The Chicagoland region is colored red. Chicagoland is a name given to the Chicago metropolitan area; the label originated in the pages of the Chicago Tribune in the early twentieth century. Chicago is the center of this metropolitan area and is the focal point for the surrounding suburban communities, located in nine counties in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Overview
The Chicago–Joliet–Naperville–Gary, Indiana–Kenosha, Wisconsin Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area had 9,157,540 inhabitants during the 2000 census. Population estimates for 2003 place the Chicagoland population at approximately 9,650,000, which would make it the 26th most populous metropolitan area in the world. The suburbs, surrounded by easily annexed flat ground, have been expanding at a tremendous rate since the early 1960s. Settlement patterns in Chicagoland tend to follow those in the city proper: the northern suburbs along the shore of Lake Michigan are comparatively affluent, while the southern suburbs are less so, with lower median incomes and a lower cost of living. The southern portion of Chicagoland is occasionally called Illiana.
Origin The publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Col. Robert R. McCormick, was an inveterate civic booster. In his view, Chicagoland was the vast region in the center of the country, with Chicago as its economic and cultural capital. In many ways, what McCormick envisioned as Chicagoland is now described by the term flyover country. The original impetus for the term is long forgotten; the meaning of Chicago metropolitan area is largely perpetuated by advertisers, e.g. "See your Chicagoland Ford dealer".
List of counties Illinois - Cook County
- DuPage County
- Kane County
- Kendall County
- Lake County
- McHenry County
- Will County
Indiana - Lake County
- Porter County
Wisconsin Anchor cities - Chicago, Illinois
- Gary, Indiana
- Kenosha, Wisconsin
Major airports - O'Hare International Airport (ORD) - Chicago, Illinois
- Midway Airport (MDW) - Chicago, Illinois
- Gary/Chicago International Airport (GYY) - Gary, Indiana
- Northwest Chicagoland Regional Airport (RFD) - Rockford, Illinois
- John Batten Airport (RAC) - Racine, Wisconsin
Suburbs with more than 100,000 inhabitants Illinois - Aurora
- Joliet (acts as an anchor city)
- Naperville (acts as an anchor city)
Suburbs with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants Illinois - Addison
- Algonquin
- Alsip
- Arlington Heights
- Barrington
- Bartlett
- Batavia
- Beach Park
- Bellwood
- Bensenville
- Berwyn
- Bloomingdale
- Blue Island
- Bolingbrook
- Bridgeview
- Brookfield
- Buffalo Grove
- Burbank
- Burr Ridge
- Calumet City
- Carol Stream
- Cary
- Carpentersville
- Chicago Heights
- Chicago Ridge
- Cicero
- Country Club Hills
- Crest Hill
- Crestwood
- Crystal Lake
- Darien
- Deerfield
- Des Plaines
- Dolton
- Downers Grove
- Elk Grove Village
- Elgin
- Elmhurst
- Elmwood Park
- Evanston
- Evergreen Park
- Forest Park
- Frankfort
- Franklin Park
- Gages Lake
- Geneva
- Glen Ellyn
- Glendale Heights
- Glenview
- Goodings Grove
- Grayslake
- Gurnee
- Hanover Park
- Harvey
- Hazel Crest
- Hickory Hills
- Highland Park
- Hinsdale
- Hoffman Estates
- Homewood
- Justice
- La Grange
- La Grange Park
- Lake Forest
- Lake in the Hills
- Lake Zurich
- Lansing
- Lemont
- Libertyville
- Lincolnwood
- Lindenhurst
- Lisle
- Lockport
- Lombard
- Lyons
- Markham
- Matteson
- Maywood
- McHenry
- Melrose Park
- Midlothian
- Mokena
- Morton Grove
- Mount Prospect
- Mundelein
- New Lenox
- Niles
- Norridge
- North Aurora
- North Chicago
- Northbrook
- Northlake
- Oak Forest
- Oak Lawn
- Oak Park
- Oswego
- Orland Park
- Palatine
- Palos Heights
- Palos Hills
- Park Forest
- Park Ridge
- Plainfield
- Prospect Heights
- Richton Park
- River Forest
- River Grove
- Riverdale
- Rolling Meadows
- Romeoville
- Roselle
- Round Lake Beach
- Sauk Village
- Schaumburg
- Schiller Park
- Skokie
- South Elgin
- South Holland
- St. Charles
- Streamwood
- Summit
- Tinley Park
- Vernon Hills
- Villa Park
- Warrenville
- Waukegan
- Westchester
- West Chicago
- Western Springs
- Westmont
- Wheaton
- Wheeling
- Wilmette
- Winnetka
- Wood Dale
- Woodridge
- Woodstock
- Worth
- Zion
Indiana - Chesterton
- Crown Point
- Dyer
- East Chicago
- Griffith
- Hammond
- Highland
- Hobart
- Lake Station
- Merrillville
- Munster
- Portage
- Schererville
- Valparaiso
Wisconsin Suburbs with less than 10,000 inhabitants Illinois - Antioch
- Bannockburn
- Barrington Hills
- Bedford Park
- Beecher
- Berkeley
- Boulder Hill
- Braidwood
- Broadview
