Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Chicago shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Chicago offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Chicago at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Chicago? Wrong! If the Chicago is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Chicago then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Chicago? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Chicago and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Chicago wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Chicago then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Chicago site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Chicago, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Chicago, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox City |official_name = City of Chicago|nickname = "List of nicknames for Chicago", "List of nicknames for Chicago", "List of nicknames for Chicago", "Chicago (poem)", "Chicago (poem)", "The City That Works"|motto = "Urbs in Horto" (Latin: "City in a Garden"), "I Will"] and Illinois|subdivision_type = Countries of the world|subdivision_type1 = U.S. state|subdivision_type2 = List of counties in Illinois|subdivision_name = United States|subdivision_name2 = [Cook County, Illinois, DuPage County, Illinois|leader_title = Mayor of Chicago|leader_name = Richard M. Daley|leader_party = D|area_magnitude = 1 E8|area_total_sq_mi = 234.0|area_total_km2 = 606.2|area_land_sq_mi = 227.2|area_land_km2 = 588.3|area_water_sq_mi = 6.9|area_water_km2 = 17.9|area_water_percent=3.0|area_urban_km2 = 5498.1|area_urban_sq_mi = 2122.8|area_metro_km2 = 28163|area_metro_sq_mi = 10874|population_as_of = 2006|population_total = 2,873,321 |population_urban = 8,711,000|population_metro = 9,505,748|population_density_sq_mi = 12470|population_density_km2 = 4816|timezone = North American Central Time Zone|utc_offset = -6|timezone_DST = North American Central Time Zone|utc_offset_DST = -5|elevation_m = 179|elevation_ft = 586|latd = 41|latm = 52|lats = 55|latNS = N|longd = 87|longm = 37|longs = 40|longEW = W|established_title = Settled|established_date = 1770s|established_title2 = Municipal corporation|established_date2 = March 4 1837|footnotes =--> This article is about the United States city in the state of Illinois. For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). Chicago ( or ; shi-kah-go, or shi-kaw-go) is the largest city in the state of Illinois, the largest in the Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 2.9 million people, the city is the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Rich in history and renowned for its architecture, Chicago is classified as an Global city. It is the anchor of the Chicago metropolitan area, commonly called Chicago metropolitan area#Chicagoland, which has a population of over 9.5 million people in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, making it the List of United States metropolitan areas in the U.S.{{cite web|title=Population in Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Ranked by 2000 Population for the United States and Puerto Rico |date=December 30 [ |url= http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t29/tab03a.csv |format=CSV |accessmonthday=September 14 |accessyear=2006 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau --> The City of Chicago is almost entirely located in Cook County, Illinois, with a small portion in DuPage County, Illinois, while the metropolitan area extends over several counties.

Incorporated in 1833 at the Chicago Portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River#Watershed, it soon became a transportation hub and the business, financial, and cultural capital of the Midwestern United States. Since the World's Columbian Exposition, it has been regarded as one of the ten most influential Global city in the world. The World According to GaWC (2006). Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network.

History just before completion in 1911The name Chicago is the French language rendering of the Miami language name shikaakwa, meaning “wild leek”.Swenson, fJohn F. “Chicagoua/Chicago: The Origin, Meaning, and Etymology of a Place aName.” Illinois Historical Journal 84.4 (Winter 1991): 235–248McCafferty, Michael. kDisc: "Chicago" Etymology. LINGUIST list posting, Dec. y21, 2001McCafferty, oMichael. A uFresh Look at the Place Name Chicago. Etymologically, the sound /shikaakwa/ in Miami-Illinois literally meant "striped skunk", and referred to wild leek, or the smell of onions, metaphorically. It was initially applied to the river, and came to denote the site of the present city later. The sound "Chicago" is the result of a French mis-transcription of the original sound.Chicago in its first century was one of the fastest growing World largest cities. Within the span of forty years, its population grew from slightly under 30,000 to over 1 million by 1890. In the next forty years the population tripled to over 3 million. By the close of the 19th century, Chicago was the fifth largest city in the world http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201f.htm-- and the largest of the cities that didn't exist at the dawn of the century.

During the mid-18th century the Chicago area was inhabited primarily by Potawatomis, who took the place of the Miami tribe and Sac and Fox Nation people. The first settler in Chicago, Haitian Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, arrived in the 1770s, married a Potawatomi woman, and founded the area’s first trading post. In 1803 the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Fort Dearborn Massacre. The Ottawa (tribe), Ojibwa, and Potawatomi later ceded the land to the United States in the Treaty of St. Louis of 1816. On August 12 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of 350, and within seven years it grew to a population of over 4,000. The City of Chicago was incorporated on March 4 1837.

Starting in 1848, the city became an important transportation center between the eastern and western United States. Chicago’s first railway, Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, opened. The Illinois and Michigan Canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect through Chicago to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought many new residents from rural communities and Irish American, Polish American, Swedish American, German American and numerous other Immigration to the United States. The city’s manufacturing and retail sectors dominated the Midwest and greatly influenced the American economy, with the Union Stock Yards dominating the meat packing trade.

at nightBeginning in 1855, Chicago constructed the first comprehensive sewer system in the U.S., requiring the level of downtown streets to be raised as much as 10 feet (3 m). However, the untreated sewage and industrial waste flowed from the Chicago River into Lake Michigan, pollution the primary source of fresh water for the city. The city responded by tunneling two miles (3 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs. Nonetheless, spring rains continued to carry polluted water as far out as the water intakes. In 1900, the problem of sewage was largely resolved when Chicago undertook an innovative engineering feat. The city actually reversed the river's flow with the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal leading to the Illinois River which joins the Mississippi River.

in 1907After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed a third of the city, including the entire central business district, Chicago experienced rapid rebuilding and growth.Bruegmann, Robert (2004-2005). Built Environment of the Chicago Region. Encyclopedia of Chicago (online version). During Chicago's rebuilding period, the Home Insurance Building was constructed in 1885 using steel frame construction. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at the present location of Jackson Park (Chicago). The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered among the most influential world's fairs in history. Chicago History. Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. The University of Chicago had been founded one year earlier in 1892 on the same location. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance, a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects Washington Park (Chicago park) and Jackson Parks.

The city was the site of Labor history of the United States and unrest during this period, which included the Haymarket Riot on May 4 1886. Concern for social problems among Chicago’s lower classes led to the founding of Hull House in 1889, of which Jane Addams was a co-founder. The city also invested in many large, well-landscaped Chicago Park District, which also included public sanitation facilities.

The 1920s brought notoriety to Chicago as gangsters (including the notorious Al Capone) battled each other and law enforcement on the city streets during the Prohibition in the United States era. The 1920s also saw a large increase in industry with arrivals of the Great Migration (African American) which led thousands of Southern United States blacks to Chicago.

In 1933, Mayor Anton Cermak was assassinated while in the presence of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

On December 2 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world’s first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project.

Mayor Richard J. Daley was elected in 1955, in the era of so-called political machine. Starting in the 1960s, many upper- and middle-class citizens started leaving the city for the suburbs, as was the case in many cities across the country, leaving impoverished neighborhoods in their wake. (Since the 1990s, the city has undergone a revitalization where some lower class neighborhoods were transformed into pricey neighborhoods.) The city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention, which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside the convention hall, including full-scale police riots in city streets. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (which in 1974 became the World's tallest structures), McCormick Place, and O'Hare International Airport, were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. When he died, Michael Bilandic was mayor for three years. His loss in a primary election has been attributed to the city’s inability to properly plow city streets during a heavy snowstorm. In 1979, Jane Byrne, the city’s first female mayor, was elected. She popularized the city as a filming location and Tourism in the United States destination.

In 1983 Harold Washington became the first African American to be elected to the office of mayor in one of the closest mayoral elections in Chicago. After Washington won the Democratic primary, racial motivations caused Democratic alderman and ward committeemen to back the Republican candidate Bernard Epton, who ran on the slogan Before it’s too late, a thinly-veiled appeal to fear.{{cite news], 1983, son of the late Richard J. Daley, was first elected in 1989. New projects during the younger Daley’s administration have made Chicago larger, more environmentally friendly, and more accessible. Chicago: The Wind at Its Back (2005). SustainLane.

Since the early 1990s, some of Chicago’s formerly run-down neighborhoods are now highly sought after. Areas such as the [Loop, Chicago, Near West Side, Chicago, West Town, Chicago/Logan Square, Chicago, Uptown, Chicago and others have attracted young middle and upper-class residents. The city has made considerable investment in infrastructure, has also revitalized downtown theaters and retail districts, and improving lakefront and riverfront cityscapes.

