Illinois is the 25th most extensive and the 5th most populous of the 50 United States, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois River. For decades, O'Hare International Airport has ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics.
Although the state's largest population centers today are in northern Illinois, originally the state's population grew from south to north, with settlers arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s. In 1818, Illinois achieved statehood. Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Railroads and John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois' rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmlands, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars. The Great Migration established a large community of African Americans in Chicago that created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures.
Films and shows
Cities and locations
Actors and Crew born in Illinois
- Scott Adsit
- Joan Allen
- Karen Allen
- Barbara Alyn Woods
- Patricia Arquette
- Peter Bartlett
- James Belushi
- Landry Bender
- Chloe Bennet
- Jodi Benson
- Ken Berry
- Tom Bosley
- Bruce Boxleitner
- Ray Bradbury
- Dusan Brown
- Jeffrey Nicholas Brown
- Tiffany Burton
- Frank Caliendo
- Liz Callaway
- Dan Castellaneta
- Megan Cavanagh
- Gino Conforti
- Cindy Crawford
- Karla DeVito
- Walt Disney
- Roy Oliver Disney
- Michael Clarke Duncan
- Nora Dunn
- Roger Ebert
- Meagen Fay
- Calista Flockhart
- Neil Flynn
- Harrison Ford
- Scott Michael Foster
- Cassidy Freeman
- Crispin Freeman
- Kathleen Freeman
- Paul Frees
- Stephen Full
- Aimee Garcia
- Jeff Garlin
- Kathy Griffin
- Ed Gilbert
- Stuart Gordon
- Kevin Grevioux
- Don Hahn
- Kathryn Hahn
- Daryl Hannah
- Barbara Harris
- Billie Hayes
- Sean Hayes
- Charlton Heston
- Jennifer Hudson
- Bonnie Hunt
- Tino Insana
- Christopher Jackson
- Quincy Jones
- T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh
- Chaka Khan
- Harvey Korman
- Michael Lah
- Amy Landecker
- Lance LeGault
- Jack Lindquist
- Britt Lomond
- Hamilton Luske
- Jane Lynch
- Bernie Mac
- Tress MacNeille
- John Malkovich
- Joe Mantegna
- Kenneth Mars
- Chi McBride
- Melissa McCarthy
- Frances McDormand
- Thomas McHugh
- Rachel Melvin
- Laurie Metcalf
- Kel Mitchell
- D. W. Moffett
- Belle Montrose
- Christina Moore
- Tyler Jacob Moore
- Cindy Morgan
- Jennifer Morrison
- Martin Mull
- Bill Murray
- Brian Doyle-Murray
- Joel Murray
- John Musker
- Suzy Nakamura
- Bob Newhart
- Marisol Nichols
- Michelle Obama
- Chris O'Donnell
- David Ogden Stiers
- Nick Offerman
- Laura Olsher
- Keke Palmer
- Busy Philipps
- Richard Pryor
- Danny Pudi
- Kevin G. Quinn
- Lou Rawls
- Ronald Reagan
- John C. Reilly
- Shonda Rhimes
- Denise Richards
- Salli Richardson
- Jason Robards
- Freddy Rodriguez
- Hayden Rolence
- David Rudman
- Jonathan Sadowski
- Ben Savage
- Fred Savage
- Morgan Saylor
- Jessy Schram
- Avery Schreiber
- Stefanie Scott
- Stuart Scott
- Garry Shandling
- Rondell Jerome Sheridan
- Martin Sherman
- Kiernan Shipka
- Gary Sinise
- Ian Michael Smith
- Phillipa Soo
- Florence Stanley
- David Ogden Stiers
- Lauren Storm
- Jill Talley
- Lynne Thigpen
- Lauren Tom
- Dink Trout
- Robin Tunney
- Jerry Van Dyke
- Abby Walker
- Michael T. Weiss
- Raquel Welch
- Betty White
- Robin Williams
- Samuel Witwer
- Gary K. Wolf
- Billy Zane
- Robert Zemeckis
Gallery
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