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Illinois
The Prairie State, hinge of the Midwest
Illinois sits at the crossing point of the Midwest, where the Great Lakes meet the Mississippi River system and rail lines from every direction converge on Chicago. Most of the state is flat to gently rolling prairie, laid down by glaciers and now plowed into some of the richest farmland on the continent. Lake Michigan laps its northeastern corner, the Mississippi forms its entire western edge, and the Ohio River closes off the south, making Illinois a state almost ringed by navigable water.
That position — fertile interior, lake port, and river highways — turned Chicago into the great hub of the American heartland, the meeting place of grain, livestock, and railroads. South of the metro, the land flattens into corn and soybean country reaching toward the Ohio Valley, where the terrain finally breaks into low hills. The high point, Charles Mound at 1,235 feet (376 m), is tucked in the unglaciated northwest corner. Springfield, near the center, has served as the capital since the days of Abraham Lincoln.
Economy
Illinois has a large and diverse economy centered on Chicago, a global hub of finance and futures trading, transportation, and logistics - its rail yards and O'Hare airport make it the freight crossroads of the country. Manufacturing remains significant, and the downstate prairies are among the most productive corn and soybean lands on Earth.
Politics
Illinois carries 19 electoral votes and reliably votes Democratic in presidential elections, its politics anchored by Chicago and surrounding Cook County, the second-most-populous county in the nation. The rural downstate regions lean Republican, but the weight of the Chicago metropolitan area keeps the state firmly Democratic statewide.