Chicago

Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.74 million at the 2020 census. The Chicago metropolitan area has 9.41 million residents and is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country.

Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. Despite challenges like the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, the city grew rapidly and made important contributions to urban planning and architecture.

Today, Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture, commerce, and transportation. It is a major destination for tourism, known for its cultural institutions, Lake Michigan beaches, and lively arts scene, including jazz, blues, and house music. The city also boasts famous landmarks, educational institutions like the University of Chicago, and professional sports in Chicago.

Etymology and nicknames

Main article: Nicknames of Chicago

See also: Windy City (nickname) and List of Chicago placename etymologies

The name Chicago comes from a French version of an old word from the Miami–Illinois language. That word, šikaakwa, described a wild plant related to onions and garlic. Early explorers wrote about this plant growing a lot around the area. Over time, Chicago earned many nicknames, like the Windy City, Chi-Town, and the Second City.

History

Main article: History of Chicago

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Chicago history.

Beginnings

In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi, an indigenous tribe who had succeeded the Miami, Sauk and Meskwaki peoples in this region.

The first known permanent settler in Chicago was a trader, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and he established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago".

In 1795, following the victory of the new United States in the Northwest Indian War, an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over to the U.S. for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville. In 1803, the U.S. Army constructed Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed during the War of 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn by the Potawatomi before being later rebuilt.

After the War of 1812, the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago and sent west of the Mississippi River as part of the federal policy of Indian removal.

19th century

On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 6,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as Receiver of Public Monies. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, and for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city.

The location and course of the Illinois and Michigan Canal (completed 1848)

State and Madison streets, once known as the busiest intersection in the world (1897)

As the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicago's first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. The canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River.

A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad. Manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade (established 1848) listed the first-ever standardized "exchange-traded" forward contracts, which were called futures contracts.

In the 1850s, Chicago gained national political prominence as the home of Senator Stephen Douglas, the champion of the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the "popular sovereignty" approach to the issue of the spread of slavery. These issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage. Lincoln was nominated in Chicago for U.S. president at the 1860 Republican National Convention, which was held in a purpose-built auditorium called the Wigwam. He defeated Douglas in the general election, and this set the stage for the American Civil War.

To accommodate rapid population growth and demand for better sanitation, the city improved its infrastructure. In February 1856, Chicago's Common Council approved Chesbrough's plan to build the United States' first comprehensive sewerage system. The project raised much of central Chicago to a new grade with the use of jackscrews for raising buildings. While elevating Chicago, and at first improving the city's health, the untreated sewage and industrial waste now flowed into the Chicago River, and subsequently into Lake Michigan, polluting the city's primary freshwater source.

The city responded by tunneling two miles (3.2 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs. In 1900, the problem of sewage contamination was largely resolved when the city completed a major engineering feat. It reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that the water flowed away from Lake Michigan rather than into it. This project began with the construction and improvement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and was completed with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that connects to the Illinois River, which flows into the Mississippi River.

On October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1-mile (1.6 km) wide, a large section of the city at the time. At least 300 people were killed and over 100,000 were left homeless from the fire. However, much of the city, including railroads and stockyards, survived intact, and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone. These set a precedent for worldwide construction. During its rebuilding period, Chicago constructed the world's first skyscraper in 1885, using steel-skeleton construction.

The city grew significantly in size and population by incorporating many neighboring townships between 1851 and 1920, with the largest annexation happening in 1889, with five townships joining the city, including the Hyde Park Township, which now comprises most of the South Side of Chicago and the far southeast of Chicago, and the Jefferson Township, which now makes up most Chicago's Northwest Side. The desire to join the city was driven by municipal services that the city could provide its residents.

Chicago's flourishing economy attracted huge numbers of new immigrants from Europe and migrants from the Eastern United States. Of the total population in 1900, more than 77% were either foreign-born or born in the United States of foreign parentage. Germans, Irish, Poles, Swedes, and Czechs made up nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born population (by 1900, whites were 98.1% of the city's population).

Labor conflicts followed the industrial boom and the rapid expansion of the labor pool during the Gilded Age, including the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886, and in 1894 the Pullman Strike. Anarchist and socialist groups played prominent roles in creating very large and highly organized labor actions. Concern for social problems among Chicago's immigrant poor led Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr to found Hull House in 1889. Programs that were developed there became a model for the new field of social work.

During the 1870s and 1880s, Chicago attained national stature as the leader in the movement to improve public health. City laws and later, state laws that upgraded standards for the medical profession and fought urban epidemics of cholera, smallpox, and yellow fever were both passed and enforced. These laws became templates for public health reform in other cities and states.

