Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm

Macrocosm and microcosm

Macrocosm and microcosm is an ancient Greek Neo-Platonic schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of the cosmos, from the largest scale all the way down to the smallest scale...

 of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity

Agricultural productivity

Agricultural productivity is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to agricultural inputs. While individual products are usually measured by weight, their varying densities make measuring overall agricultural output difficult...

 in central and northern Illinois, and natural resource

Natural resource

Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....

s like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago

Port of Chicago

The Port of Chicago consists of several major port facilities within the city of Chicago, Illinois operated by the Illinois International Port District . The central element of the Port District, Calumet Harbor, is maintained by the U.S...

 connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

, via the St.