You can travel the world without ever leaving Illinois
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The U.S. is filled with towns and cities named after foreign locales, letting us take exotic trips to Naples, Florida, and Holland, Michigan, without pulling out a passport.
- But right here in Illinois we enjoy an unusually high number of internationally named towns — and few we actually pronounce like the original spot.
What's happening: A new project from the Axios Visuals team has mapped out a veritable United Nations of these towns and pinpointed their origins with a handy corresponding map.
- It's super-cool and a great rabbit hole to explore on this chilly Sunday morning.
By the numbers: Checking in with at least 66, Illinois boasts the fifth-most municipalities named after foreign places.
- Take that, Florida, with just 19!
The big picture: These names often reflect the origins of early immigrants to an area, explaining why Dutch names cluster in the Hudson Valley and Michigan and Scandinavian names pop up in Minnesota.
- But they also represent who had money and the ability to legally settle in the U.S. more than 100 years ago.
- Nearly three-quarters (72%) of names in the data set originate from Europe, while only a small fraction come from Asia, Africa or Latin America.
Zoom in: In Illinois we've lots of towns with foreign names and lots of creative pronunciations for them, including those named after Cairo, Egypt, Palos de la Frontera, Spain, and Beijing, China.
- KAY-roh
- PAY-los
- PEE-kin
Pop quiz: Guess which suburbs were named after:
- Poznań, Poland
- Bannockburn, Scotland
- Volos, Greece
- Benzen, Germany
Weigh in: Do you live in one of these towns? Did you know about its cultural history?
- Email us to share any interesting factoids, pronunciation differences or photos.
Go deeper: Check out the full project with interactive maps, graphics and more!