Great Lakes megalopolis in the context of "Golden Horseshoe"

The Chicago metropolitan area, also called Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwest. Encompassing 10,286 square mi (28,120 km), the metropolitan area contains the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs, satellite cities, and hinterland, spanning 13 counties across northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. The MSA had a 2020 census population of 9,618,502, and the combined statistical area, which spans 19 counties and extends into southeast Wisconsin, had a population of nearly 10 million. The Chicago area is the third-largest metropolitan area in the United States, the fourth-largest in North America (after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles), and the largest in the Great Lakes megalopolis. Its urban area is the 50th-largest in the world.

According to the 2020 census, Chicagoland's population is approaching 10 million. The metropolitan area has seen a substantial increase of Latin American residents on top of its already large Latino population, and the Asian American population also increased. The metro area has a large number of White, Black, Latino, Asian, and Arab American residents, and also has Native American residents. The Chicago metropolitan area has about 3 percent of the U.S. population.

The Great Lakes region of Northern America is a binational Canadian–American region centered on the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and the Canadian province of Ontario. It encompasses both the Upper Midwest and parts of the Mid-Atlantic. Canada's Quebec province is at times included as part of the region because the St. Lawrence River watershed is part of the continuous hydrologic system. The region forms a distinctive historical, economic, and cultural identity. A portion of the region also encompasses the Great Lakes megalopolis.

State and provincial governments are represented in the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, which also serves as the Secretariat to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Compact and the Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement.

The Chicago metropolitan area, sometimes informally called Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwest. Encompassing 10,286 square mi (28,120 km), the metropolitan area contains the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs, satellite cities, and hinterland, spanning 13 counties across northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. The MSA had a 2020 census population of 9,618,502, and the combined statistical area, which spans 19 counties and extends into southeast Wisconsin, had a population of nearly 10 million. The Chicago area is the third-largest metropolitan area in the United States, the fourth-largest in North America (after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles), and the largest in the Great Lakes megalopolis. Its urban area is the 50th-largest in the world.

According to the 2020 census, Chicagoland's population is approaching 10 million. The metropolitan area has seen a substantial increase of Latin American residents on top of its already large Latino population, and the Asian American population also increased. The metro area has a large number of White, Black, Latino, Asian, and Arab American residents, and also has Native American residents. The Chicago metropolitan area has about 3 percent of the U.S. population.