Sister cities of Decatur, Illinois

Decatur /dəˈkeɪtər/ is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1829 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500, and 76,122 in 2010, due to continued population decline. Prior to massive population loss, Decatur was the sixth-most populous city in Illinois. Now Decatur is listed as number fifteen among Illinois cities, as it lost 20.2% of its population from 1980 to 2010. According to Sperling's Best Places, Decatur's metropolitan area population is 114,749.

This city is home of private Millikin University and public Richland Community College. Decatur is a college town with treelined streets and vast industrial and agricultural processing production and is located in the Interior Plains of North America. Decatur is home to the corporate headquarters of international agricultural conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland. ADM made national headlines Sept. 23, 2013 as it announced 2014 plans to move the world headquarters out of Decatur after the past year's 1,000 layoffs and the sale of Hickory Point Bank by ADM. The new headquarters will likely remain in the Midwest USA as Chicago is reported as the most likely new headquarters site. Also, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Indianapolis are mentioned in media reports as possible new headquarters sites also in consideration. [39]

Decatur and Macon County's most notable resident was Abraham Lincoln, who settled with his family west of town in 1830. He later practiced law in the city after moving to nearby Springfield.