A Guide to the Illinois Central Railroad Lands. E-book. Formato PDF Illinois Central Railroad Company   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

The greatest extent of Illinois is on the meridian of Cairo, being 378 miles. Its average width is about 150 miles; - the greatest width being 210 miles, near the latitude of Urbana. It lies between latitude 37° and 42½° North, and longitude 10° 5' and 14° West of Washington.The area of the State is 55,409 square miles. Some of the States contain a larger area, but that area is made up of mountainous or sterile tracts, which must forever remain sparsely inhabited; whereas Illinois presents a nearly uniform fertility of soil throughout its entire extent. To compare it with other States, Illinois is nearly as large as the six New England States put together, and it is safe to say that its agricultural resources are twice as great as the whole of them.