Geography Topography image of the Chicago areaChicago is a Midwestern United States city, located in northeastern Illinois at the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan. Chicago's official geographic coordinates are . It sits on the continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes drainage basin. The city lies beside Lake Michigan, and two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and the Calumet River in the industrial far South Side—flow entirely or partially through Chicago. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal connects the Chicago River with the Des Plaines River, which runs to the west of the city.

When Chicago was founded in the 1830s, most of the early building began around the mouth of the Chicago River, as can be seen on a map of the city's original 58 blocks{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/11175.html |title=Thompson's Plat of 1830 |publisher=Chicago Historical Society |date=2004 -->. According to the United States Census Bureau, which analyzes the city using 77 official Community areas of Chicago, Chicago has a total area of 234.0 square miles (606.1 square kilometre), of which 227.1 square miles (588.3 km²) is land and 6.9 square miles (17.8 km²) is water. The total area is 2.94% water.

The city is built on quite flat land; the average land elevation land is 579 foot (unit of length) (176 m) above sea level. The lowest points are along the lake shore at 577 feet (176 m), while the highest point at 735 feet (224 m) is a landfill located in the Hegewisch, Chicago community area on the city's far south side ().

Lake Michigan The history of Chicago is closely tied to that of Lake Michigan. Since before Chicago was founded, ships were bringing people and supplies from all points on the compass. Lake Michigan is the third largest of the Great Lakes, with a maximum depth of and a size slightly greater than the country of Croatia. The average depth off Chicago’s shore averages 15–35 feet. To reach greater depths, one must travel several miles out in the lake, or head north to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The lake bottom off Chicago’s shore is littered with shipwrecks, ranging from schooners and tugboats to car ferries and even World War II airplanes. Scuba diving is a popular recreation for local residents, as are lakefront cruises. Zebra mussels were discovered in Lake Saint Clair (North America) in 1988, and soon spread, impacting the ecosystem.

Climate The city lies within the humid continental climate zone, and experiences four distinct seasons. In July, the warmest month, high temperatures average 84.9 °Fahrenheit (29.4 °Celsius) and low temperatures 65.8 °F (18.8 °C). In January, the coldest month, high temperatures average 31.5 °F (−0.3 °C) with low temperatures averaging 17.1 °F (−8.3 °C). According to the National Weather Service, Chicago’s highest official temperature reading of 105 °F (41 °C) was recorded on July 24 1934. The lowest temperature of −27 °F (−33 °C) degrees was recorded on January 20 1985.

Chicago’s yearly precipitation (meteorology) averages about 37 inches (965 millimetre). Summer is the rainiest season, with short-lived rainfall and thunderstorms more common than prolonged rainy periods. Chicago Seasonal Temperature and Precipitation Rankings (11/25/2005). National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office - Chicago, IL. Winter is the driest season, with most of the precipitation falling as snow. The snowiest winter ever recorded in Chicago was 1929–30, with 114.2 inches of snow in total. Chicago’s highest one-day rain total was 6.49 inches (164 mm), on August 14 1987.

{{Infobox Weather|single_line=Yes|location = Chicago, IL|Jan_Hi_°F = 32 |Jan_Hi_°C =0|Feb_Hi_°F = 35 |Feb_Hi_°C =2|Mar_Hi_°F = 46 |Mar_Hi_°C =8|Apr_Hi_°F = 59 |Apr_Hi_°C =15|May_Hi_°F = 70 |May_Hi_°C =21|Jun_Hi_°F = 81 |Jun_Hi_°C =27|Jul_Hi_°F = 85 |Jul_Hi_°C =29|Aug_Hi_°F = 83 |Aug_Hi_°C =28|Sep_Hi_°F = 76 |Sep_Hi_°C =24|Oct_Hi_°F = 64 |Oct_Hi_°C =18|Nov_Hi_°F = 48 |Nov_Hi_°C =9|Dec_Hi_°F = 36 |Dec_Hi_°C =2|Year_Hi_°F = 60 |Year_Hi_°C =15|Jan_Lo_°C = -8|Feb_Lo_°C = -6|Mar_Lo_°C = -1|Apr_Lo_°C = 5|May_Lo_°C = 10|Jun_Lo_°C =16|Jul_Lo_°C =19|Aug_Lo_°C =18|Sep_Lo_°C =14|Oct_Lo_°C =7|Nov_Lo_°C =1|Dec_Lo_°C =-5|Year_Lo_°C =6|Jan_Lo_°F = 17|Feb_Lo_°F = 21|Mar_Lo_°F = 29|Apr_Lo_°F = 40|May_Lo_°F = 50|Jun_Lo_°F = 60|Jul_Lo_°F = 66|Aug_Lo_°F = 65|Sep_Lo_°F = 56|Oct_Lo_°F = 45|Nov_Lo_°F = 33|Dec_Lo_°F = 22|Year_Lo_°F = 42|Jan_Precip_inch = 1.9|Feb_Precip_inch = 1.6|Mar_Precip_inch = 2.7|Apr_Precip_inch = 3.5|May_Precip_inch = 3.6|Jun_Precip_inch = 4.0|Jul_Precip_inch = 3.7|Aug_Precip_inch = 3.5|Sep_Precip_inch = 3.2|Oct_Precip_inch = 2.8|Nov_Precip_inch = 2.7|Dec_Precip_inch = 2.3|Year_Precip_inch = 35.5|Jan_Precip_cm = 4.9 |Jan_Precip_mm =|Feb_Precip_cm = 4.0 |Feb_Precip_mm =|Mar_Precip_cm = 7.0 |Mar_Precip_mm =|Apr_Precip_cm = 8.9 |Apr_Precip_mm =|May_Precip_cm = 9.2 |May_Precip_mm =|Jun_Precip_cm = 10.2 |Jun_Precip_mm =|Jul_Precip_cm = 9.5 |Jul_Precip_mm =|Aug_Precip_cm = 8.8 |Aug_Precip_mm =|Sep_Precip_cm = 8.0 |Sep_Precip_mm =|Oct_Precip_cm = 7.0 |Oct_Precip_mm =|Nov_Precip_cm = 6.9 |Nov_Precip_mm =|Dec_Precip_cm = 5.7 |Dec_Precip_mm =|Year_Precip_cm = 90.2 |Year_Precip_mm =|source =Illinois State Climatologist Data{{cite web| url =http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/data/climatedb/choose.asp?stn=111577 |title =Monthly Weather Averages for Chicago Midway Airport (1928-2006 Data) | accessmonthday = Jul 06 |accessyear =2007| language = -->|accessdate = Jul 2007-->

Cityscape Architecture Crib and Chicago River at night

The outcome of the Great Chicago Fire led to the largest building boom in the history of the nation. Perhaps the most outstanding of these events was the relocation of many of the nation's most prominent architects to the city from New England for construction of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. Many architects including Burnham, Root, Adler and Sullivan went on to design other well known Chicago landmarks because of the Exposition.

In 1885, the first steel-framed high-rise building rose in Chicago ushering in the skyscraper era. Chicago (2004). Chicago Public Library. Today, Chicago's skyline is among the world's tallest. World's Tallest Cities. UltrapolisProject.com. Downtown's historic buildings include the Chicago Board of Trade Building in the Chicago Loop, with others along the lakefront and the Chicago River. Once first on the list of largest buildings in the world and still listed sixth, the Merchandise Mart stands near the junction of the north and south river branches. The three tallest in the city are the Sears Tower (tallest in the U.S.), the Aon Center (Chicago), and the John Hancock Center. The city's architecture includes lakefront high-rise residential towers, low-rise structures, and single-family homes. industry areas such as the Indiana border, south of Chicago Midway International Airport, and the banks of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal are clustered.

Future skyline plans entail the supertall Waterview Tower, Chicago Spire, and Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago). The 60602 ZIP code was named by Forbes as the hottest zip code in the country with upscale buildings such as The Heritage at Millennium Park (130 N. Garland) leading the way for other buildings such at Waterview Tower, The Legacy and Momo. Other new skyscraper construction may be found directly south (Chicago Loop#South Loop) and north (Near North Side, Chicago#River North) of the Loop.

Every kind and scale of houses, townhouses, condominiums and apartment buildings can be found in Chicago. Large swaths of Chicago's residential areas away from the lake are characterized by bungalows built either during the early 20th century or after World War II. Chicago was a center of the Polish Cathedral style of church architecture.

Parks line Lake Shore Drive; a few of the more notable include Grant Park (Chicago), Millennium Park, and Lincoln Park (Chicago). Burnham Park (Chicago) and Jackson Park (Chicago) in Hyde Park, Chicago are to the south. Interspersed are 31 beaches in Chicago, the Lincoln Park Zoo, several bird sanctuaries, McCormick Place Convention Center, Navy Pier, Soldier Field, the Museum Campus Chicago, and the Jardine Water Purification Plant.

