Situated in the Midwest region of the United States, is the state of Illinois. It is the fifth most heavily populated state within the country. The majority of the states residents, nearly 65 percent of them reside within the Chicago metropolitan area. The environment of Illinois reflects a rural character or a small town. The state of Illinois is often noted as being a microcosm for the whole country.
There are a great abundance of natural resources within the state of Illinois consisting of coal and petroleum in the south. Within the northern and central regions of the state there are great agricultural productivity and small industrial cities. With Chicago within the northeast, Illinois has a large economic base. The state of Illinois is a fundamental transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects Mississippi River to the Great Lakes through the Illinois River. O'Hare International Airport has been considered among the world's busiest airports for many years. Voted as the "most average state," Illinois has had a long reputation as a bellwether in both politics and social and cultural terms.
In 1818, the state of Illinois finally achieved its statehood. Early settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s, and after some time the state began to grow rapidly. On the banks of the Chicago River, the city of Chicago was founded in the 1830's. This is among the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Illinois' rich prairie land became some of the worlds most productive and valuable farmlands with the railroads and the invention of John Deer's self-scouring steel plow. Immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden arrived to live.
The growth of industrial jobs in the 1900s amongst the cities in the north, combined with coal mining within the southern and central regions of the state, attracted several immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Illinois became an essential manufacturing center all through both of WWI and WWII. The Great African American Migration from the rural South to Chicago created a large community that established the city's well-known blues and jazz cultures.
Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant are amongst the only United States Presidents elected which are from the state of Illinois. President Reagan was however, the only one raised and born within the state. The official state slogan "Land of Lincoln" is shown on the states' license plates these days as a way to honor and commemorate Lincoln.
Economy
During the year 2008, Illinois' gross state product was roughly $634 billion and the state's per capita gross state product that same year was about $40,006. In 2009, the per capita personal income in the state of Illinois was estimated to be $41,411. During the month of March the year 2010, the state reported an unemployment rate of 11.5%. By the month of May, this figure had dropped to 10.8%.
Manufacturing
Illinois is proud to be one of the United State's leading manufacturers. They boast annual value added productivity by manufacturing more than one hundred seven billion dollars during the year 2006. About 3/4 of the state's manufacturers are located within the Northeastern Opportunity Return Region and 38% of Illinois' around 18,900 manufacturing plants are situated within Cook County.
The top manufacturing companies in Illinois based upon value-added were according to the 2006 statistics $18.3 billion in chemical manufacturing, $13.4 billion in manufacturing machines, $12.9 billion in food manufacturing, $11.5 billion in fabricated metal products, $7.4 billion in transportation equipment, $7.0 billion in rubber and plastic products and $6.1 billion in computer and electronic equipment.