Pekin, Illinois
| Pekin | |
| City | |
 Tazewell County Courthouse in Pekin
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| Motto: "Community' Opportunity' Home" | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | Illinois |
| County | Tazewell; Peoria (small portion) |
| Elevation | 481 ft (147 m) |
| Coordinates | 40°34′4″N 89°38′13″W / 40.56778°N 89.63694°W |
| Area | 15.14 sq mi (39 km2) |
| - land | 14.56 sq mi (38 km2) |
| - water | 0.58 sq mi (2 km2) |
| Population | 34,081 (2013) |
| - metro | 380,447 |
| Density | 2,574.8/sq mi (994/km2) |
| Mayor | John McCabe |
| Timezone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Postal code | 61554 61555 (P.O. Boxes only) |
| Area code | 309 |
   Location of Pekin within Illinois
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Website: www |
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The city of Pekin /ˈpiːkᵻn/ is the county seat of Tazewell County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located on the Illinois River, Pekin is the largest city of Tazewell County and part of the Peoria metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, its population is 34,094. A small portion of the city limits extend into Peoria County. Pekin is the 13th-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. It is the most populous municipality in the United States with the name Pekin.
Pekin's Mineral Springs Park is located near Pekin Hospital and the Miller Senior Center. The city is also home to a high-rise residential facility of the United Auto Workers; the 1,538 megawatt, coal-fired Powerton Power Station (currently owned and operated by NRG Energy), the home of the Pekin Federal Correctional Institution; and the headquarters of a regional insurance company, Pekin Insurance.
In Illinois as elsewhere, indigenous peoples lived along rivers for transportation, water, and fishing. At the time of the European incursion, the several historical tribes in the area were of the Anishinaabe-language family, within the larger Algonquian-speaking tribes.
In January 1680, Robert de LaSalle and 33 fellow explorers landed their canoes on the eastern bank of the Illinois River. They built a winter refuge in what is now the southeast quarter of section 1 of Pekin Township. They also encountered historical Kickapoo peoples to the east as far as the Wabash River near the present Illinois-Indiana border.
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