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City Overview
Chicago, the seat of Illinois's Cook County and the third largest city in the country, is the focus of a consolidated metropolitan statistical area that covers the primary metropolitan statistical areas of Gary, Indiana; Kankakee, Illinois; and Kenosha, Wisconsin. "Brawling" was the word Carl Sandburg applied to Chicago in his poem about the city. No longer the "Hog Butcher for the World," at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Chicago is still an enthusiastically combative city with a lively political life. A railroad hub in the latter half of the nineteenth century, when its population had already reached 300,000 people, Chicago became a major force in the nation's development. Today, it is a national transportation, industrial, telecommunications, and financial leader as well as a city of great architectural significance, ethnic diversity, and cultural wealth. The only inland urban area to rank with major East and West Coast metropolises, Chicago has achieved international status through the quality of its cultural institutions and its position as a world financial center. More
City Facts
Founded: 1830 (incorporated 1837)
Head Official: Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) (since 1989)
City Population 1980: 3,005,000
1990: 2,783,726
2000: 2,896,016
2003 estimate: 2,869,121
Percent change, 1990–2000: 4%
U.S. rank in 1980: 2nd
U.S. rank in 1990: 3rd (State rank: 1st)
U.S. rank in 2000: 3rd (State rank: 1st)
Metropolitan Area Population (PMSA) 1980: 7,937,290
1990: 7,410,858
2000: 9,157,450
Percent change, 1990–2000: 23.6%
U.S. rank in 1980: 3rd
U.S. rank in 1990: 3rd
U.S. rank in 2000: 3rd
Area: 228.4 square miles (2000)
Elevation: 578.5 feet above sea level
Average Annual Temperature: 49.8° F
Average Annual Precipitation: 35.82 inches
Major Economic Sectors: Services, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, government
Unemployment Rate: 6.4% (February 2005)
Per Capita Income: $20,175 (1999)
2002 FBI Crime Index Total: Not Reported
Major Colleges and Universities: University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Chicago; DePaul University; Loyola University of Chicago
Daily Newspapers: Chicago Tribune; Chicago Sun-Times
Historical Snapshot
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