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 Seats for Forklifts Illinois - Illinois is the 5th most densely inhabited state in the United States and is the most populated state within the Midwest region. Most of its people, about 65 percent, are located in the Chicago metropolitan area. The environment of Illinois reflects a small-town or rural character. The state of Illinois is often noted as being a microcosm for the whole country.
There are a great abundance of natural resources within the state of Illinois including coal and petroleum in the south. In the central and northern regions of the state there are great agricultural productivity and small industrial cities. With Chicago in the northeast, Illinois has a large economic base. The state of Illinois is a vital 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 many years. Voted as the "most average state," the state of Illinois has had a long reputation as a bellwether in both cultural and politics and social terms.
During the year 1818, Illinois finally achieved its statehood. Early settlers started arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s, and after some time the state started to grow quickly. On the banks of the Chicago River, the city of Chicago was founded during the 1830's. This is among the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Illinois' rich prairie land became among the worlds most valuable and productive farmlands with the invention of John Deer's self-scouring steel plow and the railroads. Immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden arrived to live.
The growth of the several industrial jobs along with coal mining in the 1900s began to attract the many immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois became an important manufacturing center through both of WWI and WWII. The Great African American Migration from the rural South to Chicago created a large community that founded the city's well-known jazz and blues cultures.
There have been 3 United States Presidents voted while residing within Illinois. These were Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, although, the only President who was raised and born within Illinois was Ronald Reagan. The official slogan of the state "Land of Lincoln" is displayed on the states' license plates these days as a way to honor and commemorate Abraham Lincoln.
Economy
In the year 2008, Illinois' gross state product was roughly $634 billion and the state's per capita gross state product that same year was about $40,006. During 2009, the per capita personal income in the state of Illinois was projected to be $41,411. In March 2010, the state reported an unemployment rate of 11.5%. By May, this figure had lessened to 10.8%.
Manufacturing
Illinois is proud to be among the United State's leading manufacturers. They boast annual value added productivity by manufacturing more than $107 billion in 2006. Approximately 3/4 of the state's manufacturers are situated in the Northeastern Opportunity Return Region and 38 percent of Illinois' around eighteen thousand nine hundred manufacturing plants are located in Cook County.
According to the statistics of 2006, the leading manufacturing companies in the state of Illinois based upon value-added were $18.3 billion in manufacturing chemicals, $13.4 billion in manufacturing equipment, $12.9 billion in food manufacturing, $11.5 billion in fabricated metal products, $7.4 billion in transportation machines, $7.0 billion in rubber and plastic products and $6.1 billion in electronic and computer equipment.
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