Illinois (pronounced or "ill-i-NOY") is the 21st U.S. state and is located in the Midwest region of the United States of America. The state is known for its large and diverse population, its balance of rural areas, small industrial cities, vast suburbs and great metropolis, its highly diverse economic base, and its central location that has made it a transportation hub for 150 years. It is this mixture of factory and farm, of urban and rural that makes Illinois a microcosm of the nation.

About 2000 Native American hunters inhabited the area at the time of the American Revolution, and by a small number of French villagers. American settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s; they achieved statehood in 1818. Yankees arrived a little later and dominated the north, creating the metropolis of Chicago in the 1830s. The coming of the railroads in the 1850s made highly profitable the rich prairie farmlands in central Illinois, attracting large numbers of immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. Northern Illinois, strongly Republican, provided major support for Illinoisans Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. By 1900, factories were being rapidly built in the northern cities, along with coal mines in central and southern areas, attracting large numbers of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois was a major arsenal in both world wars; large numbers of blacks left the cotton fields of the South to come to Chicago, where they developed a famous jazz culture.

The state is named for the Illinois River which was named by French explorers after the indigenous Illiniwek people, a consortium of Algonquian tribes that thrived in the area. The word Illiniwek means "tribe of superior men."State of Illinois. Illinois Symbols. Accessed on April 20, 2006

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Wauconda vintage snowmobile show still going on despite lack of snow: While many people in northern Illinois cel... http://t.co/uRXYVMrz
lindawisconsin6 (linda) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:57:21 -0000
Wauconda vintage snowmobile show still going on despite lack of snow: While many people in northern Illinois cel... http://t.co/uRXYVMrz
Illinois State University Foosball Table Mahogany: This Illinois State University Foosball Table comes in a beau... http://t.co/6SHLzNOq
Cherellepav (Cherelle Downard) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:57:19 -0000
Illinois State University Foosball Table Mahogany: This Illinois State University Foosball Table comes in a beau... http://t.co/6SHLzNOq
@JazzyJaz_xo so its live in Illinois but their going to stream it online?
Passion4Cody (CodysKetchupLovers) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:57:15 -0000
@JazzyJaz_xo so its live in Illinois but their going to stream it online?
I'm at Buffalo Grove, Illinois (Buffalo Grove) http://t.co/l6aQwS74
laura_bagans (laura lencki) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:57:10 -0000
I'm at Buffalo Grove, Illinois (Buffalo Grove) http://t.co/l6aQwS74
I've honestly always hated Illinois more than Purdue.. until I just read that Purdue article in the IDS. Purdue, hate ya guts
Schunkerman (John Schunk) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:56:30 -0000
I've honestly always hated Illinois more than Purdue.. until I just read that Purdue article in the IDS. Purdue, hate ya guts
Vermont, Illinois, DC http://t.co/rtAmYsrQ
sheyhkib (sheyhkb) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:56:30 -0000
Vermont, Illinois, DC http://t.co/rtAmYsrQ

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