The city established many large, well-landscaped municipal parks, which also included public sanitation facilities. The chief advocate for improving public health in Chicago was John H. Rauch, M.D. Rauch established a plan for Chicago's park system in 1866. He created Lincoln Park by closing a cemetery filled with shallow graves, and in 1867, in response to an outbreak of cholera he helped establish a new Chicago Board of Health. Ten years later, he became the secretary and then the president of the first Illinois State Board of Health, which carried out most of its activities in Chicago.

In the 1800s, Chicago became the nation's railroad hub, and by 1910 over 20 railroads operated passenger service out of six different downtown terminals. In 1883, Chicago's railway managers needed a general time convention, so they developed the standardized system of North American time zones. This system for telling time spread throughout the continent.

In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at the present location of Jackson Park. The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered the most influential world's fair in history. The city's municipal device, a Y within a circle, was the result of a contest run by the Chicago Tribune in 1892, in anticipation of the Columbian Exposition. The University of Chicago, formerly at another location, moved to the same South Side location in 1892. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance, a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects the Washington and Jackson Parks.

20th and 21st centuries

1900 to 1939

During World War I and the 1920s there was a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the Southern United States. Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population of Chicago increased dramatically, from 44,103 to 233,903. This Great Migration had an immense cultural impact, called the Chicago Black Renaissance, part of the New Negro Movement, in art, literature, and music.

The Great Depression brought unprecedented suffering to Chicago, in no small part due to the city's heavy reliance on heavy industry. Notably, industrial areas on the south side and neighborhoods lining both branches of the Chicago River were devastated; by 1933 over 50% of industrial jobs in the city had been lost, and unemployment rates amongst blacks and Latinos in the city were over 40%. The Republican political machine in Chicago was utterly destroyed by the economic crisis, and every mayor since 1931 has been a Democrat.

From 1928 to 1933, the city witnessed a tax revolt, and the city was unable to meet payroll or provide relief efforts. The fiscal crisis was resolved by 1933, and at the same time, federal relief funding began to flow into Chicago. Chicago was also a hotbed of labor activism, with Unemployed Councils contributing heavily in the early depression to create solidarity for the poor and demand relief; these organizations were created by socialist and communist groups. By 1935, the Workers Alliance of America began organizing the poor, workers, the unemployed.

In 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded in Miami, Florida, during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt by Giuseppe Zangara. In 1933 and 1934, the city celebrated its centennial by hosting the Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair. The theme of the fair was technological innovation over the century since Chicago's founding.

1940 to 1979

During World War II, the city of Chicago alone produced more steel than the United Kingdom every year from 1939 – 1945, and more than Nazi Germany from 1943 – 1945.

The Great Migration, which had been on pause due to the Depression, resumed at an even faster pace in the second wave, as hundreds of thousands of blacks from the South arrived in the city to work in the steel mills, railroads, and shipping yards.

On December 2, 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. This led to the creation of the atomic bomb by the United States, which it used in World War II in 1945.

Mayor Richard J. Daley, a Democrat, was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics. In 1956, the city conducted its last major expansion when it annexed the land under O'Hare airport, including a small portion of DuPage County.

By the 1960s, white residents in several neighborhoods left the city for the suburban areas – in many American cities, a process known as white flight – as Blacks continued to move beyond the Black Belt. While home loan discriminatory redlining against blacks continued, the real estate industry practiced what became known as blockbusting, completely changing the racial composition of whole neighborhoods. Structural changes in industry, such as globalization and job outsourcing, caused heavy job losses for lower-skilled workers. At its peak during the 1960s, some 250,000 workers were employed in the steel industry in Chicago, but the steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s reduced this number to just 28,000 in 2015. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby led the Chicago Freedom Movement, which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders.

Two years later, the city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention, which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside the convention hall, with anti-war protesters, journalists and bystanders being beaten by police. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower, which in 1974 became the world's tallest building), University of Illinois at Chicago, McCormick Place, and O'Hare International Airport, were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. In 1979, Jane Byrne, the city's first female mayor, was elected. She was notable for temporarily moving into the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing project and for leading Chicago's school system out of a financial crisis.

1980 to present

In 1983, Harold Washington became the first black mayor of Chicago. Washington's first term in office directed attention to poor and previously neglected minority neighborhoods. He was re‐elected in 1987 but died of a heart attack soon after. Washington was succeeded by 6th ward alderperson Eugene Sawyer, who was elected by the Chicago City Council and served until a special election.

Richard M. Daley, son of Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. His accomplishments included improvements to parks and creating incentives for sustainable development, as well as closing Meigs Field in the middle of the night and destroying the runways. After successfully running for re-election five times, and becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley declined to run for a seventh term.

