Chicago

Call it Chi-town, call it The Windy City, call it what you will--Chicago's skyline, arts scene, and Great Lake location go hand in hand with the friendly flavor of the Midwest.

Chicago is the largest city in the state of Illinois, the largest in the Midwest, and, with a population of 2.8 million people, is the third-most populous city in the United States. The Chicago metropolitan area (colloquially known as Chicagoland) has a population of over 9.5 million people in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, making it also the third largest metropolitan area in the United States.

Chicago is located in Cook County which, with a population of 5,376,741 (2000), is the second most populous in the United States. Chicago is located along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and is a major center of transportation, industry, politics, culture, finance, medicine and higher education.

Chicago is the financial, business, and cultural capital of the Midwest. Founded in 1833 at the site of a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed, it soon became a transportation hub of North America. By the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, it was one of the ten most influential world cities, a distinction it continues to hold.