Chicago

Have you ever been to Chicago? It's such a beautiful city. Today you will learn some interesting facts
about it. In my presentation I will say something about the people, the history of the city, the
tourists, geography, its climate, culture and sports. Ok, lets start.

Do you know where Chicago is? Chicago is a city in the United States of America. With an area of 606
square kilometers it is also the third largest city of the USA. Bigger than Chicago is only New York and
Los Angeles. Chicago is called the Windy City. Why Windy City? This is not an easy question. Some
people think it's because of the weather, but in reality there isn´t so much wind in Chicago. Some
people think that its because Chicago's politicians are windy. That means they talk a lot, but it's not
always important. Nobody really knows.

There are 2.7 million people in Chicago. Its a very international city. This means that there are many
cultures living together.
Now I'd like to show you a few famous people who are connected to Chicago. First Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah Winfrey is a talk-show host, a producer and an actress. She is famous for her successful talk
show on TV called "The Oprah Winfrey Show". The show won many awards and was produced in
Chicago. And the next person connected to Chicago is the American president, Barack Obama. He
was born in Hawaii, but spent a lot of time in Chicago. His family settled down in Chicago in 1992. He
worked as a lawyer and as a teacher at University.

But how old is Chicago actually? Americans founded the city in the 1830s. Before that, Native people
lived there. Between the years 1920 to 1933 in the USA there was the so-called prohibition era. This
means that it was forbidden to buy, produce and transport alcohol. Alcohol was forbidden. But of
course that meant that many people wanted it. An illegal black market and gangsters provided this
commodity.
Every big city had its gangsters, but the most famous was Chicago with Al Capone. Al Capone moved
to Chicago in 1920. He illegally sold alcohol and made huge profits with it. In the end, he ended up in
prison.

Every year many tourists visit Chicago. They look at the skyscrapers. The tallest building in Chicago is
the Willis Tower. Before 2009, it was called Sears Tower. Its one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world
and over 1 million people visit it every year because they have an amazing view of the city from
there.
What is also very interesting is the Chicago River. This is actually a system of rivers and canals which
are together 251 km long. Around Saint Patrick's day the Chicago River is dyed green. This tradition is
older than 50 years and started as an accident.

Now let's talk about geography. The City of Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois, one of the 50
states in the USA. Chicago lies on the shore of Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is part of the Great
Lakes Area. The Great Lakes Area is a collection of five lakes. Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and
Ontario. Lake Michigan is the only lake of these five that is located entirely in the United States.
The climate of Chicago is like in many cities in Europe. It has wet springs, hot summers, nice autumns
and cold winters.

And now I'll tell you a bit from the sports area. Chicago is very famous for the Chicago Bulls. Chicago
Bulls are a professional basketball team. They play their home games at the place called the United
Centre. I'm sure you know their most famous player, Michael Jordan.
And the last thing I will talk about is culture. Chicago is very famous for jazz music. Also there are nice
theatres and great concerts.