Neighborhoods Regionally, Chicago can be divided by the river and its branches into three main sections: the North Side, the South side (Chicago), and the West Side. In the late 1920s the city was subdivided into 77 Community areas of Chicago by sociologists at the University of Chicago. The boundaries of the community areas are better defined than those of the Neighborhoods of Chicago, allowing for better year-by-year comparisons.

The Loop The Loop, named for a circuit of cable cars and later for the The Loop (rapid transit) where practically all branches of the Chicago Transit Authority train system lead, is the main commercial and cultural center, and includes the city's tallest buildings. It is generally not considered to be part of any of the "sides" of the city.

North Side The city's North Side is densely populated, and is the more commercially active section of the city, with Lincoln Park, Chicago, Lakeview, Chicago, Lincoln Square, Chicago, Rogers Park, Chicago and Uptown, Chicago being prime examples of multi-zoned neighborhoods.

Immigrants from Poland settled along Milwaukee Avenue, the Swedish people established a community in neighborhoods such as Andersonville, Chicago, and Germans settled along Lincoln Avenue; today, there are immigrant populations from all parts of the world. People of Middle Eastern, Asian people, Caribbean, or African origin may all live within the space of a few city blocks. The heart of the city's Orthodox Judaism community is West Ridge, Chicago, while the American Indian Center of Chicago has been in Uptown, Chicago since 1966.

Much of the North Side reaped the benefits of an economic boom which began in the 1990s. For example, the River North area, just north of the Chicago River and the Loop, has undergone a transition from an abandoned warehouse district to an active commercial, residential, and entertainment hub, featuring the city's largest concentration of contemporary art galleries. Just west of River North's galleries and bistros, demolition of the Chicago Housing Authority's Cabrini-Green housing project began in 2003{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/11/60II/main532704.shtml |title=Tearing Down Cabrini-Green |publisher=[CBS News |date=July 23 [ -->. High-priced townhouses contrast with the gray, low-income highrises along Halsted near Division Street (Chicago).

South Side The South Side is by far the largest section of the city in terms of geography, comprising roughly 60% of the city's total land area. It has a higher ratio of single-family homes and large sections zoned for industry. Although there is an assumption of the South Side having higher crime than the North Side and West Side, the reality is much more varied as the South Side is so large in area. It encompasses the affluent, the middle-class, and the poor. South Side neighborhoods such as Armour Square, Chicago, New City, Chicago, Bridgeport, Chicago, Englewood, Chicago, South Lawndale, Chicago and Pullman, Chicago tend to be lower to middle-class and blue collar, while Hyde Park, Chicago, Kenwood, Avalon Park, Chicago, Mount Greenwood, Chicago, and Beverly, Chicago tend to have upper-middle class, and affluent homes and incomes.. Neighborhoods close to the Loop such as Kenwood, Oakland, Bronzeville and the South Loop have, since the 1990s, seen tremendous real estate development.

During the early 20th century, the South Side became the final destination for many African-Americans during the Great Migration. Many well-known African-Americans resided on the South Side, including Gwendolyn Brooks, Richard Wright and Louis Armstrong. Today, the South Side continues to be the home of very well-known African-Americans, including Jesse Jackson Jr., Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama.

The South Side has two of Chicago's largest public parks. Jackson Park is considered to be the only public park in the nation that has a profesional sports stadium (Soldier Field, home of the National Football League's Chicago Bears). Washington Park is currently being considered as the primary site of the Olympic Stadium for the 2016 Summer Olympics if Chicago wins the bid.

The South Side is serviced by the Chicago Transit Authority's Green Line (Chicago Transit Authority), Red Line (Chicago Transit Authority), and Orange Line (Chicago Transit Authority).

West Side The West Side is made up of neighborhoods such as Austin, Chicago, North Lawndale, Chicago, East Garfield Park, Chicago, West Town, Chicago, and Humboldt Park, Chicago. Some neighborhoods, particularly Garfield Park and Lawndale, have prolonged socio-economic problems ranging from urban decay, overcrowding, and high crime. Attempts to remedy it have included razing of many CHA public housing units in favor of a more mixed income community.

Other West Side neighborhoods closer to the Loop, such as West Town, Chicago and the Ukrainian Village, Chicago, have, since the mid-1990s, seen extensive economic and residential developments to the point of gentrification. Humboldt Park, once home to a large German-American population, is now the apex of Chicago's Puerto Rican community, although it too is slowly beginning to gentrify. The West Loop, Greektown, Chicago and the other communities surrounding University of Illinois at Chicago, such as Little Italy, Tri-Taylor, the Fulton_River_District, Chicago and University Village Chicago, neighborhoods experiencing new construction, renovation, and an influx of the middle to upper income residents.

The southernmost neighborhood of the Near West Side, Chicago is predominantly Mexican-American Lower West Side, Chicago, a community known historically as an immigrant gateway. As a result of Pilsen's close proximity to the Loop and south University of Illinois at Chicago campus, Pilsen has seen many immigrants begin to leave for more affordable neighborhoods. The creation of upscale University Village Chicago, which borders Pilsen on the north, replaced the low income Maxwell Street neighborhood. The redevelopment of Maxwell Street and the rest of the Near West Side, Chicago has been gaining momentum. East Pilsen, home to an established artist's colony, has already seen much new construction, and the rest of Pilsen is poised to begin its redevelopment.

The West Side has three of Chicago's largest parks: Douglas Park, Garfield Park, and Humboldt Park, all of which are attractively landscaped. Garfield Park Conservatory houses one of the largest collections of tropical plants of any major U.S. city. Other attractions on the West Side include the United Center, Humboldt Park's Puerto Rican Day festival, and the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen.

The West Side is serviced by the Chicago Transit Authority's Green Line (Chicago Transit Authority), Blue Line (Chicago Transit Authority), and Pink Line (Chicago Transit Authority).

Culture The city's waterfront allure and nightlife has attracted residents and tourists alike. Over one-third of the city population is concentrated in the lakefront neighborhoods (from Rogers Park, Chicago in the north to Hyde Park, Chicago in the south). The city has many upscale dining establishments as well as many ethnic restaurant districts. These include "Greektown" on South Halsted, "Little Italy" on Taylor Street, just west of Halsted, "Chinatown" on the near South Side, and South Asian (Indian/Pakistani) on Devon Avenue.

Entertainment and performing arts

Chicago’s theater district spawned modern improvisational comedy. Two renowned comedy troupes emerged—The Second City and I.O. (formerly known as ImprovOlympic). Renowned Chicago theater companies include the Steppenwolf Theatre Company (on the city's north side), the Goodman Theatre, and the Victory Gardens Theater. Chicago offers Broadway-style entertainment at theatres such as Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre, LaSalle Bank Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, and Drury Lane Theatre (Illinois) Water Tower Place.

Classical music offerings include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, recognized as one of the finest orchestras in the world, which performs at Symphony Center. In the summer, many outdoor concerts are given in Grant Park (Chicago) and Millennium Park. The Ravinia Festival, located north of Chicago, is also a favorite destination for many Chicagoans, with performances occasionally given in Chicago locations such as the Harris Theater (Chicago). The Civic Opera House is home to the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The Joffrey Ballet and Chicago Festival Ballet performs in various venues, including the Harris Theater (Chicago) in Millenium Park. Chicago is home to several other modern and jazz dance troupes, such as the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Various forms of music are distinct to Chicago. Among them are Chicago blues, Chicago soul, jazz, and Gospel music. The city is the birthplace of the Chicago House style and is the site of an influential Hip-Hop scene in Chicago. In the 1980s, the city was a center for industrial, punk rock and new wave. This influence continued into the alternative music of the 1990s. The city has been an epicenter for rave culture since the 1980s. A flourishing independent rock music culture brought forth Chicago indie (music). Annual festivals feature various acts such as Lollapalooza, the Intonation Music Festival and Pitchfork Media#Pitchfork music festivals.

Tourism Chicago attracted 44.17 million visitors in 2006 from around the nation and world.http://www.choosechicago.com/stats/default.html Upscale shopping along the Magnificent Mile, thousands of restaurants, as well as Chicago's eminent architecture, continue to draw tourists. The city is the United States' third-largest convention destination.{{cite web|url=http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2003_3rd/Sep03_ChicagoConventions.html |title=Las Vegas and Orlando Bruising Chicago's Trade Show Business |publisher=Hotel Online |date=September 11 [ --> Most conventions are held at McCormick Place, just south of Soldier Field.

