Illinois
- Code:IL
- Type:state
- Population:12.8M (2020)
- Area:149,998 km²
- Elevation:191 m
- Capital:Springfield
Introduction
Illinois is the most populous state of the American Midwest and the economic anchor of the region — a roughly rectangular expanse of about 12.5 million people stretching from the shore of Lake Michigan down to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Its character is really two states in one: the vast Chicago metropolitan area in the northeast, home to around three-quarters of the population, and the flat, immensely fertile prairie downstate, one of the most productive corn and soybean landscapes on earth, punctuated by the capital at Springfield and a scatter of river and college towns. Nicknamed the Prairie State and, more fondly, the “Land of Lincoln” for the president who built his career in Springfield, Illinois grew rich as the railroad, grain and manufacturing crossroads of the continent, and Chicago remains one of the great global cities — a financial-exchange, transport and cultural hub whose O'Hare ranks among the world's busiest airports. The Mississippi forms the entire western border, the Illinois River threads the centre, and Lake Michigan gives Chicago a freshwater coastline of beaches, harbours and an eighteen-mile lakefront path.
Overview
Almost everyone comes to Illinois for Chicago, and Chicago earns it — the city that invented the skyscraper, hangs one of the world's great art collections on Michigan Avenue, and argues happily about deep-dish versus thin-crust while a blues club warms up down the street. It is one of the genuinely great American cities, walkable and architectural and strung along an eighteen-mile stretch of freshwater lakefront. Yet the state around it is far bigger than its headline act: Route 66 begins downtown and runs out across a prairie of Lincoln history, river towns and, in the deep south, sandstone canyons that almost no first-time visitor expects. Come any time between late spring and autumn and the whole state opens up, from the festival-packed lakefront summer to the fire-coloured downstate fall.
Discover Illinois
Chicago is where the modern skyscraper was born after the Great Fire of 1871, and it remains the best city in the world to look at buildings. The classic introduction is a Chicago Architecture Center river cruise, which reads the skyline from the water; from there the Willis Tower Skydeck and the 360 Chicago observation deck on the old Hancock building give the aerial view, and the Loop's canyons of Sullivan, Burnham, Mies van der Rohe and their successors reward slow walking. The lakefront is the city's other masterpiece: Millennium Park with Anish Kapoor's mirrored “Cloud Gate” — universally known as “The Bean” — and the Pritzker Pavilion, the free summer concerts, the Riverwalk, Navy Pier's Ferris wheel, and an eighteen-mile Lakefront Trail that runs past beaches and harbours from the north side to the south. The elevated “L” trains looping the downtown are themselves part of the experience.
Ways to Experience This Destination
The birthplace of the skyscraper — a river cruise past the Loop, the Willis Tower and 360 Chicago decks, Millennium Park's “Cloud Gate,” and Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie School houses in Oak Park and Hyde Park.
The Art Institute of Chicago, the lakefront Museum Campus (Field Museum's “Sue,” the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium) and the Museum of Science and Industry — a top-rank collection of art and science within a short walk or L ride.
Deep-dish and tavern-thin pizza, the Italian beef and the ketchup-free Chicago hot dog, neighbourhood taquerías and dim sum, and a blues-and-jazz heritage still playing nightly from Buddy Guy's Legends to the free summer Blues Festival.
The eighteen-mile Lakefront Trail, Millennium Park and the Riverwalk, Navy Pier and the North Avenue beaches — Chicago's freshwater coast is made for cycling, running, sailing and free summer concerts.
Springfield's Lincoln Home, Old State Capitol, tomb and the immersive Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum make the capital the essential downstate stop for anyone drawn to American history.
The mother road from downtown Chicago across the prairie, the sandstone canyons of Starved Rock State Park, the Mississippi bluffs of the Great River Road and the Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee National Forest — the road-trip half of Illinois.
Frequently asked questions
Cities in Illinois
Visaja keeps this page's contact details and visa guidance under continuous review — still, requirements can change at short notice, so confirm the essentials with the mission or the official government portal before you travel.