TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. History
3. Geography
____3.1 Topography
____3.2 Climate
4. Contemporary life
____4.1 Tourism
____4.2 Sports
____4.3 Media
5. Concludsion
6. References
INTRODUCTION
1. Brief Information 
Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States. Located on the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago is the third-most densely populated major city in the U.S.
After a series of wars with the local Native Americans, 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 International Airport as the second busiest airport in the world. 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.
BODY
2. History
On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of around 200. Within seven years it grew to a population of over 4,000. The City of Chicago was incorporated on March 4, 1837. The name "Chicago" is a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, meaning “wild onion”, from the Miami-Illinois language.
The 1920s brought notoriety to Chicago as gangsters, including the notorious Al Capone, battled each other and law enforcement on the city streets during the Prohibition era. Chicago had over 1,000 gangs in the 1920s. The 1920s also saw a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the South.
Mayor Richard J. Daley was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics. Starting in the 1960s, many residents, as in most American cities, left the city for the suburbs. Structural changes in industry caused heavy losses of jobs for lower skilled workers. Major construction projects, including Sears Tower (which in 1974 became the world’s tallest building), University of Illinois at Chicago, McCormick Place, and O'Hare Airport, were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure.
Current mayor Richard M. Daley, son of the late Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. He has led many progressive changes to the city, including improving parks; creating incentives for sustainable development, including green roofs; and major new developments. Since the 1990s, the city has undergone a revitalization in which some lower class areas have been transformed to higher priced and middle-class neighborhoods.
Chicago was one of the four finalists to host the 2016 Olympic Games, but the city was eliminated on the first round of voting on October 2, 2009
3. Geography
3.1 Topography
Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois at the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan. The city lies beside Lake Michigan, and two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and the Calumet River in the industrial far South Side—flow entirely or partially through Chicago.
Lake Shore Drive runs adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's lakefront. Parks along the lakeshore include: Lincoln Park, Grant Park, Burnham Park and Jackson Park; 29 public beaches are also found along the shore. Near downtown, landfills extend into the Lake, providing space for the Jardine Water Purification Plant, Navy Pier, Northerly Island, the Museum Campus, Soldier Field and large portions of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Most of the city's high-rise commercial and residential buildings can be found within a few blocks of the lake.
3.2 Climate
4. Contemporary life
4.1 Tourism
Chicago attracted an approximate combined 35 million people in
2007 from around the nation and abroad. Upscale shopping along the Magnificent Mile and State Street, thousands of restaurants, as well as Chicago's eminent architecture, continue to draw tourists. The city is the United States' third-largest convention destination. Most conventions are held at McCormick Place, just south of Soldier Field. The historic Chicago Cultural Center (1897), originally serving as the Chicago Public Library, now houses the city's Visitor Information Center, galleries and exhibit halls. The ceiling of its Preston Bradley Hall includes a 38 ft (12 m) Tiffany glass dome. Millennium Park sits on a deck built over a portion of the former Illinois Central Railroad yard. The park includes the reflective Cloud Gate sculpture (known locally as "The Bean"). An outdoor Millennium Park restaurant transforms into an ice rink in the winter. Two tall glass sculptures make up the Crown Fountain. The fountain's two towers display visual effects from LED images of Chicagoans' faces, along with water spouting from their lips.In 1998, the city officially opened the Museum Campus, a 10-acre (4.0 ha) lakefront park, surrounding three of the city's main museums: the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Shedd Aquarium. The Museum Campus joins the southern section of Grant Park, which includes the renowned Art Institute of Chicago. Buckingham Fountain anchors the downtown park along the lakefront.
4.2 Sports
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 (MLB) teams: the Chicago Cubs of the National League (NL), who play in Wrigley Field on the city's North Side, and the Chicago White Sox of the American League (AL), who play in U.S. Cellular Field on the city's South Side. The Chicago Bears, one of the last two remaining charter members of the National Football League (NFL), have won nine NFL Championships, including Super Bowl XX. The Bears play their home games at Soldier Field on Chicago's lakefront.
The Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) are one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world. During the 1990s with Michael Jordan leading them, the Bulls took six NBA championships in eight seasons (only failing to do so in the two years of Jordan's absence). The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), who began play in 1926, have won three Stanley Cups. The Blackhawks also hosted the 2009 NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. Both the Bulls and Blackhawks play at the United Center on the Near West Side.
Chicago was selected on April 14, 2007, to represent the United States internationally in the bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympics. On June 4, 2008, the International Olympic Committee selected Chicago as one of four candidate cities for the 2016 games. On October 2, 2009, Rio de Janeiro was selected to host the 2016 Olympics.
4.3 Media
The Chicago metropolitan area is the third-largest media market in North America, after New York City and Los Angeles. Each of the big four U.S. television networks, CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox, directly owns and operates a high-definition television station in Chicago. The city is also the home of several talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show on WLS-TV.
There are two major daily newspapers published in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, with the former having the larger circulation.
The city of Chicago is home to a large number of advertising agencies, in both traditional and new media forms of marketing and promotion, ranking third behind New York City and Los Angeles.
Chicago is a filming-friendly location. Since the 1980s, many motion pictures have been filmed in the city, most notably John Hughes' classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the massive blockbuster success, The Dark Knight and its predecessor, Batman Begins.
5. Conclusion
By doing this report, I had learned about Chicago, the third largest city in the US. I learnt how this famous city grew up, so in the future we can apply this information to use in our society. Such as, for the tourism purposes the activities those Chicago done and it can attach the visitors to participated.
6. References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago
