Illinois (pronounced or "ill-i-NOY") is the 21st U.S. state and is located in the Midwest region of the United States of America. The state is known for its large and diverse population, its balance of rural areas, small industrial cities, vast suburbs and great metropolis, its highly diverse economic base, and its central location that has made it a transportation hub for 150 years. It is this mixture of factory and farm, of urban and rural that makes Illinois a microcosm of the nation.

About 2000 Native American hunters inhabited the area at the time of the American Revolution, and by a small number of French villagers. American settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s; they achieved statehood in 1818. Yankees arrived a little later and dominated the north, creating the metropolis of Chicago in the 1830s. The coming of the railroads in the 1850s made highly profitable the rich prairie farmlands in central Illinois, attracting large numbers of immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. Northern Illinois, strongly Republican, provided major support for Illinoisans Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. By 1900, factories were being rapidly built in the northern cities, along with coal mines in central and southern areas, attracting large numbers of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois was a major arsenal in both world wars; large numbers of blacks left the cotton fields of the South to come to Chicago, where they developed a famous jazz culture.

The state is named for the Illinois River which was named by French explorers after the indigenous Illiniwek people, a consortium of Algonquian tribes that thrived in the area. The word Illiniwek means "tribe of superior men."State of Illinois. Illinois Symbols. Accessed on April 20, 2006

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from THE CAGED ROCK, 7O'S GANGSTERS, "Salvatore was from the south too---Sicily."http://tr.im/HKSQ
icepickbooks (bigmo) Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:59:27 -0000
from THE CAGED ROCK, 7O'S GANGSTERS, "Salvatore was from the south too---Sicily."http://tr.im/HKSQ
@Nicky_it I'm originally from Glasgow. A member of one of those many Scots-Italian families (origin: Sicily)
mr_omneo (Mr Omneo) Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:24:45 -0000
@Nicky_it I'm originally from Glasgow. A member of one of those many Scots-Italian families (origin: Sicily)
"My life predicted by a gypsy, I'll one day walk into shots drunk off champagne from Sicily"
LuckySeven30 (Lucky Seven) Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:07:28 -0000
"My life predicted by a gypsy, I'll one day walk into shots drunk off champagne from Sicily"
@carolyneweldon yep the Bro's and the Kelan were in Italy last week, there's talk of a a show in Sicily next summer, maybe the world cup
LAVONASOLCYRAN (SOL CYRANS ) Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:01:21 -0000
@carolyneweldon yep the Bro's and the Kelan were in Italy last week, there's talk of a a show in Sicily next summer, maybe the world cup
@DutchessAbroad Just came back from Malta. Flew over the Sicily! Missed opportunity huh?
Derek_Haines (Derek Haines, Author) Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:37:46 -0000
@DutchessAbroad Just came back from Malta. Flew over the Sicily! Missed opportunity huh?
@Derek_Haines market for your music may be on Sicily, friend from Austin, TX scores high on the isle. Closer to home no?
DutchessAbroad (Judith van Praag) Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:30:19 -0000
@Derek_Haines market for your music may be on Sicily, friend from Austin, TX scores high on the isle. Closer to home no?

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