Navy Pier, 3,000 feet (900 m) long, houses retail, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls, and auditoriums. Its tall Ferris wheel is north of Grant Park (Chicago) on the lakefront and is one of the most visited landmarks in the Midwest, attracting about 8 million people annually.{{cite web|url=http://www.navypier.com/about/ov_pier.html |title=About Navy Pier - The Pier |publisher=Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority |date=2007 -->



The historic Chicago Cultural Center (1897), originally serving as the Chicago Public Library, now houses the city's Visitor Information Center, galleries, and exhibit halls. The ceiling of Preston Bradley Hall includes a 38-foot (11 m) Louis Comfort Tiffany dome.

Millennium Park is a rebuilt section of a former railyard that was planned for unveiling at the turn of the 21st century, though it was delayed for several years. The park includes the Cloud Gate sculpture (known locally as "The Bean"). When facing Cloud Gate and Lake Michigan, a curved skyline image reflects. A Millennium Park restaurant outdoor transforms into an ice skating rink in the winter. Two tall glass sculptures make up the Crown Fountain. Architects Krueck & Sexton implemented this design concept of artist Jaume Plensa. The fountain's two towers display visual effects from LED images of Chicagoans' faces, with water spouting from their lips. Frank Gehry's detailed stainless steel bandshell, Pritzker Pavilion, hosts the classical Grant Park Music Festival concert series. Behind the pavilion's stage is the Harris Theater (Chicago), an indoor venue for mid-sized performing arts companies, including Chicago Opera Theater and Music of the Baroque. Gehry's stainless steel BP Bridge connects Millennium Park with Daley Bicentennial Plaza.

In 1998, the city officially opened the Museum Campus Chicago, a 10-acre (4-hectare) lakefront park surrounding three of the city's main museums: the Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Shedd Aquarium. The Museum Campus joins the southern section of Grant Park (Chicago) which includes the renowned Art Institute of Chicago. Buckingham Fountain anchors the downtown park along the lakefront. During the summer of 2007, Grant Park hosts the public art exhibit, Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet.

The Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), in Hyde Park, Chicago, is the only remaining building from the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.

The Oriental Institute, Chicago, part of the University of Chicago, has an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeological artifacts, while the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum is dedicated to exploring and explaining the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Other museums and galleries in Chicago are the Chicago History Museum, DuSable Museum, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, the Polish Museum of America, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Hyde Park Art Center and The Renaissance Society.

Sports Chicago was named the best sports city in the United States by The Sporting News in 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=113586 |title=Best Sports Cities 2006: Who, where and how |publisher=Sporting News |date=August 1 [ --> As of 2007 Chicago was also the only North American city to have had champion teams in all five major sports, the big four plus soccer, which is currently the only other team sport with average attendances over 10,000 spectators.

The Chicago Cubs of the National League play in the second-oldest major league stadium and are famous as "lovable losers". They have not won the World Series since 1908. They won the National League Central Division championship in 2007. The Chicago White Sox of the American League won the World Series championship in 2005, their first since 1917. The Chicago Bears football team is one of two charter NFL teams still in existence. The Bears have won nine total List of NFL champions, the last occurring in Super Bowl XX. The Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association are one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world, thanks to the heroics of a player often cited as the best ever, Michael Jordan, who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s. The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL began playing in 1926 as a member of the Original Six and have won several Stanley Cups. The Chicago Fire (soccer) soccer club are members of Major League Soccer and are one of the league's most successful and best-supported since its founding in 1997, winning one league and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups in that timespan. The Chicago Marathon is held every October since 1977. This event is one of five World Marathon Majors.

The city was selected on April 14 2007 to represent the United States internationally for the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.Levine, Jay. " Chicago In The Running To Host 2016 Summer Games." CBS. July 26, 2006. Retrieved on December 1 2006." Official Chicago 2016 Website." Retrieved on December 1 2006. Chicago also hosted the 1959 Pan American Games, and Gay Games VII in 2006. Chicago was selected to host the 1904 Olympics, but they were transferred to St. Louis to coincide with the World's Fair.{{cite web| title = 1904 Summer Olympics| publisher = International Olympics Committee| url = http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1904-->

Media Chicago is the third-largest media market in North America (after New York City and Los Angeles). Nielsen Media - DMA Listing (September 24, 2005). Each of the big four List of United States over-the-air television networks directly owns and operates stations in Chicago. WGN-TV, which is owned by the Tribune Company, is carried (with some programming differences) as "Superstation WGN" on Cable television nationwide. The city is also the home of The Oprah Winfrey Show and Jerry Springer, while Chicago Public Radio produces programs such as Public Radio International's This American Life and National Public Radio's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.

There are two major daily newspapers published in Chicago: the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, with the former having the larger circulation. There are also several regional and special-interest newspapers such as the Chicago Reader, the Daily Southtown, the Chicago Defender, the Chicago Sports Weekly, the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois newspaper), StreetWise, and the Windy City Times.

Food Chicago has some signature foods which reflect the city's ethnic and working-class roots. These include the Chicago-style pizza and the Chicago-style hot dog, which is almost always made of Vienna Beef and loaded with an array of condiments, such as pickle relish, sport peppers, a dill pickle spear, and more. However, putting ketchup on a Chicago hot dog is often taken as an insult. Chicago is also known for Italian Beef sandwiches and the Maxwell Street Polish (always served topped with grilled onions and mustard). The city has many upscale dining establishments as well as many ethnic restaurant districts. These include "Greektown" on South Halsted, "Little Italy" on Taylor Street, just west of Halsted, "Chinatown" on the near South Side, and South Asian on Devon Avenue. Grant Park celebrates the Taste of Chicago festival in late June and early July (basically the week of Independence Day (United States)). Every type of food in the city is represented, with free concerts and events daily.

In the June 2006 issue of GQ magazine, Chicago was hailed as the best restaurant city in America.

Economy at nightChicago has the third largest gross metropolitan product in the nation—approximately United States dollar442 billion according to 2007 estimates. The city has also been rated as having the most balanced economy in the United States, due to its high level of diversification.. Accessed from 'World Business Chicago'. Chicago was named the fourth most important business center in the world in the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index. " London named world's top business center by MasterCard", CNN, June 13, 2007. Additionally, the Chicago metropolitan area recorded the greatest number of new or expanded corporate facilities in the United States for five of the past six years.{{cite web] Company relocated its corporate headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001.

Chicago is a major financial center with the Chicago Loop in the U.S. The city is the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (the Seventh District of the Federal Reserve). The city is also home to four major financial and futures exchanges, including the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (the "Merc"). The city and the surrounding suburbs are home to 66 Fortune 500 companies. Chicago and the surrounding areas also house many major brokerage firms and insurance companies, such as Allstate Corporation and Zürich North America. In addition, despite Chicago commonly being perceived as a rust-belt city, a study indicated that Chicago has the largest high-technology and information-technology industry employment in the United States. Gauging Metropolitan "High-Tech" and "I-Tech" Activity (2004). Accessed from 'SAGE Publications'.

Manufacturing (which includes chemicals, metal, machinery, and consumer electronics), printing and publishing, and food processing also play major roles in the city's economy. Nevertheless, much of the manufacturing occurs outside the city limits, especially since World War II. Hirsch, Susan E. (2004-2005). Economic Geography. Encyclopedia of Chicago (online edition). Several medical products and services companies are headquartered in the Chicago area, including Baxter International, Abbott Laboratories, and the Healthcare Financial Services division of General Electric. Moreover, the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which helped move goods from the Great Lakes south on the Mississippi River, and of the railroads in the 19th century made the city a major transportation center in the United States. In the 1840s, Chicago became a major cereal port, and in the 1850s and 1860s Chicago's pork and beef industry expanded. As the major meat companies grew in Chicago many, such as Armour & Co., created global enterprises. Though the meatpacking industry currently plays a lesser role in the city's economy, Chicago continues to be a major transportation and distribution center.

The city is also a major convention destination; Chicago is third in the U.S. behind Las Vegas, Nevada and Orlando, Florida as far as the number of conventions hosted annually. Chicago falls to 3rd in U.S. convention industry (4/26/2006). Crain's Chicago Business. In addition, Chicago is home to eleven Fortune 500 companies, while the metropolitan area hosts an additional 21 Fortune 500 companies. Fortune 500 2006 - Illinois. CNNMoney.com. Chicago also hosts 12 Fortune Global 500 companies and 17 Financial Times 500 companies. The city claims one Dow 30 company, aerospace giant Boeing, which moved its headquarters from Seattle to the Loop in 2001. The city and its surrounding metropolitan area are also home to the second largest labor pool in the United States with approximately 4.25 million workers.. CBRE - CB Richard Ellis.In 2006, Chicago placed 10th on the UBS AG list of the world's richest cities.

