Before Illinois was settled by Europeans, Native Americans inhabited the areas around the Illinois River and its waterways for at least 7,000 years before European contact. The Cahokia chiefdom was one of the largest cultures in the Illinois area. As time progressed, a new tribal group emerged in the area known as the Illini. The first American settlers in Illinois entered the state from the south. Many came from Kentucky and Tennessee, although there were a few from the north and east, and some who had emigrated from Europe. The forests of Southern Illinois provided these settlers with timber for housing and streams for transportation and mills. Settlement spread northward along the forested streams and rivers.
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| Chicago Metro Area in Purple |
Chicago is the largest city in the state and the third most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2,695,598 in 2010. The U.S. Census Bureau currently lists seven other cities with populations of over 100,000 within Illinois. Based on the Census Bureau's official 2010 population, Aurora's population was 197,899. Rockford, at 152,871, is the third largest city in the state, and is also the largest city in the state not located within the Chicago metropolitan area. Joliet, located southwest of Chicago, is the fourth largest city in the state, with a population of 147,433. Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, is fifth with 141,853. Springfield, the state capital of Illinois, comes in sixth with 117,352. Peoria comes in seventh with 115,007. The eighth largest and final city in the 100,000 range is Elgin, a northwest suburb of Chicago with a 2010 population of 108,188. The most populated city in the state south of Springfield is Belleville, with 44,478 people. It is located in the Illinois portion of Greater St. Louis, or Metro-East Area, which has a rapidly growing population of over 700,000 people. Other major urban areas include the Champaign-Urbana Metro Area, which has a combined population of almost 230,000 people, the Illinois portion of the Quad Cities area with about 215,000 people, and the Bloomington-Normal area with a combined population of over 165,000.
Religion:
Roman Catholics are the single largest religion in Illinois, being heavily concentrated in and around Chicago, and account for nearly 30% of the state's population. In 2000 Catholics in Illinois numbered nearly four million and the largest Protestant group was the United Methodist Church, with over 365,000 members, and the Southern Baptist Convention with nearly 306,000. Jews constituted the largest non-Christian group with 270,000. Chicago and its suburbs are also home to a large and growing population of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
Statistics:
2010 resident census population (rank): 12,830,632 (5)
Male: 6,292,276 (49.3%)
Female: 6,538,356 (50.7%)
White: 9,177,877 (71.5%)
Black: 1,866,414 (14.5%)
American Indian: 43,963 (0.3%)
Asian: 586,934 (4.6%)
Other race: 861,412 (6.8%)
Two or more races: 289,982 (2.3%)
Hispanic/Latino: 2,027,578 (15.8%)
2010 population 18 and over: 9,701,453
65 and over: 1,609,213
median age: 36.6.
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