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Illinois serves as the heart of America both geographically and culturally. As the hub of a vast transportation network, Illinois is where East and West, North and South meet and mix. Big cities and small towns, quiet farms and heavy industry are all important parts of this microcosmic America.
Proudly calling itself the "Land of Lincoln," and this is evidence of Lincoln’s greatness is that is everywhere in Illinois. The word "ILLINOIS" is the French form of the Algonquin name ILLINI which means "superior men." It is how some Native Americans in this area referred to themselves.
Also known as the "Prairie State," Illinois is a part of the vast grassland in Central North America that once stretched from Indiana West to Nebraska, South to Texas and North to the Canadian Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta with outlying areas in Ohio and Arkansas. This vast grassland, called the tallgrass prairie, was not uniform throughout except for the presence of "tall" grass. The prairies of Illinois were different from those of Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, or Wisconsin. One prairie type graded almost imperceptibly into another, forming one huge, complex, grassland biome.
Great pride in Illinoisians is due to its thousands of world-class businesses and public services. The sprawling Chicago district (including a slice of Indiana) is a great iron and steel producer, meat packer, grain exchange, and railroad center. Chicago is also famous as a Great Lakes port. Illinois is a leading producer of soybeans, corn, and hogs. Other agricultural commodities include cattle, wheat, oats, sorghum, and hay.
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