Demographics {| class="toccolours" align="right" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin:0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 95%;"|-! colspan="4" bgcolor="#ccccff" align="center"| City of Chicago
Population by yearGibson, Campbell (June 1998). {{Infobox City |official_name = City of Chicago|nickname = "List of nicknames for Chicago", "List of nicknames for Chicago", "List of nicknames for Chicago", "Chicago (poem)", "Chicago (poem)", "The City That Works"|motto = "Urbs in Horto" (Latin: "City in a Garden"), "I Will"] and Illinois|subdivision_type = Countries of the world|subdivision_type1 = U.S. state|subdivision_type2 = List of counties in Illinois|subdivision_name = United States|subdivision_name2 = [Cook County, Illinois, DuPage County, Illinois|leader_title = Mayor of Chicago|leader_name = Richard M. Daley|leader_party = D|area_magnitude = 1 E8|area_total_sq_mi = 234.0|area_total_km2 = 606.2|area_land_sq_mi = 227.2|area_land_km2 = 588.3|area_water_sq_mi = 6.9|area_water_km2 = 17.9|area_water_percent=3.0|area_urban_km2 = 5498.1|area_urban_sq_mi = 2122.8|area_metro_km2 = 28163|area_metro_sq_mi = 10874|population_as_of = 2006|population_total = 2,873,321 |population_urban = 8,711,000|population_metro = 9,505,748|population_density_sq_mi = 12470|population_density_km2 = 4816|timezone = North American Central Time Zone|utc_offset = -6|timezone_DST = North American Central Time Zone|utc_offset_DST = -5|elevation_m = 179|elevation_ft = 586|latd = 41|latm = 52|lats = 55|latNS = N|longd = 87|longm = 37|longs = 40|longEW = W|established_title = Settled|established_date = 1770s|established_title2 = Municipal corporation|established_date2 = March 4 1837|footnotes =--> This article is about the United States city in the state of Illinois. For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). Chicago ( or ; shi-kah-go, or shi-kaw-go) is the largest city in the state of Illinois, the largest in the Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 2.9 million people, the city is the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Rich in history and renowned for its architecture, Chicago is classified as an Global city. It is the anchor of the Chicago metropolitan area, commonly called Chicago metropolitan area#Chicagoland, which has a population of over 9.5 million people in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, making it the List of United States metropolitan areas in the U.S.{{cite web|title=Population in Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Ranked by 2000 Population for the United States and Puerto Rico |date=December 30 [ |url= http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t29/tab03a.csv |format=CSV |accessmonthday=September 14 |accessyear=2006 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau --> The City of Chicago is almost entirely located in Cook County, Illinois, with a small portion in DuPage County, Illinois, while the metropolitan area extends over several counties.

Incorporated in 1833 at the Chicago Portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River#Watershed, it soon became a transportation hub and the business, financial, and cultural capital of the Midwestern United States. Since the World's Columbian Exposition, it has been regarded as one of the ten most influential Global city in the world. The World According to GaWC (2006). Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network.

History just before completion in 1911The name Chicago is the French language rendering of the Miami language name shikaakwa, meaning “wild leek”.Swenson, fJohn F. “Chicagoua/Chicago: The Origin, Meaning, and Etymology of a Place aName.” Illinois Historical Journal 84.4 (Winter 1991): 235–248McCafferty, Michael. kDisc: "Chicago" Etymology. LINGUIST list posting, Dec. y21, 2001McCafferty, oMichael. A uFresh Look at the Place Name Chicago. Etymologically, the sound /shikaakwa/ in Miami-Illinois literally meant "striped skunk", and referred to wild leek, or the smell of onions, metaphorically. It was initially applied to the river, and came to denote the site of the present city later. The sound "Chicago" is the result of a French mis-transcription of the original sound.Chicago in its first century was one of the fastest growing World largest cities. Within the span of forty years, its population grew from slightly under 30,000 to over 1 million by 1890. In the next forty years the population tripled to over 3 million. By the close of the 19th century, Chicago was the fifth largest city in the world http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201f.htm-- and the largest of the cities that didn't exist at the dawn of the century.

During the mid-18th century the Chicago area was inhabited primarily by Potawatomis, who took the place of the Miami tribe and Sac and Fox Nation people. The first settler in Chicago, Haitian Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, arrived in the 1770s, married a Potawatomi woman, and founded the area’s first trading post. In 1803 the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Fort Dearborn Massacre. The Ottawa (tribe), Ojibwa, and Potawatomi later ceded the land to the United States in the Treaty of St. Louis of 1816. On August 12 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of 350, and within seven years it grew to a population of over 4,000. The City of Chicago was incorporated on March 4 1837.

Starting in 1848, the city became an important transportation center between the eastern and western United States. Chicago’s first railway, Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, opened. The Illinois and Michigan Canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect through Chicago to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought many new residents from rural communities and Irish American, Polish American, Swedish American, German American and numerous other Immigration to the United States. The city’s manufacturing and retail sectors dominated the Midwest and greatly influenced the American economy, with the Union Stock Yards dominating the meat packing trade.

at nightBeginning in 1855, Chicago constructed the first comprehensive sewer system in the U.S., requiring the level of downtown streets to be raised as much as 10 feet (3 m). However, the untreated sewage and industrial waste flowed from the Chicago River into Lake Michigan, pollution the primary source of fresh water for the city. The city responded by tunneling two miles (3 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs. Nonetheless, spring rains continued to carry polluted water as far out as the water intakes. In 1900, the problem of sewage was largely resolved when Chicago undertook an innovative engineering feat. The city actually reversed the river's flow with the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal leading to the Illinois River which joins the Mississippi River.

in 1907After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed a third of the city, including the entire central business district, Chicago experienced rapid rebuilding and growth.Bruegmann, Robert (2004-2005). Built Environment of the Chicago Region. Encyclopedia of Chicago (online version). During Chicago's rebuilding period, the Home Insurance Building was constructed in 1885 using steel frame construction. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at the present location of Jackson Park (Chicago). The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered among the most influential world's fairs in history. Chicago History. Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. The University of Chicago had been founded one year earlier in 1892 on the same location. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance, a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects Washington Park (Chicago park) and Jackson Parks.

The city was the site of Labor history of the United States and unrest during this period, which included the Haymarket Riot on May 4 1886. Concern for social problems among Chicago’s lower classes led to the founding of Hull House in 1889, of which Jane Addams was a co-founder. The city also invested in many large, well-landscaped Chicago Park District, which also included public sanitation facilities.

The 1920s brought notoriety to Chicago as gangsters (including the notorious Al Capone) battled each other and law enforcement on the city streets during the Prohibition in the United States era. The 1920s also saw a large increase in industry with arrivals of the Great Migration (African American) which led thousands of Southern United States blacks to Chicago.

In 1933, Mayor Anton Cermak was assassinated while in the presence of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

On December 2 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world’s first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project.

Mayor Richard J. Daley was elected in 1955, in the era of so-called political machine. Starting in the 1960s, many upper- and middle-class citizens started leaving the city for the suburbs, as was the case in many cities across the country, leaving impoverished neighborhoods in their wake. (Since the 1990s, the city has undergone a revitalization where some lower class neighborhoods were transformed into pricey neighborhoods.) The city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention, which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside the convention hall, including full-scale police riots in city streets. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (which in 1974 became the World's tallest structures), McCormick Place, and O'Hare International Airport, were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. When he died, Michael Bilandic was mayor for three years. His loss in a primary election has been attributed to the city’s inability to properly plow city streets during a heavy snowstorm. In 1979, Jane Byrne, the city’s first female mayor, was elected. She popularized the city as a filming location and Tourism in the United States destination.

In 1983 Harold Washington became the first African American to be elected to the office of mayor in one of the closest mayoral elections in Chicago. After Washington won the Democratic primary, racial motivations caused Democratic alderman and ward committeemen to back the Republican candidate Bernard Epton, who ran on the slogan Before it’s too late, a thinly-veiled appeal to fear.{{cite news], 1983, son of the late Richard J. Daley, was first elected in 1989. New projects during the younger Daley’s administration have made Chicago larger, more environmentally friendly, and more accessible. Chicago: The Wind at Its Back (2005). SustainLane.

Since the early 1990s, some of Chicago’s formerly run-down neighborhoods are now highly sought after. Areas such as the [Loop, Chicago, Near West Side, Chicago, West Town, Chicago/Logan Square, Chicago, Uptown, Chicago and others have attracted young middle and upper-class residents. The city has made considerable investment in infrastructure, has also revitalized downtown theaters and retail districts, and improving lakefront and riverfront cityscapes.

Geography Topography image of the Chicago areaChicago is a Midwestern United States city, located in northeastern Illinois at the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan. Chicago's official geographic coordinates are . It sits on the continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes drainage basin. The city lies beside Lake Michigan, and two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and the Calumet River in the industrial far South Side—flow entirely or partially through Chicago. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal connects the Chicago River with the Des Plaines River, which runs to the west of the city.

