Chicago is the third most populous city in the United States, located in northeastern Illinois on the shore of Lake Michigan. As of today, Chicago has approximately 2.7 million residents in the city and its metropolitan area is home to over 9.8 million people, making it the third largest metro area in the country. Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 and has since become a major global city and international hub for finance, commerce, industry, and transportation.

1. Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in Illinois and the
third most populous city in the United States.
The city has approximately 2.7 million
residents.Its metropolitan area, sometimes
called 'Chicagoland', is the third-largest in the
United States, after New York City and Los
Angeles,with an estimated 9.8 million people.
Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837,
near a portage between the Great Lakes and
the Mississippi River watershed.Today,
Chicago is listed as an alpha+ global city by
the Globalization and World Cities Research
Network, and ranks seventh in the world in
the 2012 Global Cities Index. The city is an
international hub for finance, commerce,
industry, telecommunications, and
transportation, with O'Hare International
Airport being the second-busiest airport in
the world in terms of traffic movements. is
one of the most important Worldwide
Centers of Commerce and trade.
Clockwise from top: Downtown Chicago, the
Chicago Theatre, the Chicago 'L', Navy Pier,
Millennium Park, the Field Museum, and the
Willis (formerly Sears) Tower

2. Flag Seal

3. History
During the mid-18th century, the area was
inhabited by a Native American tribe known as
the Potawatomi, who had taken the place of
the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples. The
1780s saw the arrival of the first known non-
indigenous permanent settler in Chicago, Jean
Baptiste Point du Sable, who is believed to be
of Haitian and French descent.In 1795,
following the Northwest Indian War, an area
that was to be part of Chicago was turned over
to the United States for a military post by
native tribes in concordance with the Treaty of
Greenville.
The name "Chicago" is derived from a French rendering of the Native
American word shikaakwa, translated as "wild onion" or "wild garlic,"
from the Miami-Illinois language.The first known reference to the site of
the current city of Chicago as "Checagou" was by Robert de LaSalle
around 1679 in a memoir written about the time.The wild garlic plants,
Allium tricoccum, were described by LaSalle's comrade, naturalist-diarist
Henri Joutel, in his journal of LaSalle's last expedition.
State and Madison Streets, the busiest corner
in Chicago (1897)

4. 20th and 21st centuries
The capsizing of the Eastland steamer on the
Chicago River in 1915 was Chicago's worst
disaster, claiming 844 lives. The 1920s saw
gangsters, including Al Capone, battle law
enforcement and each other on the streets of
Chicago during the Prohibition era. In 1924,
Chicago was the first American city to have a
homosexual-rights organization, the Society for
Human Rights. This organization produced the
first American publication for gays, Friendship
and Freedom.
The 1920s also saw a major expansion in
industry. The availability of jobs attracted
blacks from the South. Between 1910 and
1930, the black population of Chicago
dramatically increased from 44,103 to
233,903.Arriving in the hundreds of thousands
during the Great Migration, the newcomers
had an immense cultural impact. It was during
this wave that Chicago became a center for
jazz, with King Oliver leading the way.
The Chicago River is the south border (right) of
the Near North Side and Streeterville and the
north border (left) of Chicago Loop, Lakeshore
East and Illinois Center (from Lake Shore
Drive's Link Bridge with Trump International
Hotel and Tower at jog in the river in the
center)

6. Geography
Topography
Downtown and the North Side with beaches
lining the waterfront
Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois on the
southwestern shores of Lake Michigan. It is the
principal city in Chicago Metropolitan Area situated
in the Midwestern United States and the Great
Lakes region. Chicago rests on a continental divide at
the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the
Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds.
The city lies beside huge freshwater Lake Michigan,
and two rivers— the Chicago River in downtown and
the Calumet River in the industrial far South Side –
flow entirely or partially through Chicago. Chicago is
a world port city as the St Lawrence Seaway
connects Lake Michigan with the Atlantic Ocean.
The Chicago Loop is the central business
district, but Chicago is also a city of
neighborhoods. Lake Shore Drive runs
adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's
lakefront. Some of the parks along the
waterfront include Lincoln Park, Grant
Park, Burnham Park and Jackson Park.
Chicago Half
Marathon on Lake
Shore Drive next to
Harold Washington
Park on the South
Side

7. Cityscape
Chicago skyline April 18, 2009, from Northerly Island looking west.
Chicago August 9, 2010, from John Hancock Center looking south.

8. Parks
Portage Park on the Northwest Side and Washington Square Park on the Near North Side.
When Chicago was incorporated in 1837, it chose the motto Urbs in Horto, a Latin phrase which
translates into English as "City in a Garden". Today, the Chicago Park District consists of 552
parks with over 7,300 acres (3,000 ha) of municipal parkland. There are 33 sand Chicago
beaches, a plethora of museums, two world-class conservatories, 16 historic lagoons, and 10
bird and wildlife gardens.Lincoln Park, the largest of the city's parks, covers 1,200 acres (490 ha)
and has over 20 million visitors each year, making it second only to Central Park in New York City
in number of visitors.With berths for more than 5,000 boats, the Chicago Park District operates
the nation's largest municipal harbor system; even larger than systems in cities such as New
York City, Los Angeles, or Miami.

9. Sports
Top: Soldier Field; Bottom: Wrigley Field
The Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) are one of the most recognized basketball teams in
the world. During the 1990s with Michael Jordan leading them, the Bulls took six NBA championships in eight
seasons. The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), who began play in 1926, and are one of the
"Original Six", teams of the National Hockey League (NHL), have won four Stanley Cups. The Blackhawks are the
2010 Stanley Cup champions, and hosted the 2009 NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. Both the Bulls and
Blackhawks play at the United Center on the Near West Side. The Chicago Rush has been a member of the Arena
Football League since 2001 and won ArenaBowl XX, playing in suburban Rosemont. The Arena Football League front
office is also in Chicago. The Chicago Fire are members of Major League Soccer and reside at Toyota Park in
suburban Bridgeview, after playing its first eight seasons at Soldier Field. The Fire have won one league title and
four U.S. Open Cups since their founding in 1997.