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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We just lost to illinois college WTF. N got u of I next then isu at home lookin kind of bad 4 us
DarealPoon5 (Chris Wright) Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:45:52 -0000
We just lost to illinois college WTF. N got u of I next then isu at home lookin kind of bad 4 us
Michigan Mott Community College slams Lake County (Illinois) 128-91 in action … – MLive.com.. http://bit.ly/4gV4Sx
MINews0verviews (Michigan) Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:45:29 -0000
Michigan Mott Community College slams Lake County (Illinois) 128-91 in action … – MLive.com.. http://bit.ly/4gV4Sx
@Doris22 I only knew because it was another moron Repub from Illinois grrrr
sissyto4 (susan) Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:45:22 -0000
@Doris22 I only knew because it was another moron Repub from Illinois grrrr
Article Fourth-quarter comeback not enough as Gophers lose to Illinois: Watch video » One team had .. http://bit.ly/1yjiTs
ILNews0verviews (Illinois) Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:45:06 -0000
Article Fourth-quarter comeback not enough as Gophers lose to Illinois: Watch video » One team had .. http://bit.ly/1yjiTs
My state of Illinois is fn helpless!!!
jonnyfog (Jonny Foghorn) Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:44:57 -0000
My state of Illinois is fn helpless!!!
SIUE loses 78-76 to NAIA Illinois College...
SportsAlestle (Alestle sports) Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:44:51 -0000
SIUE loses 78-76 to NAIA Illinois College...

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