Champaign County

Champaign County, Illinois is located in the heart of East Central Illinois, at Latitude 40.14030 North, Longitude 88.19610 West. US Interstates 57, 72 & 74 intersect in the County which puts Champaign County approximately 2 hours south of Chicago Illinois; 3 hours north-northeast of St. Louis, Missouri; and 2 hours west of Indianapolis, Indiana. Champaign County was incorporated on February 20, 1833. Township form of government was adopted in 1859. The County Board currently has 9 Districts, with three members representing each District for a total of 27 Board members. The County Board Chair is elected from the Board members. The County currently has an Administrator hired by the County Board to oversee the day-to-day operations of the County. Home to the University of Illinois, Parkland College, and two major regional hospitals (Carle Foundation Hospital and Provena Covenant Hospital), Champaign County is a leader in education, health care, government, high technology, light industry and agriculture. Champaign County comprises 1008 square miles, the majority of which are involved in agriculture. The 2000 US Census lists Champaign County as the 11th largest County in the State of Illinois with a population of 186,800. The largest urban areas in the County are the City of Champaign (67,518), the City of Urbana (36,595), and the Village of Rantoul (12,857).