Illinois state

Introduction
Illinois is one of the fifty states of the United Nations of America. Nicknames for this state are: Land of Lincoln and ‘Prairie State’. The capital city of Illinois is Springfield. The short version of Illinois is IL.

The state was added as 21th to the United States of America. It is the most densely populated state of the mid-west and is on the 5th place of most populated states in the country. With Chicago, counting 9 million inhabitants, the city is located 3th on the list of biggest cities in the USA.

Three American presidents were chosen while they were living in Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S Grant and Barack Obama. However the only president who was actually born there was Ronald Reagan. Lincoln was the only president who found his last resting place in the state. This is also why the state has been called Land of Lincoln.

Geography

The geography of Illinois geographical facts:
Longitude/Latitude Longitude: 87° 30' W to 91° 30' W
Latitude: 36° 58' N to 42° 30' N
Length x Width 390 miles long & 210 miles wide 628 km long & 338 km wide
Borders Illinois is bordered by Wisconsin on the north and by Kentucky in the south. On the east the state is bordered by Lake Michigan and Indiana. Iowa and Missouri are bordering Illinois on the west.
Total Area Illinois covers 57,593 square miles/92,6869 square kilometers making it to the place 25th largest of all USA.
Land Area 55,593 square miles/89,4682 square kilometers of Illinois are land.
Water Area 2,325 square miles/3,7 square kilometers of Illinois is water.
Highest level The highest natural point of the state is Charles Mound at 1235 feet/376,8 meters above sea level.
Lowest point The lowest point of Illinois is on the Mississippi River 279 feet/85 meters above sea level.
Major Rivers Illinois River, Mississippi River, Ohio River, Wabash River.
Major Lakes Lake Michigan, Rend lake.

The land

Illinois can be divided in three main regions: the Central Plains, the Shawnee Hills and the Gulf Coastal Plain.

The central plains
This region is covering about 90 percent of the total area of Illinois. These plain were formed by rolling fertile plains during the Ice Age. The central plains go from Lake Michigan west and south and cover most of the state. This region is again divided into three sections: The Great Lakes Plain, the Driftless Plains and the Till Plains.

-The Great Lakes Plains: this low flat area of land is located next to Lake Michigan. It has some small hills in the north and west of Chigago. Illinois has 63 miles of shoreline on Lake Michigan.

-The Driftless Plains are located in the north-west corner of Illinios. This section is the owner of the highest hills in the state. Big hills and valleys are present in this relatively small area. Charles Mound is also present in this section of the central plains.

-The Till Plains are by far the largest section of the Central plains. This area is known as the agricultural part of the state, because of the fertile soil. The landscape makes Illinois one of the top corn producing states. This is also why the state is sometimes called ‘the prairie state’.

The Shawnee Hills
This region runs across the southern part of the state. This little stripe of land covers from five to 40 miles wide and in the neighborhood of 70 miles in the length of the state. It consists of Rivers, valleys and woodland.

The Gulf Coastal
This region is located on the very end of Illinois. The Gulf Coastal is between the Ohio River and the Mississippi River. It is sometimes called ‘Egypt’ because early settlers thought it was just like the Nile Delta. South of the Shawnee Hills the Gulf Coastal is hilly but flattens toward the border with Kentucky.

Climate

Illinois has a continental climate which causes it to be relatively warm in the summer and relatively cold in the winter. The highest temperature ever measured in Illinois is 117° Fahrenheit/47.2 ° Celsius. This was on July 14,1954 at East St. Louis. The lowest temperature ever measured is -36 ° Fahrenheit/-37 ° Celsius and was measured at Congerville on January 5, 1999. The average monthly temperature differs from 30° Celsius in summer to -12 ° Celsius in winter. The average amount of rain falling in the state from 1971 to 2000 can be seen in the map on the right. As can be seen from the map the southern part of Illinois is getting much more rain as the north.

Maps

This maps show the 102 counties of Illinois. These counties are all named after famous or important people in the history of The United States of America or Illinois. For example: Adams county is named after the sixth president of the USA John Quincy Adams. Cook county has by far the most inhabitants because Chicago is settled in this county. It has around 5 million inhabitants. While Sangamon county has only 188,000 inhabitants, it does host the capital city of Illinois: Springfield.

