Downstate Illinois refers to the part of theU.S. state ofIllinois south or outside of theChicago metropolitan area, which is in the northeast corner of the state and has been dominant in statehistory,politics, andculture.^[1][2][3][4]

Downstate Illinois lacks a precise definition. Various boundaries that have been used are theChicago city limits, the boundaries ofCook County, thecollar counties, all of Illinois not contained in the Chicago media market,Interstate 80, andBloomington.^[5] Prior to the2000 United States census, when it became part of the Chicago metropolitan area, evenDeKalb (located 65 miles west of Chicago) was often considered to be "downstate".^[6][7][8]

With regard to geographic placenames, the terms "up" and "down" generally refer to upstream and downstream with respect to a river basin, in this case that of theMississippi River, which flows from north to south along the western edge of the state. Thus, the term "Downstate Illinois" may be understood to refer to the part of the state which lies downstream with respect to the Mississippi River and its tributaries in Illinois, such as theIllinois River.

Downstate Illinois is divided into three regions:Northern,Central, andSouthern, which in turn are divided into more regions. The term has been used by Northern Illinois residents for decades and is commonly used by the media.^{[9][10][11][12]} TheIllinois General Assembly regularly uses the term in the titles of bills it passes.^[13]

Although most of the state's population is concentrated in and around Chicago, several midsized cities such asSpringfield, the state capital, are located "downstate".

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• Regions of Illinois

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