The
Loop is the central business district of
Chicago,
Illinois. It is one of the city's 77 designated
community areas. The Loop is home to Chicago's commercial core,
City Hall, and the seat of
Cook County. The community area is bounded on the north and west by the
Chicago River, on the east by
Lake Michigan, and on the south by
Roosevelt Road, although the commercial core has significantly expanded into adjacent community areas. As a business center, some of the corporations the Loop is home to include the
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the world's largest options and futures contracts open interest exchange; the headquarters of
United Continental Holdings, one of the world's largest airlines;
AON;
Blue Cross Blue Shield;
Hyatt Hotels Corporation;
BorgWarner, and dozens upon dozens of other major corporations. The Loop is home to
Grant Park;
State Street, which hosts a major shopping district; the
Art Institute of Chicago; several theaters; and numerous subway and elevated rapid transit stations. Other major institutions in the Loop include the
Willis Tower,once the tallest building in the world, the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the
Lyric Opera of Chicago, the
Goodman Theatre, the
Joffrey Ballet, the central public
Harold Washington Library, and the
Chicago Cultural Center.