Illinois, U.S.A., home to the magnificent Windy City of Chicago, offers a wide variety of terrain, climate and communities.  The vast expanse of Lake Michigan forms Illinois' northeastern border.  The Wabash River is the eastern border, with Indiana on the other shore, and the Ohio River to the south, opposite Kentucky. 

The Mississippi River forms the western border, across from Missouri and Iowa.  Illinois' northern neighbor is Michigan, across the lake.  These powerful water boundaries enabled Illinois to begin as the vital commercial transportation hub for the Midwest and the entire nation, which it remains today.  Along with its waterway system, Illinois maintains an excellent system of Interstate and U.S. Highways, as well as the Illinois Tollway System, giving commuters through the massive Chicago Metropolitan Area a chance to bypass congested traffic. 

Census 2005 estimates showed the Illinois population to be almost 12,500,000.  The northern city of Chicago accounted for nearly 2.7 million, while the Greater Chicagoland Area is home to more than 9 million residents.  Winter weather around Lake Michigan can be quite unpredictable, with bone-chilling sub-zero winds and lake-effect storms create large amounts of snowfall.  The population of northern Illinois is an ethnic melting pot, as immigrants from around the world seek out Chicago for their new lives.

In Central IL, the land is mostly flat prairie, featuring small, quaint towns and mid-sized cities, such as Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, which is home to the University of Illinois, and the capitol city of Springfield.  None of these cities’ populations exceeds 113,000.  The economy here relies on agriculture, especially corn and soybeans.  Winters in this region tend to be milder, though springtime tornadoes often cause extensive damage.

The terrain of Southern IL, known as Little Egypt, transforms into rolling hillsides extending into the rocky foothills of the Kentucky Mountains.  This is a spelunker's Mecca, with extensive cave systems to explore and the awesome Illinois Caverns of Monroe County, often considered comparable to KY's Mammoth Cave.  This sparsely populated region produces some coal and warmer weather crops, including cotton.    

Illinois students reap the benefits of a top-notch educational system.  The Chicago Metro Area is an international center for research and higher education.  Two of the top research universities in the nation are the University of Chicago and Northwestern University of Evanston.  Illinois ranks 5^th nationally for numbers of higher-learning facilities, with 188 institutions spread through out the state.  More than 90% of graduates stay within Illinois to work. 

Sports are a passion for Illinois residents, and fans support the many Chicago sports teams as well as St. Louis teams.  Natural beauty abounds here, with numerous outdoor activity destinations, such as the Shawnee National Forest and the rugged Starved Rock State Park.  To the delight of history buffs, Illinois has 1,425 historic sites listed in the National Historic Register.