In 1992, a construction accident near the Kinzie Street Bridge produced a breach connecting the Chicago River to a tunnel below, which was part of an abandoned freight tunnel system extending throughout the downtown Loop district. The tunnels filled with 250 million US gallons (1,000,000 m³) of water, affecting buildings throughout the district and forcing a shutdown of electrical power. The area was shut down for three days and some buildings did not reopen for weeks; losses were estimated at $1.95 billion.

On February 23, 2011, Rahm Emanuel, a former White House Chief of Staff and member of the House of Representatives, won the mayoral election. Emanuel was sworn in as mayor on May 16, 2011, and won re-election in 2015. Lori Lightfoot, the city's first African American woman mayor and its first openly LGBTQ mayor, was elected to succeed Emanuel as mayor in 2019. All three city-wide elective offices were held by women (and women of color) for the first time in Chicago history: in addition to Lightfoot, the city clerk was Anna Valencia and the city treasurer was Melissa Conyears-Ervin.

On May 15, 2023, Brandon Johnson assumed office as the 57th mayor of Chicago.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Chicago

Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois on the southwestern shores of freshwater Lake Michigan. It is the main city in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, situated in both the Midwestern United States and the Great Lakes region. The city rests on a continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds. Two rivers—the Chicago River and the Calumet River—flow through the city.

Chicago's history and economy are closely tied to Lake Michigan. The lake helps moderate the city's climate, making waterfront neighborhoods slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The city's central areas have a relatively consistent grade, with an average land elevation of 579 ft above sea level. Lake Shore Drive runs next to the waterfront, which includes parks like Lincoln Park, Grant Park, and Jackson Park, as well as 24 public beaches.

Main article: Community areas of Chicago

See also: List of neighborhoods in Chicago

Major sections of the city include the central business district, called the Loop, and the North, South, and West Sides. The North Side is the most densely populated residential section, while the South Side is the largest, encompassing about 60% of the city's land area. In the late 1920s, the city was divided into 75 distinct community areas, with a few more added later, totaling 77. These areas can be further divided into over 200 informally defined neighborhoods.

Main article: Roads and expressways in Chicago

Chicago's streets follow a street grid that grew from the city's original townsite. This grid helped the city develop efficiently. Some diagonal streets, originally Native American trails, also cross the city. Chicago is known for its wide sidewalks and parks, and Western Avenue is the longest continuous urban street in the world.

Main article: Architecture of Chicago

Further information: List of tallest buildings in Chicago and List of Chicago Landmarks

The Great Chicago Fire led to a major building boom, and Chicago became known for its skyscrapers. Today, the city has some of the tallest buildings in the United States, such as the Willis Tower. The Loop has many historic buildings, and architects like Daniel Burnham and Louis Sullivan helped shape the city's skyline. Chicago is also famous for its public art, including works by artists like Chagall, Picasso, and Miró.

Main article: Climate of Chicago

See also: Tornadoes in Chicago

Chicago has four distinct seasons. Summers are hot and humid, while winters are cold and snowy. Spring and autumn are mild and short. The city experiences thunderstorms, occasionally producing large hail, strong winds, and sometimes tornadoes. Lake Michigan helps keep the lakefront areas cooler in summer and less cold in winter than inland areas.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Chicago

Chicago grew very quickly in its early years. When it was founded in 1833, fewer than 200 people lived there. By 1890, the population had grown to over 1 million. By 1950, Chicago had more than 3 million people, but the population later decreased.

Many people from different countries moved to Chicago, especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These included people from Ireland, Italy, Poland, and many other places. African Americans also moved to Chicago during a time called the Great Migration, mostly from the southern United States.

Today, Chicago's population is very diverse. The largest groups are non-Hispanic White, Black, and Hispanic. The city also has many people from Mexico, Poland, and India. Chicago became a sanctuary city in 2012, meaning it supports immigrants who may not have official papers.

Chicago has a rich mix of religions. Christianity is the most common, with many Protestant and Catholic communities. Other religions practiced in Chicago include Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. The city has been a important place for many religious events and leaders over the years.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Chicago

See also: List of companies in the Chicago metropolitan area

Chicago has a very strong and diverse economy. It is one of the top cities in the United States for business and has many important companies. The city is a major center for finance, with famous exchanges like the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Chicago is also home to big companies such as Boeing, McDonald's, and Walgreens Boots Alliance.

The city has many job opportunities and is a key place for industries like manufacturing, food, and technology. Chicago is also a popular spot for big events and conventions, with McCormick Place being one of the largest convention centers in the world.

