What is the 1st Congressional District of Illinois?
The district is based in Cook County and encompasses majority of Chicago's South Side as well as parts of Joliet. It encompassed 97.84 square miles between 2003 and early 2013, extending into the city's southwest suburbs until nearing the border of Will County.
Since 1929, the 1st has been represented by an African-American Member of Congress, the longest continuous period of Black representation in any House of Representatives constituency. According to the 2010 census, the population is 51.3 percent African American, 40.6 percent white, and 9.8 percent Hispanic.
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