City North America
Chicago
Chicago is a big city in the United States. It sits beside a giant lake. It has very tall buildings and trains that run high above the street.
Chicago, in the state of Illinois, is the third-biggest city in the United States, with about 2.7 million people (2025). It grew fast beside Lake Michigan, rebuilt itself after the Great Fire of 1871 and became famous for its skyscrapers, railways, museums and music.
Chicago, on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, grew from a trading post at the mouth of the Chicago River into the railway hub of the United States. Incorporated as a city in 1837, it rebuilt after the 1871 fire with pioneering steel-frame skyscrapers, reversed its river in 1900 and peaked at 3.62 million people in 1950; the 2025 estimate is about 2.73 million.
Photo: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Chicago
Chicago is a big city in the United States.
It sits on the shore of Lake Michigan, a lake so big it looks like the sea. A river runs through the middle. Tall towers rise up beside the water.
Chicago is in the state of Illinois, in the middle of the United States. It stretches about 40 kilometers along the shore of Lake Michigan, one of the five Great Lakes. With about 2.7 million people in 2025, it is the third-biggest city in the country.
The Chicago River divides the city into three rough parts. Downtown, along the river and the lake, is crowded with skyscrapers. Farther out lie many neighborhoods, where you can find food, shops and music from almost every country in the world.
Chicago lies at the southwestern end of the Great Lakes, on a flat glacial plain that was once the floor of Lake Chicago, the forerunner of Lake Michigan. It is the seat of Cook County and the largest city in Illinois; Wikidata, citing the US Census Bureau, gives 2,731,585 for 2025, and the wider Chicagoland area, reaching into Wisconsin and Indiana, is the country's third-largest metropolitan area.
Britannica explains that its location made it a link in the waterway between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, then the country's railway hub and, after World War II, an air hub. It covers 591 km², about 40 km north to south. From 1890 to 1982 it was the second-largest US city. Its 'Windy City' nickname, Britannica notes, came not from lake breezes but from its boasting, especially in the 1890s contest to host the World's Columbian Exposition.
- Country
- United States (Illinois)
- People in the city (2025 estimate)
- about 2.73 million
- Area
- 591 km²
- Became a city
- March 4, 1837
Famous places
Chicago has some of the tallest buildings in the world.
The Willis Tower is black and very, very tall. In Millennium Park there are fountains, gardens and a big stage for music. Navy Pier stretches out into the lake.
Chicago's buildings are famous around the world. The Willis Tower, finished in 1974, has 108 stories and is 442 meters tall. Many other giant towers line the river and the lakeshore.
By the lake, Millennium Park opened in 2004 on top of old railway tracks. It has fountains, sculptures, gardens, an ice rink and an outdoor concert stage designed by the architect Frank Gehry. Nearby, the Museum Campus joins the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. Navy Pier, 2.4 kilometers long, has rides, restaurants and boat trips.
After the Great Fire of 1871, rebuilding started a pattern of building innovation; in the late 1880s came office towers dubbed skyscrapers, a term reputedly coined in Chicago, whose steel frames freed them from the height limits of load-bearing masonry. Art Deco towers of the 1920s cluster in the LaSalle Street financial district, and the German-born architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe shaped a generation of International Style buildings. The 108-story, 442 m Willis (formerly Sears) Tower of 1974 remains one of the tallest in the world; Jeanne Gang's 101-story St. Regis Chicago was completed in 2022.
The Museum Campus, created in the 1990s by moving part of Lake Shore Drive, links the Field Museum (1893), the Shedd Aquarium (1930) and the Adler Planetarium (1930). On Michigan Avenue stand the Art Institute of Chicago, known for its French Impressionist paintings, and the Chicago Cultural Center, with a large Tiffany stained-glass dome. Millennium Park (2004), built largely over railroad tracks, includes Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion.
- Willis Tower (1974)
- 108 stories, 442 m
- Millennium Park
- opened 2004
- Field Museum of Natural History
- founded 1893
- Navy Pier
- completed 1916, 2.4 km long
From trading post to big city
Long ago, Native American people lived by the rivers here.
Then a trader built a home at the river mouth. A town grew, then a big city. One night a huge fire burned much of it. People quickly built it again, with taller buildings than before.
Native American peoples lived in villages near the rivers here long before the city. In 1779 Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable started a trading post near the mouth of the Chicago River. Chicago became a town in 1833, with about 350 people, and a city in 1837.
