The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
St. Clair County is the ninth most populous county in Illinois. Located directly east of St. Louis, the county is part of the Metro East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in southern Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, St. Clair County had a population of 257,400, making it the third most populous county in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area. Belleville is the county’s seat and largest city. Cahokia Village was founded in 1697 by French settlers and served as a Jesuit mission to convert tribes of the Illinois Confederation to Christianity. Prior to the establishment of Illinois as a state, the government of the Northwest Territory created St. Clair County in 1790 out of the western half of Knox County. In 1809, the county became the administrative center of the Illinois Territory and one of the two original counties of Illinois, alongside Randolph County. In 1970, the United States Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population in St. Clair County.
Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a part of the Metro East in southern Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 264,776, making it the eighth-most populous county in Illinois and the most populous in the southern portion of the state. The county seat is Edwardsville, and the largest city is Granite City.
DuPage County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat is Wheaton.
Bridgeview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately 15 miles (24 km) southwest of the Chicago Loop. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 17,027.
Polish Americans are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, according to the 2021 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Greater St. Louis is the 21st-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the largest in Missouri, and the second-largest in Illinois. Its core city—St. Louis, Missouri—sits in the geographic center of the metro area, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The river bisects the metro area geographically between Illinois and Missouri, although the latter portion is much more populous. The MSA includes St. Louis County, which is independent of the City of St. Louis; their two populations are generally tabulated separately.
Greek Americans are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest estimate suggests over 3 million. According to the US census, 264,066 people older than five spoke Greek at home in 2019.
The demographics of Chicago show that it is a very large, and ethnically and culturally diverse metropolis. It is the third largest city and metropolitan area in the United States by population. Chicago was home to over 2.7 million people in 2020, accounting for over 25% of the population in the Chicago metropolitan area, home to approximately 9.6 million.
Bangladeshi Americans are American citizens with Bangladeshi origin or descent. Bengali Americans are predominantly Bangladeshi Americans and are usually Bengali speaking Muslims. Since the early 1970s, Bangladeshi immigrants have arrived in significant numbers to become one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the U.S. New York City is home to two-thirds of the Bangladeshi American population. Meanwhile, Paterson, New Jersey; Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey are also home to notable Bangladeshi communities.
In the early 20th century, the United States mill industry began recruiting weavers from Southern Mediterranean countries skilled in patterns new to American consumers. Many men from Albania and Turkey left their homelands to work the mills of Southern Maine.
Illinois's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Illinois. Based in the south suburbs of Chicago, the district includes southern Cook county, eastern Will county, and Kankakee county, as well as the city of Chicago's far southeast side.
Albanian Americans are Americans of full or partial Albanian ancestry and heritage in the United States. They trace their ancestry to the territories with a large Albanian population in the Balkans and southern Europe, including Albania, Italy, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro. They are adherents of different religions and are predominantly Muslims and Christians, while some are irreligious.
Illinois's 3rd congressional district includes parts of Cook County and DuPage County, and has been represented by Democrat Delia Ramirez since January 3, 2023. The district was previously represented by Marie Newman from 2021 to 2023, Dan Lipinski from 2005 to 2021, and by Lipinski's father Bill from 1983 to 2005.
Bosnian Americans are Americans whose ancestry can be traced to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The vast majority of Bosnian Americans immigrated to the United States during and after the Bosnian War which lasted from 1992–95. Nevertheless, many Bosnians immigrated to the United States as early as the 19th century. The largest Bosnian-American population can be found in both Greater St. Louis and in Greater Chicago which boast the largest number of Bosnians in the world outside of Europe.
The District of Columbia is a federal district with an ethnically diverse population. In 2020, the District had a population of 689,545 people, with a resident density of 11,515 people per square mile.
Melbourne is Australia's second-most populous city and has a diverse and multicultural population.
Congolese Americans are Americans descended from the peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo, which consist of hundreds of ethnic groups.
Palestinian Americans are Americans who are of full or partial Palestinian descent.
The organization Global Detroit stated that the largest group of ethnic Albanians not in Europe is in Metro Detroit. As of 2014, 4,800 ethnic Albanians live in Macomb County, making up the fourth-largest ethnic group in that county, and the highest concentration of Albanians in Metro Detroit. There are also several thousand in Wayne County, with most living outside Detroit city limits; Hamtramck and St. Clair Shores are plentiful in Albanian American and Kosovar-Albanian American communities. There are at least ethnically 30,200 Albanian people in Michigan, consistuting 0.3% of Michigan's population.
