58 Facts About Illinois

Illinois was part of the United States' oldest territory, the Northwest Territory, and in 1818 it achieved statehood.

The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb 'he speaks the regular way'.

The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, when French colonists had settled in the western area.

French Empire Canadiens came south to settle particularly along the Mississippi River, and Illinois was part of first New France, and then of La Louisiane until 1763, when it passed to the British with their defeat of France in the Seven Years' War.

Illinois-Wabash Company was an early claimant to much of Illinois.

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The Illinois Territory was created on February 3, 1809, with its capital at Kaskaskia, an early French settlement.

When Illinois became a state in 1818, the Ordinance no longer applied, and about 900 slaves were held in the state.

In 1847, after lobbying by Dorothea L Dix, Illinois became one of the first states to establish a system of state-supported treatment of mental illness and disabilities, replacing local almshouses.

The seaway and the Illinois Waterway connected Chicago to both the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean.

Illinois had a prominent role in the emergence of the nuclear age.

In 1961, Illinois became the first state in the nation to adopt the recommendation of the American Law Institute and pass a comprehensive criminal code revision that repealed the law against sodomy.

Illinois was above sea level for at least part of the Mesozoic, but by its end was again submerged by the Western Interior Seaway.

Illinois is located in the Midwest region of the United States and is one of the eight states in the Great Lakes region of North America.

Southern Illinois includes the hilly areas around the Shawnee National Forest.

Northern Illinois is dominated by Chicago metropolitan area, or Chicagoland, which is the city of Chicago and its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolis is expanding.

Third division is Southern Illinois, comprising the area south of U S Route 50, including Little Egypt, near the juncture of the Mississippi River and Ohio River.

Southern Illinois is the site of the ancient city of Cahokia, as well as the site of the first state capital at Kaskaskia, which today is separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River.

The other somewhat significant concentration of population in Southern Illinois is the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area centered on Carbondale and Marion, a two-county area that is home to 123, 272 residents.

Illinois has a climate that varies widely throughout the year.

Illinois has large numbers of African Americans and Latinos.

Illinois has one of the largest concentrations of Missouri Synod Lutherans in the United States.

Illinois played an important role in the early Latter Day Saint movement, with Nauvoo, Illinois becoming a gathering place for Mormons in the early 1840s.

Illinois has the largest concentration of Muslims by state in the country, with 2, 800 Muslims per 100, 000 citizens.

In most years, Illinois is either the first or second state for the highest production of soybeans, with a harvest of 427.

Illinois is a leader in food manufacturing and meat processing.

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Illinois produces wine, and the state is home to two American viticultural areas.

Illinois's universities are actively researching alternative agricultural products as alternative crops.

Illinois is a net importer of fuels for energy, despite large coal resources and some minor oil production.

Coal industry of Illinois has its origins in the middle 19th century, when entrepreneurs such as Jacob Loose discovered coal in locations such as Sangamon County.

In 2008, Illinois exported three million tons of coal, and was projected to export nine million in 2011, as demand for energy grows in places such as China, India, and elsewhere in Asia and Europe.

Illinois ranked first in the nation in 2010 in both nuclear capacity and nuclear generation.

Illinois has seen growing interest in the use of wind power for electrical generation.

Illinois ranked ninth among U S states in installed wind power capacity, and sixteenth by potential capacity.

Large wind farms in Illinois include Twin Groves, Rail Splitter, EcoGrove, and Mendota Hills.

The Archer Daniels Midland corporation in Decatur, Illinois, is the world's leading producer of ethanol from corn.

Illinois failed to pass a budget from 2015 to 2017, after the 736-day budget impasse, a budget was passed in Illinois after lawmakers overturned Governor Bruce Rauner's veto; this budget raised the personal income rate to 4.

Illinois has numerous museums; the greatest concentration of these are in Chicago.

Illinois is a leader in music education, having hosted the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference since 1946, as well being home to the Illinois Music Educators Association, one of the largest professional music educator's organizations in the country.

Two most prominent are the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats, both members of the Big Ten Conference and the only ones competing in one of the so-called "Power Five conferences".

The Western Illinois Leathernecks are full members of the Summit League, which does not sponsor football, and compete in the MVFC.

The Eastern Illinois Panthers are members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).

The Illinois Compiled Statutes are the codified statutes of a general and permanent nature.

The government of Illinois has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions, but the so-called code departments provide most of the state's services.

Administrative divisions of Illinois are counties, townships, precincts, cities, towns, villages, and special-purpose districts.

Illinois'storically, Illinois was a political swing state, with near-parity existing between the Republican and the Democratic parties.

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However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has gained ground, and Illinois has come to be seen as a solid "blue" state in presidential campaigns.

From 1920 until 1972, Illinois was carried by the victor of each of these 14 presidential elections.

Illinois served in the General Assembly and represented the 7th congressional district in the U S House of Representatives before his election to the presidency in 1860.

Illinois then became president in 2008, running as a candidate from his Illinois base.

Illinois then became an actor, and later became California's Governor before being elected president.

Three families from Illinois have played particularly prominent roles in the Democratic Party, gaining both statewide and national fame.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is often ranked among the best engineering schools in the world and in United States.

Illinois has more than twenty additional accredited four-year universities, both public and private, and dozens of small liberal arts colleges across the state.

Schools in Illinois are funded primarily by property taxes, based on state assessment of property values, rather than direct state contributions.

Illinois has an extensive passenger and freight rail transportation network.

Chicago is a national Amtrak hub and in-state passengers are served by Amtrak's Illinois Service, featuring the Chicago to Carbondale Illini and Saluki, the Chicago to Quincy Carl Sandburg and Illinois Zephyr, and the Chicago to St Louis Lincoln Service.

Interstate Highways in Illinois are all segments of the Interstate Highway System that are owned and maintained by the state.

Illinois has the distinction of having the most primary interstates pass through it among all the 50 states with 13.