The state of Illinois is located in the country’s Midwest. It shares borders with the Wabash and Ohio rivers to the south, the Mississippi River to the west, and Lake Michigan to the northeast.[b] Illinois is the state with the fifth-highest GDP, sixth-largest population, and 25th-most land area among the 50 states in the union. Chicago and the Metro East of Greater St. Louis, together with Peoria, Rockford, Champaign–Urbana, and the state capital of Springfield, are among its most populous cities.

With the world-famous metropolis of Chicago in the northeast, significant industrial and agricultural centers in the north and center, and natural resources like coal, wood, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a very diverse economy. Because to its advantageous terrain and central location,