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The city of Chicago is laid on the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan. Chicago is the seat of the Cook County. Chicago is the largest city in Illinois and it covers almost 228 square miles (588.3 square kilometer) of land area. The city has a population of almost three million, and is ranked as the third most densely populated city in the USA.
The Chicago area was first explored by Europeans in 1673, when Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet settled there. Then after a century in 1783, Jean-Baptiste Du Sable, the son of a French merchant, reached Chicago and started fur trade station. After Sable, in 1800 John Kinzie took over the fur trading station and soon after Fort Dearborn was built to guard the trade station.
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By 1830 many settlers had settled in and around Chicago. In the year 1833 Chicago gained the status of a town, and by 1837 it was given the status of a city. In the year 1848 it emerged as the central market for selling food grains and other food products, and in the same year rail tracks were laid for the first time in Chicago. Over time Chicago progressed and developed into the hi-tech metropolitan city it is today.
Today, the City of Chicago is one of the most important cities of USA as it is an important hub of national transportation, industry, telecommunications, politics, culture, medicine and higher learning, along with being a financial leader. Its rich culture, architecture and ethnic diversity make it one of the most interesting cities in theUSA. Today Chicago is not only the single inland urban area to have been rated amongst the top East and West metropolitan areas, but is also the internationally recognized world financial center.
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