Southern IL, also known to many as “Little Egypt” is the southern third of the sate.
Southern Illinois is located between Missouri and Indiana, just south of Wisconsin and Iowa.
It is bordered by the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, the two most voluminous rivers in the US.
SoIL consists mostly of rural communities, farming being one of the largest commodities in the region.
Some of the regions most important industries historically have been coal, oil, agriculture, transportation technology, and electronics.
Tourism focuses on casinos, wineries, orchards, state and national parks, and Cardinals baseball, of course.
Southern IL History
The known history of the region dates back more than 14,000 years.
Like much of the Midwest, the land went from the Native Americans to the French before being taken over by modern Americans.
In fact, Cahokia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the richest Native American historical sites, is in Collinsville.
Abraham Lincoln worked extensively in Southern Illinois and was raised just north, in Springfield.
Southern Illinois Demographics
Who lives in Southern Illinois?
Little Egypt has a population of around 1.2 million people, many of whom live in the metro-east of St. Louis (about 700k population).
Based on the most recent meta-data demographics, the Southern IL region demographics consists of white/caucasian (63.7%), African American (14.5%), hispanic (15.8%), asian (4.6%).