Culture and contemporary life

Main article: Culture of Chicago

Further information: List of people from Chicago

Chicago's waterfront and nightlife draw both locals and visitors. Many people live along the lakefront neighborhoods, from Rogers Park in the north to South Shore in the south. The city has many great restaurants, including areas with foods from many cultures around the world. These include neighborhoods like Pilsen, home to Mexican American cuisine, and Paseo Boricua in Humboldt Park for Puerto Rican food.

Downtown Chicago is the heart of the city's business and culture. It includes Grant Park, many tall buildings, and areas like the Near North Side, Near South Side, and Near West Side. These places have famous skyscrapers, great restaurants, shops, museums, and parks.

Lincoln Park has a zoo and a conservatory. The River North Gallery District has many art galleries. Lake View is known for its LGBT community and the big Chicago Pride Parade held every June.

Entertainment and the arts

Further information: Theater in Chicago, Visual arts of Chicago, and Music of Chicago

See also: List of theaters in Chicago

Chicago has many famous theaters, like the Goodman Theatre and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. There are also places to see Broadway shows and performances in many languages.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is one of the world's best orchestras. There are also many music festivals, like Lollapalooza and the Pitchfork Music Festival. Chicago is known for its jazz, blues, and house music.

Chicago has a rich tradition of art, with many famous artists and museums.

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Chicago

See also: List of beaches in Chicago

Chicago welcomes many visitors each year. People come to see the city's famous architecture, shop along the Magnificent Mile, enjoy meals in thousands of restaurants, and visit many museums. The city is a top spot for big events and conventions.

Museums

Further information: List of museums and cultural institutions in Chicago

Chicago has many interesting museums, such as the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Other museums include the Chicago History Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry.

Cuisine

See also: Culture of Chicago § Food and drink, Chicago farmers' markets, and List of Michelin starred restaurants in Chicago

Chicago is famous for its special foods. The city is known for its deep-dish pizza, which started at Pizzeria Uno. Another popular food is the Chicago-style hot dog, which has many toppings like pickles and peppers.

Other famous Chicago foods include the Italian beef sandwich and the Maxwell Street Polish. The city also has great barbecue and many festivals to enjoy these foods.

Literature

Chicago has a strong tradition of writing, with many famous books and poems coming from the city. Writers have often focused on the city's life and people. The city has seen important moments in American literature, including periods of great writing in the early 1900s and during the Great Depression. The magazine Poetry was started in Chicago and has featured many famous poets.

Sports

Main article: Sports in Chicago

Chicago is a big city for sports! It has many famous teams. The Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox are both baseball teams. The Cubs play at Wrigley Field, and the White Sox play at Rate Field.

There are also teams for football, basketball, and hockey. The Chicago Bears play football, the Chicago Bulls play basketball, and the Chicago Blackhawks play hockey. All of these teams have won big championships over the years. Chicago also has teams for women's sports and even esports!

Parks and greenspace

Chicago is known for its many beautiful parks and green spaces. The city has more than 570 parks covering over 8,000 acres. Lincoln Park is the largest, spanning 1,200 acres and welcoming over 20 million visitors each year. The city also has 31 sandy beaches, many museums, and two famous conservatories.

There is a historic network of wide, tree-lined boulevards that connect many of Chicago's parks. These boulevards were built over many years and help make the city a lovely place to explore. Chicago also has a big harbor for boats and many newer parks, like Millennium Park, which adds even more green space for everyone to enjoy.

Law and government

Main article: Government of Chicago

Main article: Political history of Chicago

The government of Chicago has two main parts: executive and legislative. The mayor, who is currently Brandon Johnson, leads the executive branch. The mayor is elected every four years and can serve many terms. The mayor chooses leaders for different city departments. The City Council is the legislative branch, with 50 alderpersons elected from different areas of the city. They make laws and approve the city’s budget.

Chicago has often supported the Democratic Party. The city hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1927. Most of Chicago’s representatives in the United States House of Representatives are Democrats. The city has been led by Democratic mayors for many years, including Richard M. Daley and Harold Washington. Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama lived in Chicago.

Education

Chicago has many schools and libraries for students of all ages. The Chicago Public Schools oversee over 600 public schools, including special schools for students who do very well in their studies. These schools offer advanced classes to help students prepare for college. Chicago also has many private schools, such as Lutheran schools, Ida Crown Jewish Academy, and Catholic schools run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. There are also schools focused on arts, like the Chicago Academy for the Arts and the Chicago High School for the Arts. The Chicago Public Library has many branches where people can borrow books and learn.

