The State of Illinois is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. Illinois is the most populous state in the Midwest and the fifth most populous in the nation, and has a large and cosmopolitan population. Its balance of vast suburbs and the great metropolis of Chicago in the northeast, rural areas, small industrial cities, and renowned agricultural productivity in central and western Illinois, and the coal mines of the south give it a highly diverse economic base. Its central location, connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River via the Illinois River, made it a transportation hub for 150 years. With a mixture of factory and farm, urban and rural, Illinois is a microcosm of the United States; an Associated Press analysis of 21 demographic factors determined Illinois was the "most average state."
Public and Private Liberal Arts Colleges:
Augustana College (Illinois)
Blackburn College
Eureka College
Greenville College
Illinois College
Illinois Wesleyan University
Judson College, Illinois
Knox College (Illinois)
Lake Forest College
McKendree College
Monmouth College
North Central College
Rockford College
Shimer College
Trinity Christian College (Illinois)
Wheaton College, Illinois
Private Colleges and Universities:
Aurora University
Barat College
Benedictine University
Bradley University
Chicago School of Professional Psychology
University of Chicago
Columbia College Chicago
Concordia University-River Forest
DePaul University
DeVry University
Dominican University
East-West University
Elmhurst College
Erikson Institute
Illinois Institute of Art Chicago
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Technical College
Kendall College
Lakeview College of Nursing
Lewis University
Lincoln Christian College and Seminary
Loyola University Chicago
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
MacMurray College
Midwestern University
Millikin University
Moody Bible Institute
National University of Health Sciences
National-Louis University
North Park University
Northern Seminary
Northwestern University
Olivet Nazarene University
Principia College
Providence Baptist College
Quincy University
Rasmussen College
Robert Morris College
Roosevelt University
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Rush University
Saint Anthony College of Nursing
University of Saint Francis
St. Xavier University
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago
Trinity International University
Vandercook College of Music
Westwood College Of Technology, Woodridge, Illinois Chicago, Illinois Calumet City, Illinois
Public Colleges and Universities:
Chicago State University
Eastern Illinois University
Governors State University
Illinois State University
University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Springfield
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (main campus)
Northeastern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University Carbondale (main campus)
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Western Illinois University
Professional Sports Teams:
Chicago Bears - National Football League
Chicago Rush - Arena Football League
Chicago Bulls - National Basketball Association
Chicago Sky - Women's National Basketball Association
Chicago Cubs - Major League Baseball
Chicago White Sox - Major League Baseball
Gateway Grizzlies - Minor League Baseball
Joliet JackHammers - Minor League Baseball
Kane County Cougars - Minor League Baseball
Peoria Chiefs - Minor League Baseball
Rockford RiverHawks - Minor League Baseball
Schaumburg Flyers - Minor League Baseball
Windy City ThunderBolts - Minor League Baseball
Chicago Blackhawks - National Hockey League
Chicago Wolves - American Hockey League
Peoria Rivermen - American Hockey League
Quad City Mallards - United Hockey League
Chicago Hounds - United Hockey League
Chicago Fire - Major League Soccer
Chicago Fire - Premier Soccer USL Premier Development League
Chicago Storm - Major Indoor Soccer League
Chicago Machine - Major League Lacrosse
Chicago Slaughter - Continental Indoor Football League
Chicago Bandits - Softball National Pro Fastpitch
Rockford Thunder - Softball National Pro Fastpitch
Chicago Rockstars - American Basketball Association
Chicago is the largest city in the state and the third most populous city in the United States. The US Bureau of the Census currently lists six other cities with populations of over 100,000 within Illinois. Based upon the Bureau's official 2005 scientific estimates, they are: Aurora, a Chicago suburb which at 168,181 has recently (2002) eclipsed Rockford for the title of "Second City" of Illinois.
Illinois has numerous museums. For example, the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford which features the dinosaur fossil Jane the Rockford T-Rex. The state of the art Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is the largest presidential library in the country. And numerous museums in the city of Chicago are considered some of the best in the world. These include the John G. Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago). The Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago) is the only building remaining from the 1893 Columbian Exposition held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the new world.
The Illinois state park system began in 1908 with what is now Fort Massac State Park becoming the first park in a system encompassing over 60 parks and about the same number of recreational and wildlife areas.
Areas under the protection and control of the National Park Service include the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor near Lockport, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
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