In 1848 a canal and the first railway opened, and Chicago boomed as a place where grain, lumber and meat from the farms of the West were collected and sent east. In October 1871 the Great Fire destroyed about a third of the city. Chicago rebuilt so fast that it had more than half a million people by 1880, and more than a million by 1890.
The site lay on the water route between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. Marquette and Jolliet passed through in 1673, and in 1779 Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable became the first non-Native permanent resident, trading near the river mouth until 1800. Fort Dearborn followed. Chicago was incorporated as a town in 1833 (about 350 people) and, during a canal-land boom, as a city on March 4, 1837 (4,170 people). The Illinois and Michigan Canal and the first railway both opened in 1848, and the city became the 'golden funnel' for the grain, lumber and meat of the farm belt.
The Great Fire, which began on the evening of October 8, 1871, burned about 9 km², destroyed some 17,450 buildings and left nearly 100,000 people homeless; about 300 died. Rebuilding drew Sullivan, Burnham, Root and Jenney. In 1900 the Sanitary and Ship Canal reversed the Chicago River, carrying waste away from Lake Michigan. The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition drew some 25.8 million visitors; the Burnham and Bennett Plan of Chicago (1909) preserved the lakefront for parks. The population peaked at 3.62 million in 1950.
Getting around Chicago
In Chicago, some trains run high above the street.
People call them the L, short for elevated. Other trains zoom underground. Big airports send planes all over the world.
Chicago is the railway hub of the United States: every day thousands of passengers arrive or change trains at Union Station. In the city, many people ride the "L", short for elevated railway. Its loop of tracks around downtown was finished in 1897, and downtown is still called the Loop. Subway lines run underground, and buses go everywhere.
Most streets follow a grid, with eight blocks to a mile. O'Hare and Midway airports connect Chicago to cities around the world.
Britannica calls Chicago the country's rail transportation hub; by the early 20th century 30 interstate routes fanned out from the city, and every one of them ended there, so goods and passengers had to transfer between lines in Chicago. Thousands of Amtrak passengers still use Union Station daily. The downtown Loop takes its name from the 1880s loop of streetcar tracks and is now defined by the Loop elevated structure, completed in 1897.
Public transit grew out of the Great Depression, when private streetcar and elevated companies went bankrupt: the State Street subway was built in 1938–43 and the Dearborn Street route opened in 1950; the Chicago Transit Authority was created in 1945. O'Hare, named in 1949 for the naval aviator Edward 'Butch' O'Hare, was long the country's busiest airport; Municipal Airport was renamed Midway. The street grid, an extension of the 1830 plan, runs eight blocks to a mile, with some diagonal streets following old Native American trails.
- Loop elevated railway (the "L")
- completed 1897
- First subway line
- under State Street, 1938–43
- Main airports
- O'Hare and Midway
- City streets
- a grid, 8 blocks to a mile
Weather and seasons
Chicago has hot summers and freezing winters.
In summer, people lie on the beach by the lake. In winter, they ice-skate in the parks. The weather can change very quickly!
Chicago has big differences between summer and winter. In July, daytime highs average about 29 °C. In January, the average daily high is just below freezing, and lows average about −9 °C. People relax on lakeside beaches in summer and skate in the parks in winter.
The weather can change fast. Winds from the prairies to the west meet the air over Lake Michigan, and the result can be a sudden shift. Chicagoans joke: "If you don't like the weather, wait an hour and it will change." The lake keeps nearby areas a little warmer in winter and cooler in summer, and sometimes it causes lake-effect snow.
World Meteorological Organization normals for Chicago (1981–2010) give a January mean daily maximum of −0.6 °C and minimum of −8.6 °C, and a July mean daily maximum of 28.9 °C and minimum of 17.7 °C. Britannica gives a January average of −2 °C, a July average of 24 °C and about 900 mm of precipitation a year.
Two local sayings sum it up. "Wait an hour and it will change" reflects how air carried by prairie winds from Iowa or Minnesota collides with conditions over Lake Michigan to produce abrupt changes; "two seasons, Christmas and the Fourth of July" reflects the extremes. The lake usually moderates the shore, warming it slightly in winter and cooling it in summer, and generates occasional lake-effect showers and snowfalls, while city pavements absorb and radiate heat. The region is big enough to show double-digit temperature differences at the same moment.
- January, average daily high and low
- about −1 °C and −9 °C
- July, average daily high and low
- about 29 °C and 18 °C
- Rain and snow in a year
- about 900 mm
Living in Chicago
Chicago has lots of parks and beaches by the lake.
People run, bike and sail there. Many people love music called the blues and jazz. A famous Chicago pizza is very deep, like a pie!
