Chicago is the third largest city in population in the USA. Located along the shore of Lake Michigan, the metropolitan area - called Chicagoland - counts a population about 10 million people. According to Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network, Chicago is one of the 10 "Alpha" cities, which means that this is city is responsible for influencing the world economics basis. The ethnic diversity is a mark of Chicago. Downtown, the suburbs and the regions around it counts on a population formed by people from the most different ethnic groups, which is revealed in the traditions and cultural aspects seen all over the town. Statistics show that: about one-third of Chicagoans (that is what they call people who live in Chicago) living in the central city is caucasian, another third is African-American and the rest, Hispanic or Asian. A little bit of Geography Chicago is a city of climate extremes. Winters are extremely cold and summer can have maddening heat waves. In general, temperatures in summer are about 72F up to 84F (23C to 28C). Temperatures in winter can vary widely and periods of temperatures below 32F (0C) are not uncommon. On average, the temperatures during the afternoons are about 25F (-4C) and 10F (-12C) at night. Different cultures The population of Chicago consists of several ethnic groups, but mainly: Irish, Germans, Italians and Polish. Besides, Chicago has the largest population of Swedish-Americans. Chicago is also the third largest Greek city. In addition to that, the metropolitan area has becoming the major center of Indian-Americans and South Asians. And this without mentioning the Anfrican-American population. These ethnic groups leave their marks on the social structure of the city and the cultural aspects of this important center. It is more than just an economic city, Chicago offers several options for cultural visits, such as museums, theaters and musical performances. Besides, the cuisine offers hundreds of option for its visitors, since people will not have trouble in finding restaurants of most different nationalities. Economy Chicago is the second financial center of the United States and it has been a center of commerce for most of its modern history. According to specialists in the area, if Chicago was a nation-state, its gross metropolitan product would rank the 18th position in the world, at about 380 billion dollars. Chicago has the second largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States at 63. It also hosts 12 Fortune Global 500 companies and 17 Financial Times 500 companies. The number of workers? About 4.25 million! Chicago is one of the best cities to do business. |
