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Chicago metropolitan area

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The Chicagoland region is colored red.

Chicagoland is a name given to the Chicago metropolitan area; the label originated in the pages of the Chicago Tribune in the early twentieth century. Chicago is the center of this metropolitan area and is the focal point for the surrounding suburban communities, located in nine counties in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Chicagoland is a concept comparable to the Tri-State Area around New York City.

Overview

The Chicago–Joliet–Naperville–Gary, Indiana–Kenosha, Wisconsin Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area had 9,157,540 inhabitants during the 2000 census. Population estimates for 2003 place the Chicagoland population at approximately 9,650,000, which would make it tied for 25th most populous metropolitan area in the world. Chicagoland runs together with Suburban Milwaukee creating a megalopolis region.

The suburbs, surrounded by easily annexed flat ground, have been expanding at a tremendous rate since the early 1960s. Settlement patterns in Chicagoland tend to follow those in the city proper: the northern suburbs along the shore of Lake Michigan are comparatively affluent, while the southern suburbs are less so, with lower median incomes and a lower cost of living. The southern portion of Chicagoland is occasionally called Illiana.

Origin

The publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Col. Robert R. McCormick, was an inveterate civic booster. In his view, Chicagoland was the vast region in the center of the country, with Chicago as its economic and cultural capital. In many ways, what McCormick envisioned as Chicagoland is now described by the term flyover country.

The original impetus for the term is long forgotten; the meaning of Chicago metropolitan area is largely perpetuated by advertisers, e.g. "See your Chicagoland Ford dealer".

List of counties

Illinois

Indiana

Wisconsin

Anchor cities

Major airports

Suburbs with more than 100,000 inhabitants

Illinois

Suburbs with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants

Illinois

Indiana

Wisconsin

Suburbs with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants

Illinois

Indiana

Wisconsin

See also

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