The state of Illinois is also called "Land of Lincoln; The Prairie State". Their moto is State sovereignty, national union. The official languages are English. The spoken languages are English (80.8%) Spanish (10.9%) Polish (1.6%) Other (5.1%). The largest city in Illinois is Chicago. Before statehood it was called Illinois Territory. Illinois's government is comprised of the Governor, who is currently Pat Quinn (D), Lieutenant Governor, who is currently Sheila Simon (D), Senators: Dick Durbin (D), Mark Kirk (R), House Delegation: 11 Republicans, 8 Democrats (list).The legislature is General Assembly.

Total area for Illinois is 57,914 sq mi (149,998 km2) (Ranked 25th in the U.S.). The width is 210 miles (340 km) and the length is 395 miles (629 km). In terms of latitude and longitude we have: 36° 58′ N to 42° 30′ N and 87° 30′ W to 91° 31′ W. According to the 2010 United States Census, the total population is 12,869,257 (2011 est) (Ranked 5th in the U.S.). This equates to a population density of 232/sq mi  (89.4/km2) Ranked 12th in the U.S.. The highest point is Charles Mound 1,235 ft (376.4 m) and the lowest point is Confluence of Mississippi River and Ohio River 280 ft (85 m).

The local time zone is Central: UTC-6/-5. The abbreviations used for this state are IL, Ill., US-IL. Additional information and the official website of the state is found at www.illinois.gov.

Short Description
Illinois (i/ˌɪlɨˈnɔɪ/ il-i-noy) is the 25th most extensive and the 5th most populous of the 50 United States, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes, via the St. Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois River. For decades, O'Hare International Airport has ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. As the 'most average state', Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics.

In the 1810s, settlers began arriving from Kentucky. In 1818 Illinois achieved statehood. The state's population originally grew from south to north. Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Railroads and John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois' rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmlands, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars. The Great Migration established a large community of African Americans in Chicago that created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures.

Three U.S. Presidents have been elected while living in Illinois—Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama. Additionally, President Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only US President actually born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan, Land of Lincoln, which has been displayed on its license plates since 1954.