The city has a humid continental climate, typical of the Midwestern United States, with hot summers and cold, moderately snowy winters. It may also be colloquially known as the 'Twin Cities' or Chambana. Champaign, Urbana, and the bordering village of Savoy form the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area also known as Champaign-Urbana. Ĭhampaign shares a border with the neighboring city of Urbana together they are home to the University of Illinois. Downtown Champaign drains into Boneyard Creek, which feeds the Saline Branch of the Salt Fork Vermilion River. Ĭhampaign is a city in central Illinois and is located on relatively high ground, providing sources to the Kaskaskia River to the west, and the Embarras River to the south. Geography Location Īccording to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Champaign has a total area of 23.14 square miles (59.93 km 2), of which 22.99 square miles (59.54 km 2) (or 99.37%) is land and 0.15 square miles (0.39 km 2) (or 0.63%) is water. In May 2017, the city's first female-majority city council was sworn in. Deb Frank Feinen, who has served as mayor since 2015, is the city's second female mayor. Joan Severns was the city's first female mayor, serving between 19. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign once again hosted the National competition on May 20–22, 2010. The city also hosts the state Science Olympiad competition every year. In 2005, Champaign-Urbana (specifically the University of Illinois) was the location of the National Science Olympiad Tournament, attracting young scientists from all 50 states. The concert drew a crowd of 80,000 people and raised over $7 million for American family farmers.

On September 22, 1985, Champaign hosted the first Farm Aid concert at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium. The two 'Champaign, Illinois' songs are not similar to each other, except that Bob Dylan was involved in both of them. The band Old 97's took another Bob Dylan song, ' Desolation Row', and combined its melody with new lyrics to make a new song 'Champaign, Illinois', which they released with Dylan's blessing on their 2010 album The Grand Theatre Volume One. ĭuring February 1969, Carl Perkins joined with Bob Dylan to write the song 'Champaign, Illinois', which Perkins released on his album On Top. Both the city and county name were derived from Champaign County, Ohio, which took its name from the French word for 'open, level country'. Originally called 'West Urbana', it was renamed Champaign when it acquired a city charter in 1860. History Cattle Bank building, constructed in 1858, is the oldest extant building in Champaign.Ĭhampaign was founded in 1855, when the Illinois Central Railroad laid its rail track two miles (3 km) west of downtown Urbana. Champaign also serves as the headquarters for several companies, including Jimmy John's. Champaign houses offices for the Fortune 500 companies Abbott, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Caterpillar, John Deere, Dow Chemical Company, IBM, and State Farm. Due to the university and a number of well-known technology startup companies, it is often referred to as the hub, or a significant landmark, of the Silicon Prairie. Champaign is also home to Parkland College, which serves about 18,000 students during the academic year.

It is included in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area.Ĭhampaign shares the main campus of the University of Illinois with its twin city of Urbana. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. Champaign ( / ˌ ʃ æ m ˈ p eɪ n/ sham- PAYN) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States.

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