- Bull Valley
- Burlington
- Burnham
- Calumet Park
- Channel Lake
- Clarendon Hills
- Countryside
- Crystal Lawns
- Crete
- Deer Park
- Dixmoor
- East Dundee
- East Hazel Crest
- Elburn
- Elwood
- Fairmont
- Flossmoor
- Ford Heights
- Forest Lake
- Forest View
- Fox Lake
- Fox Lake Hills
- Fox River Grove
- Fox River Valley Gardens
- Frankfort Square
- Gilberts
- Glencoe
- Glenwood
- Golf
- Grandwood Park
- Green Oaks
- Greenwood
- Hainesville
- Hampshire
- Harvard
- Harwood Heights
- Hawthorn Woods
- Hebron
- Highwood
- Hillside
- Hodgkins
- Holiday Hills
- Hometown
- Huntley
- Indian Creek
- Indian Head Park
- Ingalls Park
- Inverness
- Island Lake
- Itasca
- Johnsburg
- Kenilworth
- Kildeer
- Lake Barrington
- Lake Bluff
- Lake Catherine
- Lake Villa
- Lakemoor
- Lakewood
- Lakewood Shores
- Lily Lake
- Lincolnshire
- Lisbon
- Long Grove
- Long Lake
- Lynwood
- Manhattan
- Marengo
- McCook
- McCullom Lake
- Merrionette Park
- Mettawa
- Monee
- Montgomery
- Newark
- North Barrington
- North Riverside
- Northfield
- Oak Brook
- Oakbrook Terrace
- Oakwood Hills
- Old Mill Creek
- Olympia Fields
- Orland Hills
- Palos Park
- Park City
- Peotone
- Phoenix
- Pingree Grove
- Pistakee Highlands
- Plano
- Posen
- Prairie Grove
- Preston Heights
- Richmond
- Ringwood
- Riverside
- Riverwoods
- Robbins
- Rockdale
- Rosemont
- Round Lake
- Round Lake Heights
- Round Lake Park
- Shorewood
- Sleepy Hollow
- South Barrington
- South Chicago Heights
- Spring Grove
- Steger
- Stickney
- Stone Park
- Sugar Grove
- Symerton
- Third Lake
- Thornton
- Tower Lakes
- Trout Valley
- Union
- University Park
- Venetian Village
- Virgil
- Volo
- Wadsworth
- Wauconda
- Wayne
- West Dundee
- Willowbrook, DuPage County
- Willowbrook, Will County
- Willow Springs
- Wilmington
- Winfield
- Winthrop Harbor
- Wonder Lake
- Yorkville
Indiana - Beverly Shores
- Burns Harbor
- Cedar Lake
- Dune Acres
- Hebron
- Kouts
- Lake Dalecarlia
- Lakes of the Four Seasons
- Lowell
- New Chicago
- Ogden Dunes
- Porter
- Schneider
- South Haven
- St. John
- Town of Pines
- Whiting
- Winfield
Wisconsin - Brighton
- Bristol
- Camp Lake
- Genoa City
- Lake Shangrila
- Paddock Lake
- Paris
- Powers Lake
- Randall
- Salem
- Silver Lake
- Somers
- Twin Lakes
- Wheatland
See also | Regions of Illinois | | | Chicagoland | Little Egypt | | Largest Cities | | Alton | Aurora | Belleville | Berwyn | Bloomington | Burbank | Calumet City | Champaign | Chicago | Crystal Lake | Decatur | DeKalb | Des Plaines | Elgin | Elmhurst | Evanston | Joliet | Moline | Naperville | Park Ridge | Peoria | Quincy | Rockford | Rock Island | Springfield | St. Charles | Urbana | Wheaton | Waukegan | | Largest Towns and Villages | | Addison | Arlington Heights | Bartlett | Bolingbrook | Buffalo Grove | Carol Stream | Carpentersville | Cicero | Downers Grove | Elk Grove Village | Glenview | Hoffman Estates | Lombard | Mount Prospect | Normal | Oak Lawn | Oak Park | Orland Park | Palatine | Schaumburg | Skokie | Tinley Park | | Counties | | Adams | Alexander | Bond | Boone | Brown | Bureau | Calhoun | Carroll | Cass | Champaign | Christian | Clark | Clay | Clinton | Coles | Cook | Crawford | Cumberland | DeKalb | DeWitt | Douglas | DuPage | Edgar | Edwards | Effingham | Fayette | Ford | Franklin | Fulton | Gallatin | Greene | Grundy | Hamilton | Hancock | Hardin | Henderson | Henry | Iroquois | Jackson | Jasper | Jefferson | Jersey | Jo Daviess | Johnson | Kane | Kankakee | Kendall | Knox | La Salle | Lake | Lawrence | Lee | Livingston | Logan | Macon | Macoupin | Madison | Marion | Marshall | Mason | Massac | McDonough | McHenry | McLean | Menard | Mercer | Monroe | Montgomery | Morgan | Moultrie | Ogle | Peoria | Perry | Piatt | Pike | Pope | Pulaski | Putnam | Randolph | Richland | Rock Island | Saline | Sangamon | Schuyler | Scott | Shelby | St. Clair | Stark | Stephenson | Tazewell | Union | Vermilion | Wabash | Warren | Washington | Wayne | White | Whiteside | Will | Williamson | Winnebago | Woodford | | Regions of Wisconsin | | | Central Plain | Eastern Ridges and Lowlands | Lake Superior Lowland | Northern Highland | Western Upland | | Largest Cities | | Appleton | Beloit | Brookfield | Eau Claire | Fond du Lac | Franklin | Green Bay | Greenfield | Janesville | Kenosha | La Crosse | Madison | Milwaukee | New Berlin | Oshkosh | Racine | Sheboygan | Waukesha | Wausau | Wauwatosa | | Counties | | Adams | Ashland | Barron | Bayfield | Brown | Buffalo | Burnett | Calumet | Chippewa | Clark | Columbia | Crawford | Dane | Dodge | Door | Douglas | Dunn | Eau Claire | Florence | Fond du Lac | < |
|