Bloomington

City and administrative headquarters of Monroe County, south-central Indiana, USA; population (2000) 71,000. It is located 75 km/47 mi southwest of Indianapolis. It is an exporter of limestone from nearby quarries, and is a centre for the manufacture of electrical products and lifts. Bloomington was laid out in 1818 and incorporated in 1877. It is home to Indiana University (1820).

Bloomington

City and administrative headquarters of McLean County, central Illinois, USA; population (2000) 65,300. It lies in the middle of a rich farming and livestock area, 56 km/35 mi southeast of Peoria. It is a manufacturing centre for electrical appliances and food-processing. Local products include agricultural items such as hybrid seed corn and farm machinery, along with builders' supplies, electronic tubes, heating and ventilating equipment, and vacuum cleaners.

Bloomington was settled in 1822 and laid out in 1831; it was incorporated as a city in 1850. Bloomington is the seat of Illinois Wesleyan University (1850) and Illinois State University (1857). It was the scene of Abraham Lincoln's ‘lost speech’, an anti-slavery plea delivered in 1856.

The former US vice-president Adlai E Stevenson is buried here.