Illinois is the 21st U.S. state and is located in the Midwest region of the United States of America. The state is the most populous in the Midwest, and the fifth most populous in the nation. Illinois is known for its large and diverse population; its balance of rural areas, small industrial cities, vast suburbs and a great metropolis; its highly diverse economic base; and its central location that has made it a transportation hub for 150 years. It is this mixture of factory and farm, of urban and rural that makes Illinois a microcosm of the United States...