Chicago's motto is Urbs in Horto, Latin for "City in a Garden." The Chicago Park District runs more than 600 parks, and paths along the lakeshore are busy with runners, walkers and cyclists. The Lincoln Park Zoo, opened in 1868, is still free to visit.
Chicago is famous around the world for the blues, and it helped shape jazz and gospel music. In summer, free concerts and festivals fill Grant Park. Chicago's best-known foods include deep-dish pizza and a hot dog piled with toppings but never ketchup. Neighborhood shops and restaurants bring flavors from almost every country.
Britannica describes a drive across Chicago's neighborhoods as a trip around the world, with the cultures of virtually every country in its food stores, restaurants, markets and places of worship; Chicagoans call it a 'city of neighborhoods', a phrase that can also carry connotations of segregation. The Park District, formed in 1934 from 22 smaller park administrations, runs more than 600 parks covering some 3,200 ha, and the city's 1837 seal carries the motto Urbs in Horto.
African Americans who moved to Chicago in the 20th century made Chicago a world center of the blues, especially the electric Chicago blues of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy; Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton helped shape jazz there, and gospel music traces its roots to the city in the late 1920s through Thomas A. Dorsey. Grant Park has hosted free classical concerts since 1935, and the city has more than 200 small theater groups. Local food traditions include deep-dish pizza and the hot dog loaded with garnishes but no ketchup.
- City parks
- more than 600, about 3,200 hectares
- City motto
- Urbs in Horto (City in a Garden)
- Lincoln Park Zoo
- 1868, free admission
Chicago on the map
Find Chicago on the globe.
It is in the United States, in North America. Look for the big lakes in the middle. Chicago is at the bottom of Lake Michigan.
Chicago is in the Midwest of the United States, in the northeast corner of the state of Illinois. It sits near the southern tip of Lake Michigan, at the southwestern end of the Great Lakes.
The city stretches about 40 kilometers along the lakeshore and about 25 kilometers inland. The Chicago River's North and South branches meet about 1.6 kilometers from the lake, dividing the city into three rough parts.
Chicago lies at about 41.8° N and 87.8° W, on a flat glacial plain 176–183 m above sea level that was once the bed of Lake Chicago. Much of the site was swampy, just above lake level, until the center was filled in during the 19th century. The North and South branches of the Chicago River join about 1.6 km west of the lake; the river's meandering mouth was straightened soon after the town was founded.
The city is some 40 km north to south and 25 km east to west. The Illinois and Michigan Canal (1848) linked Lake Michigan to the Illinois River, on the water route to the Mississippi. The metropolitan area, Chicagoland, reaches from Kenosha, Wisconsin, around the south end of the lake into northwestern Indiana.
- Latitude
- about 41.8° north
- Longitude
- about 87.8° west
- Height above sea level
- about 176 to 183 m
- North to south
- about 40 km
Amazing facts
-
Chicago's name may come from a word for a wild onion plant.
A common idea is that the name Chicago comes from a Native American word for a wild leek or onion that grew there.
A common derivation of the name is an Algonquian word for a wild leek or onion that grew locally; another reading of the word is 'strong' or 'great'.
-
The Windy City got its nickname from boasting, not from wind.
Chicago's nickname, the Windy City, came from its people's boasting, not from breezes off the lake.
Britannica traces 'Windy City' to Chicago's braggadocio, most dramatically in the 1890s, when it beat New York and St. Louis to host the World's Columbian Exposition.
-
A giant wheel you could ride was built for Chicago's world's fair.
The 1893 world's fair in Chicago had a 78-meter Ferris wheel, its most famous ride.
The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, in Jackson Park, drew some 25.8 million visitors; its most famous ride was a 78 m Ferris wheel on the Midway Plaisance.
-
Chicago's river flows backward!
In 1900 a canal made the Chicago River flow away from Lake Michigan instead of into it.
The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, opened in 1900, reversed the river's flow so that pollutants were carried away from Lake Michigan, with a dramatic improvement in public health.
-
Chicago's first train came to the city on a ship.
Chicago's first locomotive, the Pioneer, arrived by ship from Buffalo, New York, in 1848.
Chicago's railway age began in 1848, when the locomotive Pioneer arrived by ship from Buffalo and went into service on the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad's 18 km line.
