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 Forklift Masts Illinois - Illinois is the fifth most heavily populated state within the USA and is the most inhabited state within the Midwest region. Most of its residents, about 65%, are situated in the Chicago metropolitan area. The surroundings of Illinois reflects a small-town or rural character. The state of Illinois is normally noted as being a microcosm for the whole nation.
There are various natural resources situated in Illinois including: petroleum, timber and coal in the south. The central and northern portions of the state house small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity. With Chicago within the northeast, Illinois has a large economic base. The state of Illinois is a fundamental transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the Great lakes to the Mississippi River through the Illinois River. O'Hare International Airport has been considered among the world's busiest airports for numerous years. Voted as the "most average state," the state of Illinois has had a long reputation as a bellwether in both politics and social and cultural terms.
Illinois achieved its statehood during the year 1818. Settlers started arriving from Kentucky during the 1810s and within some time, the state filled up from north to south. Chicago city was established during the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River. This is amongst the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Illinois' rich prairie land became some of the worlds most valuable and productive farmlands with the invention of John Deer's self-scouring steel plow and the railroads. Immigrant farmers from Sweden and Germany came to live.
The growth of industrial jobs in the 1900s amongst the cities in the north, together with coal mining within the central and southern regions of the state, attracted several immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Illinois became an important manufacturing center all through both of WWI and WWII. The Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to Chicago created a large community that founded the city's well-known blues and jazz cultures.
There have been 3 United States Presidents voted while residing in Illinois. These were Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, although, the only President who was born and raised within Illinois was Ronald Reagan. The official state slogan "Land of Lincoln" is shown on the states' license plates today as a way to commemorate and honor Lincoln.
Economy
All through the year 2008, Illinois' gross state product was around $634 billion and the state's per capita gross state product that same year was around $40,006. In the year 2009, the per capita personal income in Illinois was projected to be $41,411. In March the year 2010, the state of Illinois reported an unemployment rate of 11.5%. By May, this figure had dropped to 10.8%.
Manufacturing
The state of Illinois is proud to be among the United State's top manufacturers. They boast yearly value added productivity by manufacturing more than one hundred seven billion dollars during 2006. Roughly three-quarters of the state's manufacturers are located within the Northeastern Opportunity Return Region and 38% of Illinois' around eighteen thousand nine hundred manufacturing plants are located within Cook County.
The top manufacturing businesses within Illinois based upon value-added were according to the 2006 statistics $18.3 billion in manufacturing chemicals, $13.4 billion in manufacturing machines, $12.9 billion in food manufacturing, $11.5 billion in fabricated metal products, $7.4 billion in transportation equipment, $7.0 billion in plastics and rubber products and $6.1 billion in computer and electronic machinery.
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