This maps shows the infrastructure of Illinois. It clearly shows the Northern part of the state has much more roads then the southern part, this is because Chicago is there. This city is very important to the state and even the country itself because many international and national major companies have found their head-quarters in this city.

The map on the right shows the elevation differences in Illinois. Although there is only a small difference in height the Northern part is higher as the south. The light green part is 600-1200 feet/180-365 meters above sea level with an exception of Charles mound (1235 feet/376,8 meter). The darker green bit has an elevation from 300-600 feet/90-180 meter. Charles Mound is only 200 meters away from the border between Illinois and Wisconsin.

Geography Chicago

Chicago is located in the north-east of Illinois on the shore of Lake Michigan near the border with Indiana. The city is in the central part of country giving it an advantage, Chicago is one of the USA leading commercial and industrial cities. It also has a important duty as important transportation place.

It has a central function to the culture and education of the country, with museums, universities and an opera company who is among the best in the country. Chicago is famous for its architecture because it is considered the birthplace of the Skyscraper. It has many high building including such skyscrapers in the commercial part of the city on the shore of Lake Michigan.

The city runs for about 25 miles/40 kilometers along Lake Michigan and goes into the land until 12 miles/19 kilometers. It is the center of urbanized area that includes Cook, Du Page, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties and even reaches other states as Wisconsin and Indiana.

History

Native Americans

The native Americans lived in what is now known as Illinois already 8000B.C. The people living there were from various levels of old and Woodland cultures. The earliest inhabitants are known as the Early Archaic Indians. They managed to survive in the then not yet developed wild by tracking and hunting large animals, such as mammoths. They also fished and collected seeds, roots, berries and nuts. To find shelter they find cover in caves along the Illinois River valley. In the neighborhood of 1000 B.C. the Early Archaic Indians got together with a new form of inhabitants who where known as the Late Archaic Indians. This new type of generation made more inventive new weapons such as snares, spears and stone axes. They also made other tools like baskets and pottery to store all sorts of things. The Late Archaic Indians were also the first to trade with other tribes from areas who are now known as Michigan, Kentucky and Missouri state.

After the Archaic period, also just known as the Old period, a culture called Woodland would get the upper hand at around 600 B.C. This type of culture is thought to be more focusing on agriculture and less on the hunting of animals. They also traded with other tribes in the neighborhood. Because they grew their own food right on the spot they were able to develop villages and make their “group” bigger. With this larger population they started to grow a real culture with funerals and real burial mounds to bury their dead persons. At around 0 B.C. the Middle Woodland Culture developed. This group was not very different from their earlier settlers but still they developed new and better ways to make life more easier. This culture would maintain until 300 A.D. where it would get the expected name of the Late Woodland Culture. For this group trading food including corn, beans, pumpkin and squash was very important.

200 years went by and a again a new culture formed. This time the Mississippian Indians came to Illinois from the southeast. They started to develop agriculture to. These Indians used boats to establish trade with other tribe’s along the Mississippi. They also made villages on the shore of the river. They protected this villages by digging ditches around them. They made around a hundred small hills which were around 100 feet/30 meters high spread over an area of 14 acres/6 km². These earth structures are now known as the largest pre-historic structures in North America.

However, the rich and wealthy life of these Indians wouldn’t last forever. The population started to decrease rapidly around 1050 A.D. and by 1500 only some small villages were left. The cause of this decrease is not known. Some say the erosion of the river, bad leadership and maybe crop failure caused this culture to die out.

French Settlement

Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet were the first white people to discover what is now known as Illinois state. Marquette was born in France and was send to Canada were he met Louis Jolliet who was a mapmaker. In 1673 they started a travel from Green Bay (see map) then travelled down the Fox river until they got to their first Indian settlement along the Wisconsin River. After leaving this village they sailed down the Wisconsin River for a few more days until they found a path on the banks of the river which lead them to an Illinois Indian village where they would spend the night. From there on they traveled another 300miles down the river. They met a lot of local tribes down the river. These Indians told them that if they would go on any further they would come to deal with agressive Indians and Spanish who wouldn’t like their present. So they returned. The Indians would also send an escort to make sure they would return safely to Lake Michigan were they would continue their travel. Marquette and Jolliet were the first to sail so far down the Illinois River. With this, the history of today’s Illinois began.

