Chicago (pronounced /ʃɨˈkɑːɡoʊ/ or /ʃɨˈkɔːɡoʊ/) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with over 2.8 million people is the third largest city in the United States. Located on the south-western shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago is the third-most densely populated major city in the U.S., and anchor to the world's 26th largest metropolitan area with over 9.5 million people across three states.

After a series of wars with the local American Natives, Chicago was founded in 1833, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. The city became a major transportation and telecommunications hub in North America.

Today, the city retains its status as a major hub, both for industry and infrastructure, with its O'Hare Airport as the second busiest airport in the world. In modern times, the city has taken on additional dimension as a center for business and finance, and is listed as one of the world's top ten Global Financial Centers. Chicago is a stronghold of the Democratic Party, and has been home to influential politicians, including the current President of the United States, Barack Obama. The World Cities Study Group at Loughborough University rated Chicago as an alpha world city.


As of 2007, the city attracts 44.2 million visitors annually. Making use of its abundant resources, Chicago has a heritage for hosting major international, national, regional, and local events that include commerce, culture, entertainment, politics, and sports. In 2008, Chicago was chosen as one of the final four world city candidates to host the 2016 Summer Olympics and is the only American city on the list.

Globally recognized, Chicago has numerous nicknames, which reflect the impressions and opinions about historical and contemporary Chicago. The best known include: "Chi-town"; the "Windy City" with reference to Chicago politicians and residents boasting about their city; "Second City," due to the city generally being the second most prestigious in the nation in terms of transportation, culture, and finance; and the "City of the Big Shoulders", referring to its numerous skyscrapers, which were invented in Chicago, and described as being husky and brawling.

Chicago was named the Best Sports City in the United States by The Sporting News in 1993 and 2006. The city is home to two Major League Baseball teams: the Chicago Cubs of the National League play on the city's North Side, in Wrigley Field, while the Chicago White Sox of the American League play in U.S. Cellular Field on the city's South Side. Chicago is the only city in North America that has had more than one Major League Baseball franchise every year since the American League began in 1900. The Chicago Bears, one of the two remaining charter members of the NFL, have won thirteen NFL Championships. The other remaining charter franchise also started out in Chicago, the Chicago Cardinals, now and the Arizona Cardinals. The Bears play their home games at Soldier Field on Chicago's lakefront.

The Chicago Bulls of the NBA are one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world. With Michael Jordan leading them, the Bulls took six NBA championships in eight seasons during the 1990s (only failing to do so in the two years of Jordan's absence). The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL, who began play in 1926, have won three Stanley Cups. The Blackhawks also hosted the 2008-2009 Winter Classic. Both the Bulls and Blackhawks play at the United Center on the Near West Side.


The Chicago metropolitan area is the third-largest media market in North America (after New York City and Los Angeles).[45] Each of the big four (CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX) United States television networks directly owns and operates a High Definition station in Chicago (WBBM, WLS, WMAQ, and WFLD, respectively). WGN-TV, which is owned by the Tribune Company, is carried (with some programming differences) as "WGN America" on cable nationwide and in parts of the Caribbean. The city is also the home of many talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show (on WLS), while Chicago Public Radio produces programs such as PRI's This American Life and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! PBS on TV in Chicago can be seen on WTTW (producer of shows such as Sneak Previews, The Frugal Gourmet, Lamb Chop's Play-Along, and The McLaughlin Group, just to name a few) and WYCC.

There are two major daily newspapers published in Chicago: the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, with the former having the larger circulation. There are also several regional and special interest newspapers such as the Chicago Reader, the Daily Southtown, the Chicago Defender, the Chicago Sports Weekly, the Daily Herald, Streetwise, The Chicago Free Press and the Windy City Times.

Chicago is a filming-friendly location. Since the 1980s, many motion pictures have been filmed in the city, most notably the massive blockbuster success The Dark Knight, which was a follow up to Batman Begins, also shot in Chicago.

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