CHICAGO
Chicago is the third most populous city in the United States, after New York City and Los Angeles. With 2. 7 million residents. It is the most populous city in both the U. S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States.
Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed, and experienced rapid growth in the mid-nineteenth century. Today, the city is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, technology, telecommunications, and transportation, with O'Hare International Airport being the busiest airport in the world; it also has the largest number of U. S. highways and railroad freight entering its region
Modern-day futures and commodity trading markets were pioneered in Chicago. A number of events led to this, along with Chicago's transportation systems and geographic proximity to the rest of the country. Massive amounts of goods passed through Chicago from places in the Mississippi Valley such as St. Louis, Missouri. Grain was stored in Chicago, and people began buying contracts on it. Later, people as far away as New York City began buying contracts by telegraph on the goods that would be stored in Chicago in the future. From this were established the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the modern systems in use today for futures and commodity trading.
CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE
Among the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago (known as the "Chicago Loop" and is considered the second business center in the United States after the Manhattan in New York City) is located Willis Tower (Sears Tower). It is the tallest building in the United States (442 meters, 61 meters above the famous Empire State Building) and one of the highest in the world.
WILLIS (SEARS)TOWER
Chicago is a major world financial center, with the second largest central business district in the United States. The city is the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (the Seventh District of the Federal Reserve).
Manufacturing, printing, publishing and food processing also play major roles in the city's economy. Several medical products and services companies are headquartered in the Chicago area, including Baxter International, Boeing, Abbott Laboratories, and the Healthcare Financial Services division of General Electric.
Moreover, the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which helped move goods from the Great Lakes south on the Mississippi River, and of the railroads in the 19 th century made the city a major transportation center in the United States.
Though the meatpacking industry currently plays a lesser role in the city's economy, Chicago continues to be a major transportation and distribution center.
Chicago is also home to a growing number of webstartup companies like Career. Builder, Orbitz, 37 signals, Groupon, Feedburner and Now. Secure.
Chicago has been a hub of the Retail sector since its early development in America, when it was the home of Montgomery Ward, Sears, and Marshall Field's. Today the Chicago metro area is the home of several retailers, including Walgreens, Sears, Office. Max, Ace Hardware, Claire's, and Crate & Barrel.
It was also home to Grigsby. Grunow, which manufactured radios under the Majestic brand until the company failed in 1934.
Chicago is a major world convention destination. The city's main convention center is Mc. Cormick Place. With its four interconnected buildings, it is the largest convention center in the nation and third largest in the world. Chicago also ranks third in the U. S. (behind Las Vegas and Orlando) in number of conventions hosted annually.
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