After they returned to Green Bay again Marquette was so impressed about this Indians that he wanted to return. So they planned to build some trading posts along the Illinois and Mississippi River and valleys. Now two new adventurers took over, this two men were called La Salle and Tonty, also two Frenchmen. They build Fort Crevecoer. When it was finished they left one of their men in charge. When they returned after a few months the only thing they found were ruins, the result of mutiny. After another year past the two build a new fort called Fort Saint Louis. La Salle continued his exploring while Tonty was in charge of the Fort. La Salle named the whole area Louisiana and claimed it for the French king. In 1684 he wanted to return to Fort Saint Louis but he missed the way into the Mississippi river and got stuck on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. He and his man walked into the dessert of Texas for three days until his man killed him.

In 1696 Father Francois Pinet got on a mission to start a colony on the place where Chicago is located today. But the mission was eventually canceled and Chicago’s build up would have to wait until after the Revolutionary War.

There were some French settlements left which were mainly agricultural towns. The towns were build in the French medieval style. The farms were very structural. They were all just a few hundred feet wide and all two miles in length. The tools used were still very primitive. They mainly were wooden plows and two-wheeled carts to transport goods.

War

Because the France and England were fighting against each other in Europe it was very likely that the same would happen in America. So a war between France and England broke out. This war was called the north American war. This war lasted until 1760, but continued for another three years in Europe. After the Treaty of Paris was signed France got Canada, this is also why a part of Canada stills speaks France, and all territory east of the Mississippi.

The American revolution was fought outside the borders of Illinois but this didn’t prevent the Virginians to prevent the British from conquering Illinois. After this little war was over Illinois was now part of Virginia.

State

Many things had to happen before Illinois became a state. First they had to became independent from Virginia again to begin the progress of Statehood. This succeeded by creating Indiana in 1800, which included Illinois. On February 3th 1809 Illinois finally was free. Only then Wisconsin was still part of Illinois. More and more people came to live in this area and the point of becoming a state came closer and closer. Finally on the special date of April 18th 1818 the Congress recognized Illinois as a state. Illinois was the 21th state of America. The town of Kaskaskia was the capital of the new state.

Main Industry

The main industry of Illinois is mainly located in Chicago however, there are a lot of other places in the state were Industry is the main source of income. Before the 1860s only some small bakeries and smiths were the whole industry. But industry started to grow fast, by 1870 it was already doubled and in 1880 it was doubled again. By then the industry already gave work to 10-12% of the population. In 1929 it employed 26% of the population of Illinois.

Illinois produces mainly construction machinery, farm equipment, phones, electrical house ware such as fridges and ovens, industrial products and cooking products.

Chicago is off course the leading city in Illinois, not only in Industry but in many other things. In 1997 39 of the 500 biggest companies of America had headquarters in Chicago. Even some companies of the “100 best managed companies” of the world were settled in the city, such as: BP, Motorola, Deere & Co. and Baxter international.

by 2007 huge and world leading companies such as: Boeing Co., Sears Holdings Corp., Kraft foods Inc. and McDonald’s Corp. had moved to Chicago.

Agriculture

Illinois top five agricultural products are from one until five corn, grain, soybeans, pigs and dairy products.

Livestock: Pigs are the most important livestock in Illinois after them cows which give beef and milk, chickens and eggs follow.

Crops: Illinois is a leading agricultural area with corn as is most important crop. Most of this corn is sold as food for the cows and pigs etc. but also to make corn syrup and fuel alcohol. The fruit that Illinois produces the most is the apple, other fruits that are produced in Illinois are melons and peaches. Soybeans are produced second of all farm products followed by hay and wheat. Not only corn is produced as a vegetable but also asparagus, cabbages and beans.

Manufacturing

Adding value to a raw product is done by making manufactured things such as cotton. It gains more value after it is made to a t-shirt for example. This is done on a large scale in Illinois.

But not only t-shirts, they make other things such as machinery for farming and tools for this machines. This sector is 1st on the manufacturing list.

Another high scale sector is the food sector which is ranked 2th. They produce all sorts of things such as cereals, spices, sausages, candy, sauces and soft drink.

