ILLINOIS, one of the interior states of the
American Union, the eighth admitted under
the federal constitution, and now the fourth
in population. It is situated between lat. 36°
59' and 42° 30' N., and lon. 87° 35' and 91° 40'
W.; extreme length N. and S. 385 m., extreme
breadth E. and W. 218 m.; area, 55,410 sq. m. It is bounded N. by Wisconsin, N. E. by Lake Michigan, E. by Indiana, from which it is separated in part by the Wabash river, S. E. and S. by Kentucky, from which it is separated by the Ohio, and S. W. and W. by Missouri and Iowa, from which it is separated by the Mississippi.
The state is divided into 102 counties, viz.: Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Cook, Crawford, Cumberland, De Kalb, De Witt, Douglas, Du Page, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Fulton, Gallatin, Greene, Grundy, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lake, La Salle, Lawrence, Lee, Livingstone, Logan, McDonough, McHenry, McLean, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Massac, Menard, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Perry, Piatt, Pike, Pope, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Richland, Rock Island, St. Clair, Saline, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Union, Vermilion, Wabash,
Washington, Wayne, White, Whitesides, Will, Williamson, Winnebago, and Woodford. Springfield, near the geographical centre of the state, lat. 39° 48' N., lon. 89° 45' W., is the seat of government; it is situated in the midst of a fine agricultural district, and has an active trade, being well supplied with railroad transportation. Chicago is the commercial metropolis, and the largest city on the northern lakes. Kaskaskia and Cahokia are the oldest towns in Illinois, having been founded by the French some time between 1680 and 1690. Kaskaskia was the first capital, and so remained till 1818, when the government was removed to Vandalia, and thence to Springfield in 1836. According to the census of 1870, the cities of Illinois were: Alton, pop. 8,665; Amboy, 2,825; Anna, 1,269; Aurora, 11,162; Belleville, 8,146; Bloomington, 14,590; Bushnell, 2,003; Cairo, 6,267; Centralia, 3,190; Champaign, 4,625; Chicago, 298,977; Danville, 4,751; Decatur, 7,161; Dixon, 4,055; Elgin, 5,441; El Paso, 1,564; Freeport, 7,889; Galena, 7,019; Galesburg, 10,158; Jacksonville, 9,203; Joliet, 7,263; La Salle, 5,200; Litchfield, 3,852; Macomb, 2,748; Mendota, 3,546; Monmouth, 4,662; Morris, 3,138; Mount Carmel, 1,640; Olney, 2,860; Ottawa, 7,736; Pekin, 5,696; Peoria, 22,849; Peru, 3,650; Quincy, 24,052; Rockford, 11,049; Rock Island, 7,890; Shelbyville, 2,051; Springfield, 17,364; Sterling, 3,998; Watseka, 1,551; and Waukegan, 4,507. The population of Illinois has been as follows:
Of the total population in 1870, 1,316,537 were
males and 1,223,354 females; 2,024,693 were
of native and 515,198 of foreign birth. Of
the former, 1,189,503 were born in the state; of the foreigners, 32,550 were born in British America, 3,711 in Denmark, 10,911 in France, 203,758 in Germany, 53,871 in England, 120,162 in Ireland, 15,737 in Scotland, 3,146 in Wales, 4,180 in Holland, 11,880 in Norway, 29,979 in Sweden, and 8,980 in Switzerland. The density of population was 45.84 to the square mile. There were 474,533 families, with an average of 5.35 persons to each, and 464,155 dwellings, with an average of 5.47 persons to each. The increase of population from 1860 to 1870 was 48.36 per cent. The number of male citizens 21 years old and upward was 542,833. There were in the state 818,766; persons from 5 to 18 years of age; the number that attended school was 548,225; 86,368, 10 years of age and over, could not read, and 133,584 could not write. Of the latter, 90,595 were of native and 42,989 of foreign birth;