Illinois State Facts – Part I

1. State Capital – Springfield
2. State nickname – Land of Lincoln; The Prairie State
3. State motto – State sovereignty, national union
4. Population – 12,830,632 (2010 est.)
5. Population rank – 5th
6. Physical Size – 57,914 sq. mi.
7. Physical Size rank – 25th
8. Population density – 232 per sq. mi.
9. Population density rank – 5th
10. Highest elevation or tallest building – Charles Mound (1,235 ft.)
11. Lowest elevation – Confluence of Mississippi River and Ohio River (280 ft.)
12. Date Joined Union – December 3, 1818
13. Date joined Union rank – 21st
14. Adjoining states or countries – Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan (maritime)
15. Flag Fact – Initially adopted in 1915 and altered in 1969, the flag of the state of Illinois consists of the seal of Illinois on a white background, with the word “Illinois” underneath the seal.
16. State bird – Northern Cardinal
17. State mammal – White-tailed deer
18. State mineral – Fluorite
19. State prairie grass – Big Bluestem
20. State song – “Illinois”
21. State quarter – The first quarter of 2003, the Illinois quarter design depicts a young Abraham Lincoln within the outline of the state. A farm scene and the Chicago skyline appear on the left and to the right of the state’s outline. Twenty-one stars border the coin, signifying Illinois as the 21st state to be admitted into the Union on December 3, 1818.
22. State seal – Adopted in 1819 by the first Illinois General Assembly. The seal features a Bald Eagle pitched on a rock carrying a shield in its talons and a banner with the state motto in its beak. Thirteen stars and thirteen stripes on the shield represent the original thirteen states of the Union. The date August 26, 1818, when Illinois’s first constitution was adopted in Kaskaskia, appears along the bottom arc of the circle, and 1818, the year of statehood, displays on the seal below 1868, the year the current seal was adopted. This basic design has survived through several minor modifications since it was first conceived. The Illinois Secretary of State is still the keeper of the Great Seal of the State of Illinois.
23. State insect – Monarch Butterfly
24. State fish – Bluegill
25. State tree – White Oak