Illinois

Split between a Yankee-and-immigrant north around Chicago and an Appalachian-Southern 'Egypt' in its south, Illinois embodied the cultural fault line that ran through Abraham Lincoln's own career. Chicago's rise on rail and the Great Lakes made it the metropolis of the interior. Prairie farmland and heavy industry long sustained one of the nation's most populous states.

• Existed: 1720 CE – present
• Type: Entity
• Government: U.S. State
• Capital: Springfield