
State nickname: "Prairie State" State motto: "State sovereignty, national union"
(In Detail)
Capital	Springfield
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

Illinois is a state in the United States named after the Illinois Indian tribe, which used to live there. The capitol of Illinois is Springfield and the U.S. postal abbreviation for the state is IL.

USS Illinois was named in honor of this state.

Table of contents 1 History 2 Law and Government 3 Geography 4 Economy 5 Demographics 6 Important Cities and Towns 7 Education 7.1 Colleges and Universities 8 Professional Sports Teams 9 Miscellaneous Information 10 External Links

History

Named for the Illinois Indians, this state is known as the "Land of Lincoln," because it's where the 16th president was raised. Illinois became the 21st state in 1818. Illinois Territory[?] was created on February 3, 1809. Before becoming a state, Illinois was part of the Northwest Territory.

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).

Geography

See List of Illinois counties

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

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

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