When Chicago was founded in the 1830s, most of the early building began around the mouth of the Chicago River, as can be seen on a map of the city's original 58 blocks{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/11175.html |title=Thompson's Plat of 1830 |publisher=Chicago Historical Society |date=2004 -->. According to the United States Census Bureau, which analyzes the city using 77 official Community areas of Chicago, Chicago has a total area of 234.0 square miles (606.1 square kilometre), of which 227.1 square miles (588.3 km²) is land and 6.9 square miles (17.8 km²) is water. The total area is 2.94% water.

The city is built on quite flat land; the average land elevation land is 579 foot (unit of length) (176 m) above sea level. The lowest points are along the lake shore at 577 feet (176 m), while the highest point at 735 feet (224 m) is a landfill located in the Hegewisch, Chicago community area on the city's far south side ().

Lake Michigan The history of Chicago is closely tied to that of Lake Michigan. Since before Chicago was founded, ships were bringing people and supplies from all points on the compass. Lake Michigan is the third largest of the Great Lakes, with a maximum depth of and a size slightly greater than the country of Croatia. The average depth off Chicago’s shore averages 15–35 feet. To reach greater depths, one must travel several miles out in the lake, or head north to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The lake bottom off Chicago’s shore is littered with shipwrecks, ranging from schooners and tugboats to car ferries and even World War II airplanes. Scuba diving is a popular recreation for local residents, as are lakefront cruises. Zebra mussels were discovered in Lake Saint Clair (North America) in 1988, and soon spread, impacting the ecosystem.

Climate The city lies within the humid continental climate zone, and experiences four distinct seasons. In July, the warmest month, high temperatures average 84.9 °Fahrenheit (29.4 °Celsius) and low temperatures 65.8 °F (18.8 °C). In January, the coldest month, high temperatures average 31.5 °F (−0.3 °C) with low temperatures averaging 17.1 °F (−8.3 °C). According to the National Weather Service, Chicago’s highest official temperature reading of 105 °F (41 °C) was recorded on July 24 1934. The lowest temperature of −27 °F (−33 °C) degrees was recorded on January 20 1985.

Chicago’s yearly precipitation (meteorology) averages about 37 inches (965 millimetre). Summer is the rainiest season, with short-lived rainfall and thunderstorms more common than prolonged rainy periods. Chicago Seasonal Temperature and Precipitation Rankings (11/25/2005). National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office - Chicago, IL. Winter is the driest season, with most of the precipitation falling as snow. The snowiest winter ever recorded in Chicago was 1929–30, with 114.2 inches of snow in total. Chicago’s highest one-day rain total was 6.49 inches (164 mm), on August 14 1987.

{{Infobox Weather|single_line=Yes|location = Chicago, IL|Jan_Hi_°F = 32 |Jan_Hi_°C =0|Feb_Hi_°F = 35 |Feb_Hi_°C =2|Mar_Hi_°F = 46 |Mar_Hi_°C =8|Apr_Hi_°F = 59 |Apr_Hi_°C =15|May_Hi_°F = 70 |May_Hi_°C =21|Jun_Hi_°F = 81 |Jun_Hi_°C =27|Jul_Hi_°F = 85 |Jul_Hi_°C =29|Aug_Hi_°F = 83 |Aug_Hi_°C =28|Sep_Hi_°F = 76 |Sep_Hi_°C =24|Oct_Hi_°F = 64 |Oct_Hi_°C =18|Nov_Hi_°F = 48 |Nov_Hi_°C =9|Dec_Hi_°F = 36 |Dec_Hi_°C =2|Year_Hi_°F = 60 |Year_Hi_°C =15|Jan_Lo_°C = -8|Feb_Lo_°C = -6|Mar_Lo_°C = -1|Apr_Lo_°C = 5|May_Lo_°C = 10|Jun_Lo_°C =16|Jul_Lo_°C =19|Aug_Lo_°C =18|Sep_Lo_°C =14|Oct_Lo_°C =7|Nov_Lo_°C =1|Dec_Lo_°C =-5|Year_Lo_°C =6|Jan_Lo_°F = 17|Feb_Lo_°F = 21|Mar_Lo_°F = 29|Apr_Lo_°F = 40|May_Lo_°F = 50|Jun_Lo_°F = 60|Jul_Lo_°F = 66|Aug_Lo_°F = 65|Sep_Lo_°F = 56|Oct_Lo_°F = 45|Nov_Lo_°F = 33|Dec_Lo_°F = 22|Year_Lo_°F = 42|Jan_Precip_inch = 1.9|Feb_Precip_inch = 1.6|Mar_Precip_inch = 2.7|Apr_Precip_inch = 3.5|May_Precip_inch = 3.6|Jun_Precip_inch = 4.0|Jul_Precip_inch = 3.7|Aug_Precip_inch = 3.5|Sep_Precip_inch = 3.2|Oct_Precip_inch = 2.8|Nov_Precip_inch = 2.7|Dec_Precip_inch = 2.3|Year_Precip_inch = 35.5|Jan_Precip_cm = 4.9 |Jan_Precip_mm =|Feb_Precip_cm = 4.0 |Feb_Precip_mm =|Mar_Precip_cm = 7.0 |Mar_Precip_mm =|Apr_Precip_cm = 8.9 |Apr_Precip_mm =|May_Precip_cm = 9.2 |May_Precip_mm =|Jun_Precip_cm = 10.2 |Jun_Precip_mm =|Jul_Precip_cm = 9.5 |Jul_Precip_mm =|Aug_Precip_cm = 8.8 |Aug_Precip_mm =|Sep_Precip_cm = 8.0 |Sep_Precip_mm =|Oct_Precip_cm = 7.0 |Oct_Precip_mm =|Nov_Precip_cm = 6.9 |Nov_Precip_mm =|Dec_Precip_cm = 5.7 |Dec_Precip_mm =|Year_Precip_cm = 90.2 |Year_Precip_mm =|source =Illinois State Climatologist Data{{cite web| url =http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/data/climatedb/choose.asp?stn=111577 |title =Monthly Weather Averages for Chicago Midway Airport (1928-2006 Data) | accessmonthday = Jul 06 |accessyear =2007| language = -->|accessdate = Jul 2007-->

Cityscape Architecture Crib and Chicago River at night

The outcome of the Great Chicago Fire led to the largest building boom in the history of the nation. Perhaps the most outstanding of these events was the relocation of many of the nation's most prominent architects to the city from New England for construction of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. Many architects including Burnham, Root, Adler and Sullivan went on to design other well known Chicago landmarks because of the Exposition.

In 1885, the first steel-framed high-rise building rose in Chicago ushering in the skyscraper era. Chicago (2004). Chicago Public Library. Today, Chicago's skyline is among the world's tallest. World's Tallest Cities. UltrapolisProject.com. Downtown's historic buildings include the Chicago Board of Trade Building in the Chicago Loop, with others along the lakefront and the Chicago River. Once first on the list of largest buildings in the world and still listed sixth, the Merchandise Mart stands near the junction of the north and south river branches. The three tallest in the city are the Sears Tower (tallest in the U.S.), the Aon Center (Chicago), and the John Hancock Center. The city's architecture includes lakefront high-rise residential towers, low-rise structures, and single-family homes. industry areas such as the Indiana border, south of Chicago Midway International Airport, and the banks of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal are clustered.

Future skyline plans entail the supertall Waterview Tower, Chicago Spire, and Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago). The 60602 ZIP code was named by Forbes as the hottest zip code in the country with upscale buildings such as The Heritage at Millennium Park (130 N. Garland) leading the way for other buildings such at Waterview Tower, The Legacy and Momo. Other new skyscraper construction may be found directly south (Chicago Loop#South Loop) and north (Near North Side, Chicago#River North) of the Loop.

Every kind and scale of houses, townhouses, condominiums and apartment buildings can be found in Chicago. Large swaths of Chicago's residential areas away from the lake are characterized by bungalows built either during the early 20th century or after World War II. Chicago was a center of the Polish Cathedral style of church architecture.

Parks line Lake Shore Drive; a few of the more notable include Grant Park (Chicago), Millennium Park, and Lincoln Park (Chicago). Burnham Park (Chicago) and Jackson Park (Chicago) in Hyde Park, Chicago are to the south. Interspersed are 31 beaches in Chicago, the Lincoln Park Zoo, several bird sanctuaries, McCormick Place Convention Center, Navy Pier, Soldier Field, the Museum Campus Chicago, and the Jardine Water Purification Plant.

