As the early pioneers moved westward, the barren Illinois landscape--periodically burned off by Native Americans to drive out game--was their first encounter with long stretches of treeless plains. The flat grassland that the 19th-century settlers called the Prairie State has been transformed into one of the most vital sections of the North American continent.
The once lonely prairies are crossed in every direction by transportation routes that have made Illinois a continental hub for commerce and travel. Centrally located, south and west of Lake Michigan, it is close to both raw materials and markets. Downstate, beneath the southern two thirds of the land, lie oil deposits and large reserves of bituminous coal sufficient to meet the needs of the world for more than a century.
The northern half of Illinois is dotted with industrial cities like Rockford and Chicago--long known as America's Second City until Los Angeles passed it in population in the mid-1980s. The diverse manufactures produced in urban industrial complexes are the state's leading source of wealth. Most of the Prairie State is fertile farmland--seemingly endless, gently rolling miles of black loam. Half a hundred crops are grown on this land that ranks with the richest on Earth. The farms yield an agricultural income exceeded only by that of California, Texas, Iowa, and Nebraska.
The name of the state comes from an Indian word Iliniwek, meaning men. Early fur trappers altered the name with the French suffix ois to indicate tribe, and it was later spelled Illinois. In addition to the nickname Prairie State, Illinois was called the Sucker State--a possible allusion to the seasonal migrations of Downstate (southern Illinois) miners to and from northern mines, much like the movements of spawning suckerfish. Illinois is popularly called the Land of Lincoln after the 16th president. Illinois was where Abraham Lincoln became a lawyer, entered politics, married, served as a congressman, and was nominated for the presidency in 1860. His remains are at Oak Ridge cemetery in Springfield, and his last home in Springfield is a national historic site.
Illinois lies in the north-central part of the United States. It is bordered on the north by Wisconsin. To the west the Mississippi River separates Illinois from Iowa and Missouri. On the south the Ohio River forms the boundary with Kentucky. To the east is Indiana, with the Wabash River forming part of the boundary. The northeastern part of the state stretches along Lake Michigan for 63 miles (101 kilometers). The state's greatest length, north to south, is 385 miles (620 kilometers). Its greatest width is 218 miles (351 kilometers), near the middle of the state. The total area is 56,345 square miles (145,933 square kilometers), including 700 square miles (1,813 square kilometers) of inland water surface. Illinois's Lake Michigan area is 1,526 square miles (3,952 kilometers).
