Illinois
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Southward and westward, the second major division is Central Illinois, an area of mostly flat prairie with the exception of areas along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers that are steeped in hills and bluffs hanging high above the rivers providing commanding views for miles. The western section (west of the Illinois River) was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the distinctive western bulge of state. Central Illinois is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans, figures prominently. Major cities include Peoria, and Springfield (the state capital). The Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area is located in the central region of the state and is composed of (Champaign, Ford, and Piatt) counties, the area had a population of 210,275 at the 2000 census[4]It is centered at the University of Illinois).
The third division is Southern Illinois, comprising the area south of U.S. Route 50, and including Little Egypt, near the juncture of the Mississippi River and Ohio River. This region can be distinguished from the other two by its warmer climate, different mix of crops (including cotton farming in the past), more rugged unglaciated topography, as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The population in southern Illinois is concentrated in two areas:
Metro-East is an area east of St. Louis and it includes (Jersey, Madison, St. Clair, Macoupin, and parts of Bond and Calhoun from the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as Clinton County.[5]
Carbondale, Marion, West Frankfort, Herrin, Murphysboro, Carterville, and the Johnston City area.

The Shawnee Hills arise in southern Illinois. Illinoian Stage, about 132,000 to 300,000 years before present, climbed the northern face of the Shawnee Hills, but did not reach the summit. Most of the Shawnee Hills is therefore unglaciated.

The floodplain on the Mississippi River from Alton to the Kaskaskia River is the American Bottom, and is the site of the ancient city of Cahokia, and was a region of early French settlement, as well as the site of the first state capital, at Kaskaskia. The extreme southern tip of Illinois is in the Gulf Coastal Plain.

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