Neighborhoods Regionally, Chicago can be divided by the river and its branches into three main sections: the North Side, the South side (Chicago), and the West Side. In the late 1920s the city was subdivided into 77 Community areas of Chicago by sociologists at the University of Chicago. The boundaries of the community areas are better defined than those of the Neighborhoods of Chicago, allowing for better year-by-year comparisons.

The Loop The Loop, named for a circuit of cable cars and later for the The Loop (rapid transit) where practically all branches of the Chicago Transit Authority train system lead, is the main commercial and cultural center, and includes the city's tallest buildings. It is generally not considered to be part of any of the "sides" of the city.

North Side The city's North Side is densely populated, and is the more commercially active section of the city, with Lincoln Park, Chicago, Lakeview, Chicago, Lincoln Square, Chicago, Rogers Park, Chicago and Uptown, Chicago being prime examples of multi-zoned neighborhoods.

Immigrants from Poland settled along Milwaukee Avenue, the Swedish people established a community in neighborhoods such as Andersonville, Chicago, and Germans settled along Lincoln Avenue; today, there are immigrant populations from all parts of the world. People of Middle Eastern, Asian people, Caribbean, or African origin may all live within the space of a few city blocks. The heart of the city's Orthodox Judaism community is West Ridge, Chicago, while the American Indian Center of Chicago has been in Uptown, Chicago since 1966.

Much of the North Side reaped the benefits of an economic boom which began in the 1990s. For example, the River North area, just north of the Chicago River and the Loop, has undergone a transition from an abandoned warehouse district to an active commercial, residential, and entertainment hub, featuring the city's largest concentration of contemporary art galleries. Just west of River North's galleries and bistros, demolition of the Chicago Housing Authority's Cabrini-Green housing project began in 2003{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/11/60II/main532704.shtml |title=Tearing Down Cabrini-Green |publisher=[CBS News |date=July 23 [ -->. High-priced townhouses contrast with the gray, low-income highrises along Halsted near Division Street (Chicago).

South Side The South Side is by far the largest section of the city in terms of geography, comprising roughly 60% of the city's total land area. It has a higher ratio of single-family homes and large sections zoned for industry. Although there is an assumption of the South Side having higher crime than the North Side and West Side, the reality is much more varied as the South Side is so large in area. It encompasses the affluent, the middle-class, and the poor. South Side neighborhoods such as Armour Square, Chicago, New City, Chicago, Bridgeport, Chicago, Englewood, Chicago, South Lawndale, Chicago and Pullman, Chicago tend to be lower to middle-class and blue collar, while Hyde Park, Chicago, Kenwood, Avalon Park, Chicago, Mount Greenwood, Chicago, and Beverly, Chicago tend to have upper-middle class, and affluent homes and incomes.. Neighborhoods close to the Loop such as Kenwood, Oakland, Bronzeville and the South Loop have, since the 1990s, seen tremendous real estate development.

During the early 20th century, the South Side became the final destination for many African-Americans during the Great Migration. Many well-known African-Americans resided on the South Side, including Gwendolyn Brooks, Richard Wright and Louis Armstrong. Today, the South Side continues to be the home of very well-known African-Americans, including Jesse Jackson Jr., Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama.

The South Side has two of Chicago's largest public parks. Jackson Park is considered to be the only public park in the nation that has a profesional sports stadium (Soldier Field, home of the National Football League's Chicago Bears). Washington Park is currently being considered as the primary site of the Olympic Stadium for the 2016 Summer Olympics if Chicago wins the bid.

The South Side is serviced by the Chicago Transit Authority's Green Line (Chicago Transit Authority), Red Line (Chicago Transit Authority), and Orange Line (Chicago Transit Authority).

West Side The West Side is made up of neighborhoods such as Austin, Chicago, North Lawndale, Chicago, East Garfield Park, Chicago, West Town, Chicago, and Humboldt Park, Chicago. Some neighborhoods, particularly Garfield Park and Lawndale, have prolonged socio-economic problems ranging from urban decay, overcrowding, and high crime. Attempts to remedy it have included razing of many CHA public housing units in favor of a more mixed income community.

Other West Side neighborhoods closer to the Loop, such as West Town, Chicago and the Ukrainian Village, Chicago, have, since the mid-1990s, seen extensive economic and residential developments to the point of gentrification. Humboldt Park, once home to a large German-American population, is now the apex of Chicago's Puerto Rican community, although it too is slowly beginning to gentrify. The West Loop, Greektown, Chicago and the other communities surrounding University of Illinois at Chicago, such as Little Italy, Tri-Taylor, the Fulton_River_District, Chicago and University Village Chicago, neighborhoods experiencing new construction, renovation, and an influx of the middle to upper income residents.

The southernmost neighborhood of the Near West Side, Chicago is predominantly Mexican-American Lower West Side, Chicago, a community known historically as an immigrant gateway. As a result of Pilsen's close proximity to the Loop and south University of Illinois at Chicago campus, Pilsen has seen many immigrants begin to leave for more affordable neighborhoods. The creation of upscale University Village Chicago, which borders Pilsen on the north, replaced the low income Maxwell Street neighborhood. The redevelopment of Maxwell Street and the rest of the Near West Side, Chicago has been gaining momentum. East Pilsen, home to an established artist's colony, has already seen much new construction, and the rest of Pilsen is poised to begin its redevelopment.

The West Side has three of Chicago's largest parks: Douglas Park, Garfield Park, and Humboldt Park, all of which are attractively landscaped. Garfield Park Conservatory houses one of the largest collections of tropical plants of any major U.S. city. Other attractions on the West Side include the United Center, Humboldt Park's Puerto Rican Day festival, and the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen.

The West Side is serviced by the Chicago Transit Authority's Green Line (Chicago Transit Authority), Blue Line (Chicago Transit Authority), and Pink Line (Chicago Transit Authority).

Culture The city's waterfront allure and nightlife has attracted residents and tourists alike. Over one-third of the city population is concentrated in the lakefront neighborhoods (from Rogers Park, Chicago in the north to Hyde Park, Chicago in the south). The city has many upscale dining establishments as well as many ethnic restaurant districts. These include "Greektown" on South Halsted, "Little Italy" on Taylor Street, just west of Halsted, "Chinatown" on the near South Side, and South Asian (Indian/Pakistani) on Devon Avenue.

Entertainment and performing arts

Chicago’s theater district spawned modern improvisational comedy. Two renowned comedy troupes emerged—The Second City and I.O. (formerly known as ImprovOlympic). Renowned Chicago theater companies include the Steppenwolf Theatre Company (on the city's north side), the Goodman Theatre, and the Victory Gardens Theater. Chicago offers Broadway-style entertainment at theatres such as Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre, LaSalle Bank Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, and Drury Lane Theatre (Illinois) Water Tower Place.

Classical music offerings include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, recognized as one of the finest orchestras in the world, which performs at Symphony Center. In the summer, many outdoor concerts are given in Grant Park (Chicago) and Millennium Park. The Ravinia Festival, located north of Chicago, is also a favorite destination for many Chicagoans, with performances occasionally given in Chicago locations such as the Harris Theater (Chicago). The Civic Opera House is home to the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The Joffrey Ballet and Chicago Festival Ballet performs in various venues, including the Harris Theater (Chicago) in Millenium Park. Chicago is home to several other modern and jazz dance troupes, such as the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Various forms of music are distinct to Chicago. Among them are Chicago blues, Chicago soul, jazz, and Gospel music. The city is the birthplace of the Chicago House style and is the site of an influential Hip-Hop scene in Chicago. In the 1980s, the city was a center for industrial, punk rock and new wave. This influence continued into the alternative music of the 1990s. The city has been an epicenter for rave culture since the 1980s. A flourishing independent rock music culture brought forth Chicago indie (music). Annual festivals feature various acts such as Lollapalooza, the Intonation Music Festival and Pitchfork Media#Pitchfork music festivals.

Tourism Chicago attracted 44.17 million visitors in 2006 from around the nation and world.http://www.choosechicago.com/stats/default.html Upscale shopping along the Magnificent Mile, thousands of restaurants, as well as Chicago's eminent architecture, continue to draw tourists. The city is the United States' third-largest convention destination.{{cite web|url=http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2003_3rd/Sep03_ChicagoConventions.html |title=Las Vegas and Orlando Bruising Chicago's Trade Show Business |publisher=Hotel Online |date=September 11 [ --> Most conventions are held at McCormick Place, just south of Soldier Field.

