Southern Illinois

Southern Illinois has a lot of farmland, like Central Illinois. In fact, the southern tip of Illinois is referred to as "Little Egypt", because the land around the Nile River in Egypt was in ancient times a very fertile place. Today, Little Egypt has some of the most fertile land in the world, which means it is terrific for farming. Cairo, as part of Little Egypt, is a town on the very southern tip of Illinois, on the Mississippi River; it shares its name with the city of Cairo in Egypt.
Southern Illinois and Central Illinois also share other natural resources, such as coal. Southern Illinois especially has a lot of deposits of coal. Coal is used as a type of fuel. Illinois has the largest resource of bituminous (high-sulfur) coal in the United States. This kind of coal is not the best kind; because of the sulfur, it tends to burn very dirty, creating more pollution. However, ways of making it cleaner are being looked into. The problem with getting the coal is that coal mines, dug into the earth, can be very dangerous for the miners. Have you ever seen the Coal Mine exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry? You should go some time! Another problem with coal, and any energy resource, is that there is only so much of it. It can be very damaging to the Earth to take it out and use it for our fuel. That's one reason that it's important for you to conserve energy as much as possible (for example, always turn things off that are not being used). As humans, we also need to look for sources of energy that are not as hard on the Earth.
Southern Illinois is also home to Shawnee National Forest. The Ozark and Shawnee Hills extend over 270,000 acres of rough mountaintops and rugged rock formations between the natural borders of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. This land is very unlike most of Illinois, which is flat. From high and rocky hills to swamps, to thick forests, this is one of the most diverse national forests in the nation. There is a huge range of wildlife and plants here, too.

 

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