Chicago is also home to many colleges and universities. Some of the well-known ones include the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Illinois Institute of Technology. These schools are famous for their research and teaching. There are also many smaller colleges, like the City Colleges of Chicago, which help students start their higher education journey. Chicago has many schools for special areas of study, such as psychology, theology, and the arts.

Media

Main article: Media in Chicago

See also: Chicago International Film Festival

Television

Chicago is a big center for TV and is the third-largest media market in the United States. All five major U.S. TV networks have their own stations in Chicago. These include NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and The CW. Some well-known talk shows, like The Oprah Winfrey Show, started in Chicago. Today, Windy City Live is a popular daytime talk show in the city.

Television stations

Most TV stations in Chicago are owned by the big network companies. Some of the main stations are:

• WBBM-TV (2), owned by CBS.
• WMAQ-TV (5), owned by NBC.
• WLS-TV (7), owned by ABC.
• WGN-TV (9), a CW station owned by Nexstar Media Group.
• WTTW (11), a PBS station.

Newspapers

Chicago has two big daily newspapers: the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. There are also many other newspapers and magazines for different interests and communities.

Movies and filming

See also: List of movies set in Chicago and List of television shows set in Chicago

Radio

Chicago has many radio stations, including powerful AM stations like WBBM, WSCR, WGN, WLS, and WMVP. The city is also home to popular national radio shows and programs such as This American Life and Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Chicago

Chicago is a major transportation hub in the United States. It is an important place for moving goods and people around the world, being the third-largest inter-modal port after Hong Kong and Singapore.

Chicago has more households without cars than most cities. In 2016, about 27.5 percent of households did not have a car, compared to the national average of 8.7 percent.

Parking

Because of Chicago's wheel tax, people who own a vehicle need to buy a special sticker to park on city streets. In 2008, Chicago made a big agreement to lease its parking meter system for 75 years to a company created by Morgan Stanley, called Chicago Parking Meters LLC. This deal brought in over $1 billion for the city.

Expressways

Main article: Roads and expressways in Chicago

Seven main and four smaller interstate highways run through Chicago and its suburbs. Some of these roads are named after important leaders, including former U.S. Presidents.

Transit systems

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) helps manage public transportation in Chicago through three groups: CTA, Metra, and Pace.

• The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) runs buses and a special train system called the Chicago "L" with lines in different colors. The Red and Blue lines run all day, every day.
• Metra is a popular train service for people living in the suburbs.
• Pace provides bus service in the suburbs and some parts of the city.

Greyhound Lines offers bus trips to other cities, and Chicago is a center for Megabus in the Midwest.

Starting in June 2026, the RTA will change to a new authority called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA).

Passenger rail

Amtrak and other train services start from Chicago Union Station. Chicago has four train stations, with Union Station being the main one for Amtrak.

Bicycle and scooter sharing systems

In 2013, Chicago started a bicycle-sharing system called Divvy with bikes and stations all over the city. In 2019, the city also began a program for renting electric scooters from companies like Bird, Jump, Lime, and Lyft.

Freight rail

Chicago is a very important place for train freight services. Many big train companies have their lines here.

Airports

Further information: Transportation in Chicago § Airports

Chicago has two major airports: O'Hare International Airport, which is very busy, and Midway International Airport. Both are run by the city of Chicago.

Port authority

Main article: Port of Chicago

The Port of Chicago has several places where ships can dock and unload goods, including places along Lake Michigan and the rivers.

Utilities

Most electricity in northern Illinois comes from Commonwealth Edison, also called ComEd. They get a lot of power from nuclear plants. Chicago is also starting to use wind turbines to make energy.

Natural gas in Chicago is provided by Peoples Gas.

Health systems

The Illinois Medical District includes important hospitals like Rush University Medical Center and University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago. Chicago is also home to top medical schools and hospitals such as Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center. Many important medical groups have their offices in Chicago.

Sister cities

Chicago has many sister cities around the world. These cities work together to share ideas and help each other. Some of Chicago's sister cities are:

• Accra, Ghana
• Amman, Jordan
• Athens, Greece
• Belgrade, Serbia
• Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
• Bogotá, Colombia
• Busan, South Korea
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Delhi, India
• Durban, South Africa
• Galway, Ireland
• Gothenburg, Sweden
• Hamburg, Germany
• Kyiv, Ukraine
• Lahore, Pakistan
• Lucerne, Switzerland
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Milan, Italy
• Moscow, Russia (suspended)
• Osaka, Japan
• Paris, France (friendship city)
• Petah Tikva, Israel
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Shanghai, China
• Shenyang, China
• Sydney, Australia (friendship city)
• Toronto, Canada
• Vilnius, Lithuania
• Warsaw, Poland