Champaign, Illinois in the context of Champaign-Urbana

Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the Heart of Illinois, it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently.

A total of 45 counties are typically considered to be within Central Illinois, with a population of 1,874,635 as of the 2020 U.S. census. Major cities include Peoria, Springfield (the state capital), Decatur, Quincy, Champaign–Urbana, Bloomington–Normal, Galesburg, and Danville.

The Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in Central Illinois, anchored by the city of Springfield. As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 201,437 (though a July 1, 2009 estimate placed the population at 208,182).

Metropolitan Springfield is southwest of Chicago, south of Peoria, southwest of Bloomington, west-southwest Champaign, and west of Decatur.

Braid is an American emo band from Champaign, Illinois, formed in 1993.

Following several early line-up changes, the band eventually settled on Bob Nanna on guitar and vocals, Todd Bell on bass, Chris Broach on guitar and vocals, and Roy Ewing on drums until he was replaced in 1997 by new drummer Damon Atkinson.

Roger Joseph Ebert (/ˈiːbərt/ EE-bərt; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern writing style and critical views informed by values of populism and humanism. Writing in a prose style intended to be entertaining and direct, he made sophisticated cinematic and analytical ideas more accessible to non-specialist audiences. Ebert endorsed foreign and independent films he believed would be appreciated by mainstream viewers, championing filmmakers like Werner Herzog, Errol Morris and Spike Lee, as well as Martin Scorsese, whose first published review he wrote. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times said Ebert "was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic," and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called him "the best-known film critic in America." Per The New York Times, "The force and grace of his opinions propelled film criticism into the mainstream of American culture. Not only did he advise moviegoers about what to see, but also how to think about what they saw."

Early in his career, Ebert co-wrote the Russ Meyer film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). Starting in 1975 and continuing for decades, Ebert and Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel helped popularize nationally televised film reviewing when they co-hosted the PBS show Sneak Previews, followed by several variously named At the Movies programs on commercial TV broadcast syndication. The two verbally sparred and traded humorous barbs while discussing films. They created and trademarked the phrase "two thumbs up," used when both gave the same film a positive review. After Siskel died from a brain tumor in 1999, Ebert continued hosting the show with various co-hosts and then, starting in 2000, with Richard Roeper. In 1996, Ebert began publishing essays on great films of the past; the first hundred were published as The Great Movies. He published two more volumes, and a fourth was published posthumously. In 1999, he founded the Overlooked Film Festival in Champaign, Illinois.

The Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, also known as Champaign–Urbana and Urbana–Champaign as well as Chambana (colloquially), is a metropolitan area in east-central Illinois. As defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the metropolitan area has a population of 235,608 as of the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, which ranks it as the 201st largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. The area is anchored by the principal cities of Champaign and Urbana, and is home to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system.

As of July 2023, the OMB defines the metropolitan area (officially designated the Champaign–Urbana, IL MSA) to consist of Champaign County, Piatt County, and Ford County. From 2018 to 2023, Ford County was not considered a part of the metropolitan area.The MSA is part of the larger Champaign–Urbana–Danville Combined Statistical Area, which also includes the Danville micropolitan area, and has a population of 307,260 as of the 2023 estimate.

Research Park at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a research park located in the southwest part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus in Champaign, Illinois. Research Park is a technology hub for startup companies and corporate research and development operations. Within Research Park there are more than 120 companies employing more than 2,100 people including students and full-time technology professionals.

Multinational and publicly traded corporations in the Research Park include: ADM, Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Ameren, AGCO, bp, Bayer, Brunswick, Capital One, Cargill, Caterpillar, CME Group, Corteva, Deere & Company, Kohler, Littelfuse, Motorola Solutions, Nutrien Ag Solutions, NVIDIA, Riverbed, Rivian, State Farm, Synchrony, and Yahoo (Verizon Media Group).