Chicago is a city I visited back in 1999. I found it to be a wonderful city, probably one of the cities I liked most throughout the U.S. In comparison with Gothenburg or Stockholm, Chicago finally feels like a really big city – the Chicago Metropolitan Area boasts of some 9.5 million inhabitants, which is more than the entire country of Sweden.

This is pretty amazing, considering that the city was founded in 1833. It’s growth comes primarily from being a major transportation hub through North America, with an extensive railway network and one of the world’s busiest airport (O’Hare International). It’s also been a part of the North American industrial boom of the 19th and 20th Century, being no small part of the US industry. Some jokingly say that Chicago was built by Swedes; this may be partly true since Chicago was a large stop-over for large parts of the migrating Scandinavian population, on its way out into the further Midwest.

Although rumor has it that the name “Chicago” comes from an Indian term for “no good”, a more etymologically correct version is that it derives from an Indian word “shikaakwa”, meaning “wild leek”, or the particular plats that grew along the Chicago river. A literal translation of the word may be “striped skunk”, probably a reference to the smell of these wild leeks. But among its many other nicknames are “The Windy City” and “The City of Big Shoulders”.

Its history has oftentimes been rather troublesome; after initial problems in accomodating the rapid city growth, it burned down almost completely in the 1871 Great Chicago fire, but was rapidly rebuilt; and it was the home of famous gangster Al Capone during a period of remarkably prevalent organized crime. Recent developments have, however, put Chicago on the forefront of environment-conscious American cities; it is actively demolishing vast public housing projects and working to reshape the city into a more environmentally friendly and more accessible city.

And one of Chicago’s sister cities is, surprisingly, Gothenburg. So, go Chicago!