伊利诺斯州小档案：
人口：约1300万
面积：约146，075平方公里，排名第24位
州府：春田Springfield
伊利诺州，名称来自印第安语，其意义是“人”或“战士”Menor Warriors。
1720年开始殖民。1818年12月3日成为美国第21州。以本地出产之紫罗兰Native Violet为州花。本州别名叫做“草原之州”Prairie State。本州箴言：“州有主权，国家团结”State Sovereignty，National Union。
州府是春田Springfield，位于西部。大都市芝加哥在本州东北角，滨密执安湖，为美国第二大都市。由芝加哥北上，通过圣罗伦斯河海道，可达大西洋；南下，通过密西西比河，可达墨西哥湾。它有河、湖、海三方面航路。市内三个飞机场，每年起飞与降落之旅客人数，多至3千万。芝加哥是美国机械制造业中心，其中心农业机械为最重要。市内最高大厦，叫做西尔斯大厦Sears Building，有110层，高1450尺，成为美国第一高楼（纽约国际贸易中心大厦只有1350尺高）。
州内大专院校有140所。其中最著名的是伊利诺大学University of Illinois，创于1867年，地点在乌班那Urbana。
本州特征有二：第一，在大湖区域内拥有最大的湖港。大湖区域共有70多个湖港。其中最大的，是芝加哥Chicago，进出口货物有5千万吨，在湖港之中，列第一位。第二，本州三分之二的人口，住在芝加哥市区、郊区及其附近卫星市镇之内。
本州农业方面有两个特点：（A）玉蜀黍产量极大，位于美国玉蜀黍产量之前列。（B）本州大豆产量在各州之内列第一位。据统计，本州农产总值，有15亿美元，仅次于加州，列第二位。烟煤与石油等矿产，约7亿美元。工业产品总值约230亿美元。伊利诺是一个富庶之州。
Introduction简介
本丛书共50册，分为美国各州的小知识，七彩缤纷的音符，优美好看的小散文，开心时分的短文，经典流传的寓言，超级高效的短句，实际有用的词汇等等在这些书中，备有单词解释，相关简介，或中文翻译，便于同学们更好的阅读和理解，真正进入文字的内涵当中，准确地和文字进行交流。主要介绍伊利诺斯州、印第安纳州、爱荷华州和堪萨斯州的概况、州长、州鸟、州花、州旗、州歌以及相关资料，附有话里话外部分，主要介绍美国人姓名、性格、体育活动、文化娱乐和社交场合中的礼仪。
Indianshunted in Illinois as far back as 5000B．C．and today you can still view the remains of their civilization at places such as Chahokia Mounds North America’s largest and most valuable prehistoric earthwork（［建］土方（工程），［军］土木工事）relic（遗物，遗迹）．Dickson Mounds Indian Museum near Lewiston features special exhibits which chronicle（编入编年史）the Indian’s valuable place in Illinois history．
French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet，in 1673，were the first Europeans of record to visit the region paddling（涉水）by birch bark canoe（独木舟，轻舟）along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers．They traveled the length of the state—from what is now Chicago to the southernmost reaches of Illinois．
In 1699French settlers established a fur－trading post（商栈，交易站）and the first permanent（永久的，持久的）settlement at Cahokia，near present－day East St．Louis．More French explorers followed，building military outposts（前哨，边区村落）and establishing a fur trading empire with local Indians．In 1675，Father Jacques Marquette founded a mission at the Kaskaskia Indian Village near present－day Ottawa．
In 1717，France placed Illinois into the Louisiana Colony．Great Britain obtained the region at the end of the French and Indian Wars in 1763at the close of the French and Indian War，the Treaty of Paris ceded（放弃）to England all lands France had claimed east of the Mississippi River，except for New Orleans in Louisiana．Many of the French settlers in Illinois moved across the river into Iowa．Only missionaries，fur traders，a few settlers，and English soldiers remained in the Illinois region．
The British continued to control what is now Illinois until 1778when George Rogers Clark，a Revolutionary War hero，and his band of American colonists captured Fort Kaskaskia．The Illinois country became a possession of Virginia until 1787when it joined the Northwest Territory under the government of the United States．
In 1809，the Illinois Territory was created．The area figured prominently（显著地）in frontier struggles during the Revolutionary War and in Indian wars during the early 19th century．Hundreds of settlers began moving to Illinois from Virginia，Kentucky，and Maryland．Indians，angry with the settlers for taking their lands，sided with Britain in the War of 1812．Many settlers were massacred（残杀，集体屠杀）as they attempted to leave Fort Dearborn near the mouth of the Chicago River．
Illinois was one of the five states created from the Northwest Territory．Six different forms of government operated in Illinois before its first constitution（宪法）took effect in 1818．That first document was followed by constitutions in 1848，1870，and 1970．
Illinois became the 21st state on December 3，1818．Construction of the Erie Canal（运河）in 1825provided easy transportation to the Midwest．Kaskaskia became Illinois’first capitol［州议会大厦，（古罗马的）主神殿（丘比特神殿）］．Two years later the seat of Illinois government was moved to Vandalia．
Hundreds of people from the eastern states and Europe rushed to settle the new state following the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825．The federal government forced Indians living in the state to cross the Mississippi River into Iowa．In 1832，the Sauk and Fox Indians fought state militias（民兵）for their land．The Black Hawk War ended that same year，and all Indians were forced out of Illinois which virtually ended the Indian troubles in the area．
In 1839，largely through the efforts of a young legislator named Abraham Lincoln，the capitol was again moved this time to Springfield，where it is now open to the public as an historic site．In 1858，Abraham Lincoln ran against Stephen A．Douglas for the U．S．Senate．Lincoln’s stand against slavery during several debates in Illinois，gave him national attention．He lost the election，but became president of the United States two years later．Six southern states seceded（正式脱离或退出，分离）from the Union and the Civil War（1861—1865）began after Lincoln’s inauguration（就职典礼）．
Ulysses S．Grant，general of the Union Army，and 250，000soldiers fought from Illinois during the war．
After the war，industry boomed（兴隆）in Illinois．Railroads were expanding，bringing immigrants to work factories in Chicago，Joliet，and Rockford．Chicago led the nation in grain and meatpacking（肉类加工业）production．On Oct．8，1871the city of Chicago was destroyed；the Great Chicago Fire burned for almost two days killing over 300people．
The Capitol in use today dates back to 1868，when ground was broken for its construction．Although the General Assembly moved in eight years later in 1876，it took 20years to complete the building at a cost of 4．5million．
During the late 1800s，unrest（不安的状态，动荡的局面）swept throughout the nation’s farmers and factory workers．Farmers were paying high prices for land and farm equipment while receiving low prices for crops．Factory workers were paid low salaries in unsafe working conditions．In 1886，a riot occurred in Chicago’s Haymarket Square，killing eight policemen and several bystanders（看热闹的人，旁观者）．