Navy Pier, 3,000 feet (900 m) long, houses retail, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls, and auditoriums. Its tall Ferris wheel is north of Grant Park (Chicago) on the lakefront and is one of the most visited landmarks in the Midwest, attracting about 8 million people annually.{{cite web|url=http://www.navypier.com/about/ov_pier.html |title=About Navy Pier - The Pier |publisher=Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority |date=2007 -->



The historic Chicago Cultural Center (1897), originally serving as the Chicago Public Library, now houses the city's Visitor Information Center, galleries, and exhibit halls. The ceiling of Preston Bradley Hall includes a 38-foot (11 m) Louis Comfort Tiffany dome.

Millennium Park is a rebuilt section of a former railyard that was planned for unveiling at the turn of the 21st century, though it was delayed for several years. The park includes the Cloud Gate sculpture (known locally as "The Bean"). When facing Cloud Gate and Lake Michigan, a curved skyline image reflects. A Millennium Park restaurant outdoor transforms into an ice skating rink in the winter. Two tall glass sculptures make up the Crown Fountain. Architects Krueck & Sexton implemented this design concept of artist Jaume Plensa. The fountain's two towers display visual effects from LED images of Chicagoans' faces, with water spouting from their lips. Frank Gehry's detailed stainless steel bandshell, Pritzker Pavilion, hosts the classical Grant Park Music Festival concert series. Behind the pavilion's stage is the Harris Theater (Chicago), an indoor venue for mid-sized performing arts companies, including Chicago Opera Theater and Music of the Baroque. Gehry's stainless steel BP Bridge connects Millennium Park with Daley Bicentennial Plaza.

In 1998, the city officially opened the Museum Campus Chicago, a 10-acre (4-hectare) lakefront park surrounding three of the city's main museums: the Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Shedd Aquarium. The Museum Campus joins the southern section of Grant Park (Chicago) which includes the renowned Art Institute of Chicago. Buckingham Fountain anchors the downtown park along the lakefront. During the summer of 2007, Grant Park hosts the public art exhibit, Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet.

The Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), in Hyde Park, Chicago, is the only remaining building from the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.

The Oriental Institute, Chicago, part of the University of Chicago, has an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeological artifacts, while the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum is dedicated to exploring and explaining the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Other museums and galleries in Chicago are the Chicago History Museum, DuSable Museum, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, the Polish Museum of America, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Hyde Park Art Center and The Renaissance Society.

Sports Chicago was named the best sports city in the United States by The Sporting News in 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=113586 |title=Best Sports Cities 2006: Who, where and how |publisher=Sporting News |date=August 1 [ --> As of 2007 Chicago was also the only North American city to have had champion teams in all five major sports, the big four plus soccer, which is currently the only other team sport with average attendances over 10,000 spectators.

The Chicago Cubs of the National League play in the second-oldest major league stadium and are famous as "lovable losers". They have not won the World Series since 1908. They won the National League Central Division championship in 2007. The Chicago White Sox of the American League won the World Series championship in 2005, their first since 1917. The Chicago Bears football team is one of two charter NFL teams still in existence. The Bears have won nine total List of NFL champions, the last occurring in Super Bowl XX. The Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association are one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world, thanks to the heroics of a player often cited as the best ever, Michael Jordan, who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s. The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL began playing in 1926 as a member of the Original Six and have won several Stanley Cups. The Chicago Fire (soccer) soccer club are members of Major League Soccer and are one of the league's most successful and best-supported since its founding in 1997, winning one league and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups in that timespan. The Chicago Marathon is held every October since 1977. This event is one of five World Marathon Majors.

The city was selected on April 14 2007 to represent the United States internationally for the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.Levine, Jay. " Chicago In The Running To Host 2016 Summer Games." CBS. July 26, 2006. Retrieved on December 1 2006." Official Chicago 2016 Website." Retrieved on December 1 2006. Chicago also hosted the 1959 Pan American Games, and Gay Games VII in 2006. Chicago was selected to host the 1904 Olympics, but they were transferred to St. Louis to coincide with the World's Fair.{{cite web| title = 1904 Summer Olympics| publisher = International Olympics Committee| url = http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1904-->

Media Chicago is the third-largest media market in North America (after New York City and Los Angeles). Nielsen Media - DMA Listing (September 24, 2005). Each of the big four List of United States over-the-air television networks directly owns and operates stations in Chicago. WGN-TV, which is owned by the Tribune Company, is carried (with some programming differences) as "Superstation WGN" on Cable television nationwide. The city is also the home of The Oprah Winfrey Show and Jerry Springer, while Chicago Public Radio produces programs such as Public Radio International's This American Life and National Public Radio's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.

There are two major daily newspapers published in Chicago: the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, with the former having the larger circulation. There are also several regional and special-interest newspapers such as the Chicago Reader, the Daily Southtown, the Chicago Defender, the Chicago Sports Weekly, the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois newspaper), StreetWise, and the Windy City Times.

Food Chicago has some signature foods which reflect the city's ethnic and working-class roots. These include the Chicago-style pizza and the Chicago-style hot dog, which is almost always made of Vienna Beef and loaded with an array of condiments, such as pickle relish, sport peppers, a dill pickle spear, and more. However, putting ketchup on a Chicago hot dog is often taken as an insult. Chicago is also known for Italian Beef sandwiches and the Maxwell Street Polish (always served topped with grilled onions and mustard). The city has many upscale dining establishments as well as many ethnic restaurant districts. These include "Greektown" on South Halsted, "Little Italy" on Taylor Street, just west of Halsted, "Chinatown" on the near South Side, and South Asian on Devon Avenue. Grant Park celebrates the Taste of Chicago festival in late June and early July (basically the week of Independence Day (United States)). Every type of food in the city is represented, with free concerts and events daily.

In the June 2006 issue of GQ magazine, Chicago was hailed as the best restaurant city in America.

Economy at nightChicago has the third largest gross metropolitan product in the nation—approximately United States dollar442 billion according to 2007 estimates. The city has also been rated as having the most balanced economy in the United States, due to its high level of diversification.. Accessed from 'World Business Chicago'. Chicago was named the fourth most important business center in the world in the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index. " London named world's top business center by MasterCard", CNN, June 13, 2007. Additionally, the Chicago metropolitan area recorded the greatest number of new or expanded corporate facilities in the United States for five of the past six years.{{cite web] Company relocated its corporate headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001.

Chicago is a major financial center with the Chicago Loop in the U.S. The city is the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (the Seventh District of the Federal Reserve). The city is also home to four major financial and futures exchanges, including the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (the "Merc"). The city and the surrounding suburbs are home to 66 Fortune 500 companies. Chicago and the surrounding areas also house many major brokerage firms and insurance companies, such as Allstate Corporation and Zürich North America. In addition, despite Chicago commonly being perceived as a rust-belt city, a study indicated that Chicago has the largest high-technology and information-technology industry employment in the United States. Gauging Metropolitan "High-Tech" and "I-Tech" Activity (2004). Accessed from 'SAGE Publications'.

Manufacturing (which includes chemicals, metal, machinery, and consumer electronics), printing and publishing, and food processing also play major roles in the city's economy. Nevertheless, much of the manufacturing occurs outside the city limits, especially since World War II. Hirsch, Susan E. (2004-2005). Economic Geography. Encyclopedia of Chicago (online edition). Several medical products and services companies are headquartered in the Chicago area, including Baxter International, Abbott Laboratories, and the Healthcare Financial Services division of General Electric. Moreover, the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which helped move goods from the Great Lakes south on the Mississippi River, and of the railroads in the 19th century made the city a major transportation center in the United States. In the 1840s, Chicago became a major cereal port, and in the 1850s and 1860s Chicago's pork and beef industry expanded. As the major meat companies grew in Chicago many, such as Armour & Co., created global enterprises. Though the meatpacking industry currently plays a lesser role in the city's economy, Chicago continues to be a major transportation and distribution center.

The city is also a major convention destination; Chicago is third in the U.S. behind Las Vegas, Nevada and Orlando, Florida as far as the number of conventions hosted annually. Chicago falls to 3rd in U.S. convention industry (4/26/2006). Crain's Chicago Business. In addition, Chicago is home to eleven Fortune 500 companies, while the metropolitan area hosts an additional 21 Fortune 500 companies. Fortune 500 2006 - Illinois. CNNMoney.com. Chicago also hosts 12 Fortune Global 500 companies and 17 Financial Times 500 companies. The city claims one Dow 30 company, aerospace giant Boeing, which moved its headquarters from Seattle to the Loop in 2001. The city and its surrounding metropolitan area are also home to the second largest labor pool in the United States with approximately 4.25 million workers.. CBRE - CB Richard Ellis.In 2006, Chicago placed 10th on the UBS AG list of the world's richest cities.

Demographics {| class="toccolours" align="right" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin:0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 95%;"|-! colspan="4" bgcolor="#ccccff" align="center"| City of Chicago
Population by yearGibson, Campbell (June 1998).

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