Words to know
- skyscraper
- a very tall building, usually held up by a steel frame
- elevated railway
- a railway that runs on tracks raised above the street
- hub
- a central place where many routes meet
- canal
- a waterway dug by people for boats or to carry water
- trading post
- a small settlement where people meet to buy, sell and swap goods
- lake-effect snow
- snow that forms when cold air passes over a warmer lake
- blues
- a kind of music that grew from African American songs, often with a sad, strong feeling
Discovery challenge
-
Which big lake is Chicago next to?
Chicago lies on the shore of which Great Lake?
Chicago sits at the southwestern end of the Great Lakes, on which lake?
- Lake Michigan
- Lake Victoria
- Lake Baikal
Show the answer
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan! It is so big it looks like the sea.
Lake Michigan, one of the five Great Lakes.
Lake Michigan; the city's flat site was once the bed of its forerunner, Lake Chicago.
-
What happened in Chicago in 1871?
What destroyed about a third of Chicago in October 1871?
Which 1871 disaster left nearly 100,000 Chicagoans homeless and started a wave of building innovation?
- A great fire
- A huge flood
- An earthquake
Show the answer
A great fire
A great fire. Then people built the city again, even taller.
The Great Fire. Chicago rebuilt very quickly afterward.
The Great Fire of 1871, which destroyed some 17,450 buildings over about 9 km².
-
Where do Chicago's L trains run?
What is special about Chicago's "L" trains?
Chicago's downtown Loop is named for and defined by what kind of railway?
- On tracks high above the street
- On the bottom of the lake
- On snowy mountains
Show the answer
On tracks high above the street
High above the street! L is short for elevated.
They run on raised tracks. L is short for elevated.
The elevated railway; the Loop elevated structure was completed in 1897.
-
Which way does the Chicago River flow now?
What did the canal that opened in 1900 do to the Chicago River?
What was the main public-health effect of the Sanitary and Ship Canal (1900) on the Chicago River?
- It made it flow away from the lake
- It froze it solid
- It made it dry up
Show the answer
It made it flow away from the lake
Away from the lake! The river turned around.
It reversed the river, so it flows away from Lake Michigan.
It reversed the river's flow, carrying pollutants away from Lake Michigan.
-
How many floors does the Willis Tower have?
How many stories does the Willis Tower have?
The 442 m Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, finished in 1974, has how many stories?
- 12
- 108
- 1,000
Show the answer
108
108 floors! That is very, very tall.
108 stories, reaching 442 meters.
108 stories; it remains one of the tallest buildings in the world.
Nearby places
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Landmark
Willis Tower
Willis Tower, first called the Sears Tower, is a skyscraper in Chicago finished in 1973. It is 442 meters tall and was the tallest building in the world for about 25 years. Its clever 'bundled tube' design was made by engineer Fazlur Khan and the firm SOM.
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Natural wonder
Lake Superior
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Landmark
CN Tower
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Natural wonder
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls is a set of three waterfalls on the Niagara River, which flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario across the border between Canada and the United States. About 500 waterfalls in the world are taller, but Niagara is famous for its height together with the enormous amount of water that pours over it.
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Landmark
White House
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City
Washington, D.C.
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Ottawa
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Landmark
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. France gave her to the United States as a sign of friendship. The sculptor Auguste Bartholdi shaped her copper skin, Gustave Eiffel designed the iron frame inside, and she was dedicated in 1886.
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Landmark
Willis Tower
Willis Tower, first called the Sears Tower, is a skyscraper in Chicago finished in 1973. It is 442 meters tall and was the tallest building in the world for about 25 years. Its clever 'bundled tube' design was made by engineer Fazlur Khan and the firm SOM.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Mississippi River
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Mexico City
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Ottawa
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Chicago at the southern tip of Lake Michigan in the United States.
- Explain how waterways and railways helped Chicago grow.
- Describe how Chicago rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1871 and why skyscrapers appeared.
- Explain how a big lake affects a city's weather.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Chicago grew where water routes and railways met. Why do you think cities often grow at crossroads?
- After the Great Fire, Chicago rebuilt with new kinds of buildings. What would you change if your town were rebuilt?
- Chicago reversed its river to keep its lake clean. Was that a good idea for everyone downstream? What do you think?
Try at home or in class
- Build a skyscraper from paper cups or blocks: first a solid tower, then a frame of straws with tape. Which can go taller?
- Draw a street grid of eight blocks by eight blocks and add a lake, a river and an elevated train loop.
Key vocabulary: skyscraper, elevated railway, hub, canal, trading post, lake-effect snow, blues
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Chicago , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Chicago: Landscape , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Chicago: Economy , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Chicago: Cultural life , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Chicago: History , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Chicago, Illinois: climatological information , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.