Chemical manufacturing is ranked 3th, producing paint and all sorts of industrial chemicals.

Mining

Mining is not done on a great scale anymore but still there are some mines who mine coal.
Also some oil and sand is get out of the ground.

Services
Although Illinois isn’t a leading state if it comes to services, with Chicago as its leading city the state does great business in the service sector. It is the largest source of income in the state.

A lot of services are to be find in Illinois, the community sector which gives most of the income having private health care, hotels, repair shops, advertising companies, engineering companies and many more. The second sector is the finance and insurance sector, Chicago is sometimes called the “financial capital of the Midwest”. 3th in the service sector is sales such as department stores, car dealerships and supermarkets.

Special Interest
My special interest, which had to do something with my state, is not a thing, but a person. Being addicted to ice-skating and having it as my passion it is very likely to just find a skater who lives in the neighborhood of Illinois. But this skater isn’t just any skater, this skater is 4 times Olympic medalist, this skater is Shani Davis.

At the 2005 world allround championships the skating world was surprised by this afro American. Out of nothing he had beaten the great guys such as Sven Kramer and Chad Hadrick. This was the point where his career and his life were going to change forever.

Starting on roller-skates at the age of two Shani had no idea what was going to happen when he would grow up. His mother has been supporting him everywhere he went as his father has not given any sign of interest to him since he was born. Add the age of 6 Shani’s roller skating coach send him to the local ice-rink to “try the ice”. He also joined the Evanston Speed Skating club. At the age of 8 he won his first regional age championship. This was the point his mother saw he had talent. When he became a teenager at the age of 10 he and his mother moved to the north of Chicago to be closer to the Evanston ice rink.

Shani started also doing short track in the centre of Chicago where he developed his characteristic style. In short track he wasn’t just a ’no-one’ because he almost made it into the Olympic team for the 2006 Torino Olympics. However, the first 6 of the qualification games were allowed to go to the games, and Shani became 7th, because he stupidly forgot to sharpen his skates.

In 2002 he was the first black speed skater to get on the U.S. Olympic team. Although he doesn’t want to concentrate on making black history he did get an invitation to The White House from Barack Obama after the 2010 Olympics because he was the only black participant and he won 2 medals.

He isn’t just loved as speed skater but also as a person. He is also loved by people at home, especially in his hometown Chicago and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he spent a few years training. In Washington DC he inspired people to set up I.C.E. which stands for Inner City Excellence. This youth organization gets hundreds of new children skating each year all over the country.

Tourism

Off course many people visit Chicago each year to amaze themselves by the huge buildings and the rich history of the city. Speaking off huge buildings, Chicago hosts the highest unnatural point of the state. Namely the Willis tower which is 1451 feet/442 meters tall and stands 7th on the list of highest buildings on the planet. Not to forget it is also the highest building of the USA. Many people visit it each year and go up the tower and enjoy the great view along the city skyline.

Every year around 2 million people visit the Brookfield zoo. In the 1980s this zoo was the first to have a fully-indoor rain forest.

Off course Chicago is famous for its baseball clubs such as the Chicago cubs, and the Chicago white socks. In total the whole baseball industry attracts around 6 million people each year.

But the leading tourist attraction of Illinois is the Navy Pear. Attracting over 8 million people each year. The pear is located on Lake Michigan. It has had a very varied history, when it opened in 1916 is was designed as a shipping and recreation place but when the 2th World War started it was build to a military training camp. Nowadays the Navy pear is a great attraction with many restaurants, shops, cinema, theater, health club, 18-hole miniature golf course, a festival hall which can hold up to 17,000 men and even a 32,000 square foot botanical park. In short, it is just pure America.

Illinois has been the living place of four American presidents, Lincoln, Grant, Reagan and current president Barack Obama. The state has set up a whole tour including the most important places of all presidents such as the Lincoln Museum, the neighborhood where Obama used to grow up, Lowell park where former president Reagan used to work as a lifeguard saving 77 people from drowning and the old state capitol were Lincoln held his most famous speech.

Lake Michigan

This lake is one of the great five lakes of North America. It is the birthplace of huge amounts of fun. Every summer millions of people are amusing themselves along the lake shore by fishing, swimming, sailing and sun bathing.