So, you're thinking about attending a college or university in Illinois?

As the most populous state in the Midwest, Illinois is known for its large and diverse population. While, geographically, Illinois is mostly composed of flat prairie-land, the southern section of the state has a generally warmer climate and more rugged topography than the rest of the state. The area surrounding Chicago in the northern part of the state, often referred to as Chicagoland, is where two out of three Illinois residents live. The state is bordered by Wisconsin to the north, Lake Michigan and Indiana to the east, Kentucky to the south, and Missouri and Iowa to the west.

Since Illinois is nearly 400 miles long, the climate varies across its territories. The average temperatures range from a high of 100°F in the south during August to a low of 0°F in the Northwest during the month of February. Yearly precipitation varies from an average of around 48 inches at the southernmost point to about 35 inches in the north. While the southern sections of the state normally receives less than 14 inches of snow annually, the area around Chicago often receives snow in excess of 38 inches.

Illinois averages 35 tornadoes annually, which means there are about 5 tornadoes per 10,000 square miles every year. In fact, the deadliest tornado on record in the United States took place largely in Illinois. Known as the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, it killed 695 people in the three states affected. 613 of those lived in Illinois.

According to figures calculated in 2006, Illinois has an estimated population of 12,831,970. In 2004, 1,682,900 residents were foreign-born, which is approximately 13.3% of the population at that time. As far as age groups go, 7.1% of the residents of Illinois were reported to be under age 5, 26.1% were under the age of 18, and 12.1% were 65 or older.

Traditionally, Illinois has been a major battleground state between the Democratic and Republican parties. In recent years, however, it has shifted solidly over to a Democratic state. In fact, it is now the most Democratic state in the Midwest. During the past four presidential elections, the voters of Illinois supported the Democratic presidents for office. With 54.8% of the vote, John Kerry won the state's electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 11 percentage points.

Like its neighboring states, the residents of Illinois are mostly Protestants. With only 49% of citizens falling into this category, however, the margin isn't as large as in surrounding states. A large percentage of people, 30% of the total population, identify themselves as Roman Catholic. 16% say that they are non-religious.

The income tax in the state of Illinois is calculated by multiplying net income by a flat rate, which is currently set at 3%. As for sales tax, there are actually two different rates currently being used. A rate of 6.25% is imposed on general merchandise while a rate of only 1% is levied for qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances.

Thanks in part to the fact that Illinois is one of the most populous states in the U.S., there are a substantial number of colleges and universities to choose from located here. Some of the schools that can be found in this state are:

• The University of Chicago

• The University of Illinois

To find more information about universities and colleges in this area, visit the Online College Degrees page on this website.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Illinois".

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